- 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-grc2:2.129.1-2.129.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
King Mycerinus was highly praised for opening the temples and ruling with justice, unlike his father, but he faced his first misfortune when his only daughter died, prompting him to bury her inside a hollow gilded wooden cow.
μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον βασιλεῦσαι Αἰγύπτου Μυκερῖνον ἔλεγον Χέοπος παῖδα· τῷ1 τὰ μὲν τοῦ πατρὸς ἔργα ἀπαδεῖν, τὸν δὲ2 τά τε ἱρὰ ἀνοῖξαι καὶ τὸν λεὼν τετρυμένον ἐς τὸ ἔσχατον κακοῦ ἀνεῖναι πρὸς ἔργα τε καὶ θυσίας, δίκας δέ σφι πάντων βασιλέων δικαιότατα κρίνειν.
After him, they said, Mycerinus, the son of Cheops, became king of Egypt. To him the deeds of his father were displeasing, and he opened the temples, and released the people, who had been worn down to the utmost of misery, to return to their occupations and sacrifices, and judged lawsuits for them more justly than all the other kings.
κατὰ τοῦτο μέν νυν τὸ ἔργον ἁπάντων ὅσοι ἤδη βασιλέες ἐγένοντο Αἰγυπτίων αἰνέουσι μάλιστα τοῦτον. τά τε ἄλλα γάρ μιν κρίνειν εὖ, καὶ δὴ καὶ τῷ ἐπιμεμφομένῳ ἐκ τῆς δίκης παρʼ ἑωυτοῦ διδόντα ἄλλα ἀποπιμπλάναι αὐτοῦ τὸν θυμόν.
For this deed, indeed, of all the kings who had yet ruled Egypt, they praise Mycerinus the most. For they say that he not only judged other matters well, but also, if anyone complained of his judgment, he would satisfy his anger by giving him other things from his own property.
ἐόντι δὲ ἠπίῳ τῷ Μυκερίνῳ3 κατὰ τοὺς πολιήτας καὶ ταῦτα ἐπιτηδεύοντι πρῶτον κακῶν ἄρξαι τὴν θυγατέρα ἀποθανοῦσαν αὐτοῦ, τὴν μοῦνόν οἱ εἶναι ἐν τοῖσι οἰκίοισι τέκνον. τὸν δὲ ὑπεραλγήσαντά τε τῷ περιεπεπτώκεε πρήγματι, καὶ βουλόμενον περισσότερόν τι τῶν ἄλλων θάψαι τὴν θυγατέρα, ποιήσασθαι4 βοῦν ξυλίνην κοίλην, καὶ ἔπειτα καταχρυσώσαντά μιν ταύτην ἔσω ἐν αὐτῇ θάψαι ταύτην δὴ τὴν ἀποθανοῦσαν θυγατέρα.
But while Mycerinus was gentle toward his citizens and practiced these things, the first of his misfortunes was the death of his daughter, who was his only child in his house. Grieving excessively at the calamity that had befallen him, and wishing to bury his daughter more magnificently than anyone else, he had a hollow wooden cow made, and then, having covered it with gold, he buried this very daughter who had died inside it.
- 2.129.1τῷ
Dative of the relative pronoun, functioning as a dative of interest or reference ("to him") with the following infinitive phrase, particularly with ἀπαδεῖν ("to be displeasing").
- 2.129.1τὸν δὲ
Accusative masculine singular of the demonstrative pronoun with δὲ, introducing "but he" as a new subject, functioning as the subject accusative of the following infinitive constructions (ἀνοῖξαι, ἀνεῖναι, κρίνειν).
- 2.129.3ἐόντι δὲ ἠπίῳ τῷ Μυκερίνῳ
Dative present participle combined with a dative noun. Although it resembles an absolute construction (like a genitive absolute), it functions here as a dative of interest ("for Mycerinus, while he was..."), indicating the person affected by the following event (ἄρξαι).
- 2.129.3ποιήσασθαι
Aorist middle infinitive of ποιέω, expressing the causative or benefactive middle force ("to have made for himself" or "to order to be made").