16

They ruled the Thebans until Oedipus, the son of Jocasta and Laius. For this Laius, being king of the Thebans with Jocasta, had a first son, Iocan; but having received an oracle about him that he would be joined to his own mother, having pierced his feet with a piece of wood, which is indeed called a kouspos, he cast him into the mountains to perish. But a certain countryman named Melibius found him and raised him, renaming him Oedipus because his feet, having swelled up from the piece of wood, were swollen. After these things a certain woman named Sphinx, ugly, large-breasted, of the countryside, having settled with a multitude of rustics on a peak that had only one entrance, and that a very narrow one, used to kill passers-by in a brigandish manner and take away their possessions, so that Thebes was constricted by her, with neither the army nor king Laius himself having strength against her, because of the mountain's inaccessibility and defensibility. Therefore Oedipus, hearing these things, does something wise and noble; and having chosen a few men and having gone to the Sphinx, he asked to be with her and to be a fellow-robber with her. But she, delighted by his beauty and nobility, receives him. But he, having found an opportunity, kills her with a spear and many of those with her, and taking her body and as much money as he found, he brought them to Laius in Thebes, to receive a reward for his valor. But the Thebans were hailing 1.46 him as king. But these things did not please Laius, but having armed an army against him he went out, and being struck, he died. Therefore Jocasta, not wishing to be cast out from the kingdom, and not knowing that Oedipus was her son, and at the same time being eager for the good of the city, summons him; by whom she also has two sons, Eteocles and Polynices, and two daughters, Ismene and Antigone. And so for 19 years they ruled Thebes, ignorant of themselves. After these things, when Jocasta inquired of his country and his parentage, since she heard that Melibius had raised him, she learned from him the manner of his discovery and, being convinced, she cried out. But Oedipus, being fully informed that Jocasta was both his mother and his wife, commanded his sons Eteocles and Polynices to rule Thebes year by year in turn, but he himself immediately drove two nails into his own eyes and died. And his sons, each laying claim to the kingdom, went to war, fighting in single combat, and both were destroyed by each other. And so the kingdom of the Thebans, or Boeotians, was destroyed, having lasted three hundred and sixty-nine years. It is necessary, therefore, finally to return to the subject at hand. And having concluded at the birth of Reu from Peleg, let us begin from him.

1.47 Reu, being one hundred and thirty-two years old, begot Serug. In his time, men, having increased their arrogance against one another, appointed for themselves both generals and kings. And then for the first time, having constructed instruments of war, they began to make war on one another. And immediately those from Canaan are defeated and are the first to submit to the yoke of slavery, according to the curse of Noah. Serug, being one hundred and thirty years old, begot Nahor. And Serug dwelt in the land of the Chaldeans, in the city of Ur. And when Nahor had grown up, his father taught him the interpretation of all omens, the distinctions of the signs in heaven and of all things on earth, and all Chaldean divination. And Nahor, being 79 years old, begot Terah. And when Ninus, the first king of the Assyrians, was in the forty-third year of his reign, Abraham is born. And around the same time among the Egyptians was the sixteenth dynasty, during which the Thebans ruled. And Terah, being 70 years old, begot from his wife Edna, daughter of Abram his paternal uncle, Abraham, whom his mother called by the name of her own father; for he had died before his birth. And Terah also begot Haran and Nahor. And Abraham receives from his father his wife Sarai. This one alone,

