Herodotus' HISTORY BOOK 1 (CLIO) Complete

Translated by G. Macaulay.

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48. When the Pythian prophetess had uttered this oracle, the Lydians caused the prophecy to be written down, and went away at once to Sardis. And when the rest also who had been sent round were there arrived with the answers of the Oracles, then Croesus unfolded the writings one by one and looked upon them: and at first none of them pleased him, but when he heard that from Delphi, forthwith he did worship to the god and accepted the answer, [42] judging that the Oracle at Delphi was the only true one, because it had found out what he himself had done. For when he had sent to the several Oracles his messengers to consult the gods, keeping well in mind the appointed day he contrived the following device,—he thought of something which it would be impossible to discover or to conceive of, and cutting up a tortoise and a lamb he boiled them together himself in a caldron of bronze, laying a cover of bronze over them. 49. This then was the answer given to Croesus from Delphi; and as regards the answer of Amphiaraos, I cannot tell what he replied to the Lydians after they had done the things customary in his temple, [43] for there is no record of this any more than of the others, except only that Croesus thought that he also [44] possessed a true Oracle.

[42] Cp. vii. 178 and ix. 91 ("I accept the omen.")

[43] See viii. 134.

[44] {kai touton}, i.e. Amphiaraos: many Editors retain the readings of the Aldine edition, {kai touto}, "that in this too he had found a true Oracle."

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