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[9]

As he was saying this a man sneezed,1 and when the soldiers heard it, they all with one impulse made obeisance to the god;2 and Xenophon said, “I move, gentlemen, since at the moment when we were talking about deliverance an omen from Zeus the Saviour was revealed to us, that we make a vow to sacrifice to that god thank-offerings for deliverance as soon as we reach a friendly land; and that we add a further vow to make sacrifices, to the extent of our ability, to the other gods also. All who are in favour of this motion,” he said, “will raise their hands.” And every man in the assembly raised his hand. Thereupon they made their vows and struck up the paean. These ceremonies duly performed, Xenophon began again with these words:

1 The sneeze was a lucky sign, and particularly lucky because it came at just the time when Xenophon was uttering the word σωτηρίας, “deliverance.”

2 Zeus Soter, who was presumed (see below) to have sent the omen.

Xenophon. Xenophon in Seven Volumes, 3. Carleton L. Brownson. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA; William Heinemann, Ltd., London. 1922.

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  • Commentary references to this page (6):
    • E. T. Merrill, Commentary on Catullus, 45
    • Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Oedipus at Colonus, 1023
    • Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Electra, 280
    • Sir Richard C. Jebb, Commentary on Sophocles: Trachiniae, 719
    • Thomas W. Allen, E. E. Sikes, Commentary on the Homeric Hymns, HYMN TO HERMES
    • R. J. Cholmeley, M.A., The Idylls of Theocritus, 18
  • Cross-references to this page (2):
    • Jeffrey A. Rydberg-Cox, Overview of Greek Syntax, Verbs: Mood
    • William Watson Goodwin, Syntax of the Moods and Tenses of the Greek Verb, Chapter II
  • Cross-references in notes to this page (1):
  • Cross-references in general dictionaries to this page (5):
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