- 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-grc2:2.126.1-2.126.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
Describes the anecdote of King Cheops forcing his daughter into prostitution due to a lack of funds, and the central pyramid said to have been built from the stones she collected from her clients.
ἐς τοῦτο δὲ ἐλθεῖν Χέοπα κακότητος1 ὥστε χρημάτων δεόμενον τὴν θυγατέρα τὴν ἑωυτοῦ κατίσαντα ἐπʼ οἰκήματος προστάξαι πρήσσεσθαι ἀργύριον ὁκόσον δή τι· οὐ γὰρ δὴ τοῦτό γε ἔλεγον. τὴν δὲ τά τε ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς ταχθέντα πρήσσεσθαι, ἰδίῃ δὲ καὶ αὐτὴν διανοηθῆναι μνημήιον καταλιπέσθαι, καὶ τοῦ ἐσιόντος πρὸς αὐτὴν ἑκάστου δέεσθαι ὅκως ἂν αὐτῇ ἕνα λίθον ἐν τοῖσι ἔργοισι δωρέοιτο.2
And Cheops arrived at such a pitch of wickedness that, being in want of money, he placed his own daughter in a brothel and ordered her to demand a certain sum of money—for they did not indeed state this. And she not only demanded what was prescribed by her father, but also resolved to leave a monument of herself, and asked each one who came in to her to give her one stone for the building works.
ἐκ τούτων δὲ τῶν λίθων ἔφασαν τὴν πυραμίδα οἰκοδομηθῆναι τὴν ἐν μέσῳ τῶν τριῶν ἑστηκυῖαν, ἔμπροσθε τῆς μεγάλης πυραμίδος, τῆς ἐστὶ τὸ κῶλον ἕκαστον ὅλου καὶ ἡμίσεος πλέθρου.3
And from these stones, they said, was built the pyramid which stands in the middle of the three, in front of the great pyramid, of which each side is one plethron and a half.
- 2.126.1ἐς τοῦτο δὲ ἐλθεῖν Χέοπα κακότητος
The phrase ἐς τοῦτο combined with the genitive κακότητος means "to such a pitch of wickedness." The accusative subject Χέοπα and the infinitive ἐλθεῖν form an accusative and infinitive construction (AcI) in indirect discourse continued from the previous context.
- 2.126.1ὅκως ἂν αὐτῇ ἕνα λίθον ἐν τοῖσι ἔργοισι δωρέοιτο
A subordinate object clause depending on the verb δέεσθαι (to beg/request). The conjunction ὅκως ἂν with the optative δωρέοιτο represents a polite or potential request under the influence of the indirect discourse (past sequence).
- 2.126.2τῆς ἐστὶ τὸ κῶλον ἕκαστον ὅλου καὶ ἡμίσεος πλέθρου
The genitive phrase ὅλου καὶ ἡμίσεος πλέθρου (of one and a half plethra) functions as a genitive of measure/quality, modifying τὸ κῶλον ἕκαστον (each side) of the relative pronoun τῆς (the pyramid).