16

ἐβασίλευον Θη βαίων ἕως Οἰδίποδος υἱοῦ Ἰοκάστης καὶ Λαΐου. οὗτος γὰρ ὁ Λάϊος βασιλεὺς ὢν Θηβαίων μετὰ Ἰοκάστης ἔσχεν υἱὸν πρῶτον Ἰοκᾶν· χρησμὸν δὲ λαβὼν περὶ αὐτοῦ ὡς τῇ ἰδίᾳ μητρὶ συναφθή σεται, ἐν ξύλῳ τοὺς πόδας καθηλώσας, ὃ δὴ καὶ κοῦσπος λέγεται, εἰς ἀπώλειαν ἐν τοῖς ὄρεσιν ἔρριψεν. ἄγροικος δέ τις ὀνό ματι Μελίβιος τοῦτον εὑρὼν ἀνεθρέψατο, Οἰδίποδα μετονομάσας διὰ τὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ ξύλῳ διῳδηκότας ὀγκωθῆναι. μετὰ ταῦτα γυνή τις ὀνόματι Σφίγξ, δυσειδής, κατάμαστος, χωριτική, μετὰ πλήθους ἀγροίκων εἰς κορυφὴν μίαν μόνην εἴσοδον καὶ ταύτην στενωτάτην ἔχουσαν καθίσασα, λῃστρικῶς τοὺς παρά γοντας δι' ἐκείνης ἀνῄρει καὶ τὰς αὐτῶν ὑπάρξεις ἀφῃρεῖτο, ὡς ἀποστενοῦσθαι τὰς Θήβας δι' αὐτῆς μήτε στρατοῦ μήτ' αὐτοῦ τοῦ βασιλέως Λαΐου ἰσχύοντος κατ' αὐτῆς διὰ τὸ δύσβατον τοῦ ὄρους καὶ ὀχυρόν. ταῦτ' οὖν Οἰδίπους ἀκούσας σοφόν τι καὶ γενναῖον ποιεῖ· καὶ ὀλίγους ἐπιλεξάμενος καὶ τὴν Σφίγγα ἐλθὼν ᾐτεῖτο σὺν αὐτῇ εἶναι καὶ συλλῃστρεύειν αὐτῇ. ἡ δὲ τῇ ὥρᾳ καὶ γενναιότητι τούτου τερφθεῖσα αὐτὸν εἰσδέχεται. ὁ δὲ καιρὸν ἐσχηκὼς αὐτὴν μὲν λόγχῃ ἀναιρεῖ καὶ πολλοὺς τῶν μετ' αὐτῆς, λαβὼν δὲ καὶ τὸ σῶμα καὶ ὅσα χρήματα εὗρε πρὸς Λάϊον εἰς Θήβας ἤνεγκε, μισθὸν τῆς ἀνδραγαθίας κομιούμενος. Θηβαῖοι δὲ τοῦ 1.46 τον ὡς βασιλέα ἀνύμνουν. ἀλλ' οὐκ ἤρεσε ταῦτα τῷ Λαΐῳ, ἀλλὰ στρατὸν ἐφοπλίσας κατ' αὐτοῦ ἐξῄει, καὶ πληγεὶς τελευτᾷ. ἡ τοίνυν Ἰοκάστη τῆς βασιλείας ἐκπεσεῖν οὐ θέλουσα, καὶ ὡς υἱὸς αὐτῆς ἐστὶν ὁ Οἰδίπους οὐκ εἰδυῖα, ἅμα δὲ καὶ πρὸς θεραπείαν τῆς πόλεως σπουδάζουσα, προσκαλεῖται τοῦτον· ἐξ οὗ καὶ ποιεῖ δύο υἱούς, τὸν Ἐτεοκλέα καὶ τὸν Πολυνείκην, καὶ θυγατέρας δύο, Ἰσμήνην καὶ Ἀντιγόνην. καὶ οὕτως ἐπὶ ἔτη ιθʹ τῶν Θηβῶν ἐβασίλευσαν, ἀγνοοῦντες ἑαυτούς. μετὰ ταῦτα τῆς Ἰοκάστης τὴν πατρίδα καὶ τὸ γένος πυθομένης, ἐπεὶ Μελίβιος αὐτὸν ἀνεθρέ ψατο ἤκουσε, παρ' αὐτοῦ τε ἔμαθε τὸν τρόπον τῆς αὐτοῦ ἀνευ ρέσεως καὶ βεβαιωθεῖσα ἀνεβόησε. Οἰδίπους δὲ πληροφορηθεὶς ὡς καὶ μήτηρ Ἰοκάστη καὶ γυνὴ τυγχάνει, τοῖς μὲν υἱοῖς Ἐτεοκλεῖ καὶ Πολυνείκει ἐνιαυτὸν παρ' ἐνιαυτὸν βασιλεύειν ἐκέλευσε τῶν Θη βῶν, αὐτὸς δὲ παραυτὰ δύο ἥλους κατὰ τῶν ἰδίων ἐμπήξας ὀφθαλ μῶν τελευτᾷ. οἱ δὲ υἱοὶ αὐτοῦ ἑκάτερος τῆς βασιλείας ἀντιποιούμενοι εἰς πόλεμον ἦλθον μονομαχήσαντες, καὶ ὑπ' ἀλλήλων ἄμφω κατελύθησαν. καὶ οὕτως ἡ τῶν Θηβῶν ἤτοι Βοιωτῶν κατελύθη βασιλεία, διαρκέσασα ἔτη τριακόσια ἑξηκονταεννέα. Ἀναγκαῖον οὖν ἐστὶ λοιπὸν ἀναδραμεῖν ἐπὶ τὸ προκείμενον. καταλήξαντες δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν ἐκ Φαλὲκ τοῦ Ῥαγὰβ γέννησιν ἀρξώμεθα ἀπ' αὐτοῦ.

