- Source
- Herodotus. Godley, Alfred Denis, editor. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1920-1925 (printing).
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.187.1-1.187.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-02
Queen Nitocris built her tomb above a busy city gate, leaving an inscription that allowed future kings to open it only if in dire need of money. Darius later opened the tomb, finding no wealth but only a message rebuking his greed.
ἡ δʼ αὐτὴ αὕτη βασίλεια καὶ ἀπάτην τοιήνδε τινὰ ἐμηχανήσατο· ὕπερ τῶν μάλιστα λεωφόρων πυλέων τοῦ ἄστεος τάφον ἑωυτῇ κατεσκευάσατο μετέωρον ἐπιπολῆς αὐτέων τῶν πυλέων, ἐνεκόλαψε δὲ ἐς τὸν τάφον γράμματα λέγοντα τάδε.
And this same queen also devised some such trick as this: above the most frequented gates of the city she constructed a tomb for herself, raised aloft on the very top of those gates, and she engraved on the tomb letters saying as follows:
τῶν τις ἐμεῦ ὕστερον γινομένων Βαβυλῶνος βασιλέων ἢν σπανίσῃ χρημάτων, ἀνοίξας τὸν τάφον λαβέτω ὁκόσα βούλεται χρήματα· μὴ μέντοι γε μὴ σπανίσας γε ἄλλως ἀνοίξῃ·1 οὐ γὰρ ἄμεινον·
“If anyone of those who become kings of Babylon after me should experience a lack of money, let him open the tomb and take as much money as he wishes; let him not, however, unless he is in need, open it otherwise; for it is not better.”
οὗτος ὁ τάφος ἦν ἀκίνητος μέχρι οὗ ἐς Δαρεῖον περιῆλθε ἡ βασιληίη· Δαρείῳ δὲ καὶ δεινὸν ἐδόκεε εἶναι τῇσι πύλῃσι ταύτῃσι μηδὲν χρᾶσθαι, καὶ χρημάτων κειμένων καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν γραμμάτων ἐπικαλεομένων, μὴ οὐ λαβεῖν αὐτά·2
This tomb remained undisturbed until the kingdom came round to Darius. And to Darius it seemed a terrible thing to make no use of these gates, and, while money was lying there and the very letters were inviting him, not to take it.
τῇσι δὲ πύλῃσι ταύτῃσι οὐδὲν ἐχρᾶτο τοῦδε εἵνεκα, ὅτι ὕπερ κεφαλῆς οἱ ἐγίνετο ὁ νεκρὸς διεξελαύνοντι.3
Now he made no use of these gates for this reason: because the corpse would be over his head as he drove through.
ἀνοίξας δὲ τὸν τάφον εὗρε χρήματα μὲν οὔ, τὸν δὲ νεκρὸν καὶ γράμματα λέγοντα τάδε· εἰ μὴ ἄπληστός τε ἔας χρημάτων καὶ αἰσχροκερδής, οὐκ ἂν νεκρῶν θήκας ἀνέῳγες.4 αὕτη μέν νυν ἡ βασίλεια τοιαύτη τις λέγεται γενέσθαι.
But having opened the tomb, he found no money indeed, but only the corpse and letters saying as follows: “If you were not insatiable for money and shamefully greedy for gain, you would not be opening the coffins of the dead.” This queen, then, is said to have been a person of such a character.
- 1.187.2μὴ μέντοι γε μὴ σπανίσας γε ἄλλως ἀνοίξῃ
Two negatives (μὴ) appear. The first μὴ negates the main verb of prohibition ἀνοίξῃ (3rd person singular aorist active subjunctive), while the second μὴ negates the conditional participle σπανίσας (aorist active participle of σπανίζω), meaning "unless he is in need" (equivalent to εἰ μὴ σπανίσειε). ἄλλως means "otherwise" or "in vain."
- 1.187.3μὴ οὐ λαβεῖν αὐτά
An infinitive clause depending on δαρείῳ δὲ καὶ δεινὸν ἐδόκεε εἶναι... After expressions denoting impropriety or reluctance (such as "it seemed a terrible thing"), the double negative μὴ οὐ is regularly used with the infinitive to mean "not to do something." Here it means "not to take them (the funds)."
- 1.187.4ὕπερ κεφαλῆς οἱ ἐγίνετο ὁ νεκρὸς διεξελαύνοντι
The pronoun οἱ is the 3rd person singular dative (Ionic, referring to Darius), agreeing with the dative participle διεξελαύνοντι ("as he drove through"). This is a dative of reference or interest, literally meaning "the corpse came to be over the head for him driving through."
- 1.187.5εἰ μὴ ἄπληστός τε ἔας χρημάτων καὶ αἰσχροκερδής, οὐκ ἂν νεκρῶν θήκας ἀνέῳγες
A contrary-to-fact conditional sentence using the imperfect indicative. In the protasis, ἔας is the Ionic 2nd person singular imperfect of εἰμί (corresponding to Attic ἦσθα); in the apodosis, ἀνέῳγες is the 2nd person singular imperfect of ἀνοίγω with ἄν. This construction expresses a present or continuous contrary-to-fact condition: "If you were not [habitually] greedy, you would not be opening the tombs."