- 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-grc2:2.127.1-2.127.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
After the death of Cheops, his brother Chephren succeeded to the throne, ruling oppressively and building a pyramid that did not equal the dimensions of Cheops'. The author compares both pyramids based on his own measurements and structural differences, such as the absence of underground chambers and water channels in Chephren's.
βασιλεῦσαι δὲ τὸν Χέοπα τοῦτον Αἰγύπτιοι ἔλεγον πεντήκοντα ἔτεα, τελευτήσαντος δὲ τούτου ἐκδέξασθαι τὴν βασιληίην τὸν ἀδελφεὸν αὐτοῦ Χεφρῆνα· καὶ τοῦτον δὲ τῷ αὐτῷ τρόπῳ διαχρᾶσθαι τῷ ἑτέρῳ1 τά τε ἄλλα καὶ πυραμίδα ποιῆσαι, ἐς μὲν τὰ ἐκείνου μέτρα οὐκ ἀνήκουσαν·
The Egyptians said that this Cheops reigned for fifty years, and when he died, his brother Chephren succeeded to the kingship; and this man behaved in the same manner as the other in all other respects, and also built a pyramid, which, however, did not come up to the dimensions of that other.
ταῦτα γὰρ ὦν καὶ ἡμεῖς ἐμετρήσαμεν· (οὔτε γὰρ ὕπεστι οἰκήματα ὑπὸ γῆν, οὔτε ἐκ τοῦ Νείλου διῶρυξ ἥκει ἐς αὐτὴν ὥσπερ ἐς τὴν ἑτέρην ῥέουσα· διʼ οἰκοδομημένου δὲ αὐλῶνος ἔσω νῆσον περιρρέει, ἐν τῇ αὐτὸν λέγουσι κεῖσθαι Χέοπα)·
(For indeed we ourselves measured these; since there are neither chambers under the earth, nor does a channel come to it from the Nile, flowing into it as into the other; but instead, flowing through a built conduit, it runs around an island inside, where they say Cheops himself lies.)
ὑποδείμας δὲ τὸν πρῶτον δόμον λίθου Αἰθιοπικοῦ ποικίλου, τεσσεράκοντα πόδας ὑποβὰς2 τῆς ἑτέρης τὠυτὸ μέγαθος,3 ἐχομένην τῆς μεγάλης οἰκοδόμησε. ἑστᾶσι δὲ ἐπὶ λόφου τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἀμφότεραι, μάλιστα ἐς ἑκατὸν πόδας ὑψηλοῦ. βασιλεῦσαι δὲ ἔλεγον Χεφρῆνα ἓξ καὶ πεντήκοντα ἔτεα.
Having built the first course of variegated Ethiopian stone as a foundation, being forty feet lower than the other, though of the same size, he constructed it close to the great one. Both of them stand upon the same hill, which is about a hundred feet high. And they said that Chephren reigned for fifty-six years.
- 2.127.1τῷ αὐτῷ τρόπῳ τῷ ἑτέρῳ
Meaning 'in the same manner as the other (i.e., Cheops)'. The dative τῷ ἑτέρῳ is used to express comparison/association introduced by the demonstrative adjective ὁ αὐτός (the same).
- 2.127.3ὑποβὰς
Aorist active participle (masculine nominative singular) of ὑποβαίνω ('to go lower', 'to fall short of'). It governs the genitive of comparison τῆς ἑτέρης, meaning 'being lower than the other' or 'having made it smaller than the other'. It is generally interpreted as referring to the height being forty feet lower.
- 2.127.3τὠυτὸ μέγαθος
A crasis of τὸ αὐτὸ μέγαθος. It functions as an accusative of specification/respect, meaning 'of the same size'. Although it seemingly conflicts with 'being forty feet lower', it suggests that the general scale or proportions of the rest of the structure were virtually equivalent.