Crésus et Solon. — Crœsus and Solon
33 Crésus. — Crœsus, last king of Lydia, in Asia Minor, reigned u.c. 560-546. The fame of his power and wealth drew to his court at Sardis all the wi.<e men of Greece, and among them Solon of Athens, whose interview with the king is here related
32 Delphes, DelpJii ; a small town in ancient Greece, celebrated for
tlie oracles rendered in the temple of Apollo
33 Hérodote. — Herodotus, a Greek historian, and the father of
history, was bom at Ilalicamassus, in Asia Minor, B.c. 484 ; he spent many years in his extensive travels in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and wrote an account of the struggles between the Greeks and Persians. Whenever he speaks from his own observations, he is a real model of truthfulness and accuracy. See Classical Dictionary
34 Strabon. — Strabo the geographer, born about B.c. 54, wrote a
work on geography, which has come down to us almost entire
35 Pergame. — Pergamum or Pergamus, a city in Asia Minor
36 Pactole. — Pactolus, a river in Asia Minor, the golden sands of
which have passed into a proverb
Page 42.
1-2 rhrygia, Mysia, Paphlagonia, Bithynie, Pamphylia ; all in Asia
Minor 2-3 Carians, lonians, Dorians, .^olians ; all Hellenic races settled in
Asia Minor
5 sept sages de la Grèce, Seven Sages of Greece. About 600 B.c.
there sprang up in different parts of Greece a number of men who, under the name of the Seven Sages of Greece, became distinguished for their practical sagacity and wise sayings or maxims ; their names are differently given in the various popular catalogue-; ; but those most generally admitted to the honour are Solon, Thaïes, Pittacus, Periander, Cleobulus, Chilo, and Bias. See History of Greece
6 se plîiire (Prêt, plut) à, to take pleasure in
12 j'en ai connu un. See I. Ex. 42, and II. § 26 (4)
15 florissant, -e, flourishing, prosperous ; fleurir (fleurissant), to
lloom, to bUnv. See II. p. 17 19 surpris de lui entendre citer, surprised to hear him mention; lui, and not le, because with faire, entendre, ouïr, laisser, voir, followed by an Infinitive governing an Accusative of the thing, the name of the Person must be in the Dative ; thus, je lui ai entendu dire cela, / heard hitn say that ; but je l'ai entendu chanter ; le {ace), because the following Infinit. (chanter) has no Object
Line
25 bœufs J the f is not pronounced in the Plur. This applies also to " œuf- "
27 l'espace de plusieurs lieues, for a distance of several leagues. Thi<, in analoLiy with Latin Gram:nar, might be called the Accusative of measure
29-30 ce que les hommes pouvaient désirer de mieux, ihe greatest happiness that man could wish fo?: Tûe complement of ce que is placed after the Verb ; comp. p. 3Ô, 1. 2, and p. 34, 1. 23
^iij^ 43-
S tarder à..., to be long in... ; impersonally : — II me tarde de..., / lon^ to...
20. — Expédition de Xerxes contre la Grèce. Expedition of Xerxes against Greece.
22 fut monté. Why not " était monté" ?
23 faire la guerre, to wage war
24 il crut devoir, he deemed it advisable. Why is devoir in the
Infinitive? See p. 30, 1. lO
25 le désir qu'il avait de..., his desire to .. The English Poss. Pr.
qualifying a Noun followed by a complement is best rendered in French by a Relative clause ; thus : his letters to her, les lettres qu'il lui écrit. See HI. § 38, d ; compare also line 27 : l'obligation où il était...
