- 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-grc2:2.121F.1-2.121F.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
The king, astonished by the thief's cleverness and boldness, proclaims a pardon and rewards. The thief presents himself, and Rhampsinitus, admiring him, marries his daughter to him.
ὡς δὲ καὶ ταῦτα ἐς τὸν βασιλέα ἀνηνείχθη, ἐκπεπλῆχθαι1 μὲν ἐπὶ τῇ πολυφροσύνῃ τε καὶ τόλμῃ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου, τέλος δὲ διανέμοντα ἐς πάσας τὰς πόλις ἐπαγγέλλεσθαι ἀδείην τε διδόντα καὶ μεγάλα ὑποδεκόμενον ἐλθόντι ἐς ὄψιν τὴν ἑωυτοῦ.2
And when this too was reported to the king, he was astonished at the cleverness and boldness of the man; and at last, sending word to all the cities, he made a proclamation, offering him impunity and promising great rewards if he would come into his presence.
τὸν δὲ φῶρα πιστεύσαντα ἐλθεῖν πρὸς αὐτόν, Ῥαμψίνιτον δὲ μεγάλως θωμάσαι, καί οἱ τὴν θυγατέρα ταύτην συνοικίσαι ὡς πλεῖστα ἐπισταμένῳ3 ἀνθρώπων. Αἰγυπτίους μὲν γὰρ τῶν ἄλλων προκεκρίσθαι, ἐκεῖνον δὲ Αἰγυπτίων.4
The thief, trusting this, came to him; and Rhampsinitus admired him greatly, and gave him this daughter of his in marriage, as being the most knowing of all men. For the Egyptians, he said, were preferred above all other men, and he above all other Egyptians.
- 2.121F.1ἐκπεπλῆχθαι
An accusative with infinitive construction (indirect speech/historical infinitive) is used instead of a indicative verb, with the subject 'the king' understood from the preceding ἐς τὸν βασιλέα. This reflects that the whole narrative is framed under a reported story (introduced by verbs of saying like λέγουσι earlier in the text).
- 2.121F.1ἐλθόντι ἐς ὄψιν τὴν ἑωυτοῦ
The participle ἐλθόντι (dative) represents the recipient of the promise made in the proclamation (ἐπαγγέλλεσθαι), meaning 'to the one who should come into his presence.' It functions conditionally, equivalent to a relative clause like 'whoever should come.'
- 2.121F.2ὡς πλεῖστα ἐπισταμένῳ
The particle ὡς goes with the participle ἐπισταμένῳ (dative, agreeing with οἱ 'to him') to express the reason or subjective judgment, meaning 'as one who knows/as being the one who knows.' πλεῖστα is the neuter plural accusative object of ἐπίσταμαι, meaning 'the most things' or 'the most.'
- 2.121F.2ἐκεῖνον δὲ Αἰγυπτίων
A parallel structure to the preceding clause Αἰγυπτίους μὲν γὰρ τῶν ἄλλων προκεκρίσθαι, with the verb προκεκρίσθαι (to be preferred/excel) understood. It means 'and that he (excelled) the Egyptians.' Αἰγυπτίων is a genitive of comparison depending on the implied verb of excelling.