1.47 Ῥαγὰβ γενόμενος ἑκατὸν τριακονταδύο ἐτῶν ἐγέννησε τὸν Σερούχ. ἐπὶ τούτου οἱ ἄνθρωποι τὸν κατ' ἀλλήλων αὐξήσαντες τῦφον στρατηγούς τε ἑαυτοῖς κατεστήσαντο καὶ βασιλεῖς. καὶ τότε πρώτως πολεμικὰ κατασκευάσαντες ὄργανα πολεμεῖν ἀλλήλοις ἐνήρξαντο. καὶ εὐθὺς οἱ ἀπὸ Χαναὰν ἡττῶνται καὶ πρῶτοι τῆς δουλείας ὑποκύπτουσι τῷ ζυγῷ, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Νῶε κατάραν. Σεροὺχ γενόμενος ἑκατὸν τριάκοντα ἐτῶν ἐγέννησε τὸν Να χώρ. ᾤκει δὲ ὁ Σεροὺχ ἐν τῇ Χαλδαίων, ἐν πόλει Ὤρ. αὐξη θέντα δὲ τὸν Ναχὼρ ἐδίδαξεν ὁ πατὴρ πάντων ἐπίλυσιν οἰωνῶν, τῶν τε ἐν οὐρανῷ σημείων διακρίσεις καὶ τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ἁπάντων, καὶ πᾶσαν Χαλδαϊκὴν μαντείαν. Ναχὼρ δὲ γενόμενος οθʹ ἐτῶν ἐγέννησε τὸν Θάρρα. Νίνου δὲ τοῦ πρώτου βασιλέως τῶν Ἀσσυ ρίων τεσσαρακοστὸν τρίτον ἄγοντος ἔτος τῆς βασιλείας γεννᾶται Ἀβραάμ. κατὰ δὲ τοὺς αὐτοὺς χρόνους παρ' Αἰγυπτίοις ἑξκαι δεκάτη δυναστεία, καθ' ἣν ἐβασίλευον Θηβαῖοι. Θάρρα δὲ γενό μενος ἐτῶν οʹ ἐγέννησεν ἐκ γυναικὸς Ἔδνας, θυγατρὸς Ἀβραὰμ πατραδέλφου αὐτοῦ, τὸν Ἀβραάμ, ὅντινα ἡ μήτηρ ἐκάλεσεν ἐπ' ὀνόματι τοῦ ἑαυτῆς πατρός· ἔφθη γὰρ ἐκεῖνος πρὸ τῆς τούτου γεννήσεως τετελευτηκέναι. ἐγέννησε δὲ ἔτι ὁ Θάρρα τὸν Ἀρὰμ καὶ τὸν Ναχώρ. ὁ δὲ Ἀβραὰμ λαμβάνει παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς γυναῖκα τὴν Σάρραν. οὗτος μόνος,