The Histories · 6.82

and after his return his opponents brought him up before the Ephors, saying that he had received gifts and therefore had not conquered Argos, when he might easily have conquered it. He said to them,--but whether he was speaking falsely or whether truly I am not able with certainty to say,--however that may be, he spoke and said that when he had conquered the sanctuary of Argos, it seemed to him that the oracle of the god had had its fulfilment for him; therefore he did not think it right to make an attempt on the city, at least until he should have had recourse to sacrifice, and should have learnt whether the deity permitted him or whether she stood opposed to him: and as he was sacrificing for augury in the temple of Hera, a flame of fire blazed forth from the breasts of the image; and thus he knew the certainty of the matter, namely that he would not conquer Argos: for if fire had…

Herodotus of Halicarnassus · trans. G. C. Macaulay, 1890
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