- 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-grc2:2.134.1-2.134.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-07
The author describes the dimensions of the smaller pyramid left by King Mycerinus, refutes the Greek claim that it belonged to the courtesan Rhodopis, and explains her historical background and connection with Aesop as slaves of Iadmon.
πυραμίδα δὲ οὗτος ἀπελίπετο πολλὸν ἐλάσσω τοῦ πατρός, εἴκοσι ποδῶν καταδέουσαν κῶλον ἕκαστον τριῶν πλέθρων,1 ἐούσης τετραγώνου, λίθου δὲ ἐς τὸ ἥμισυ Αἰθιοπικοῦ· τὴν δὴ μετεξέτεροι φασὶ Ἑλλήνων Ῥοδώπιος ἑταίρης γυναικὸς εἶναι, οὐκ ὀρθῶς λέγοντες.
This king left a pyramid much smaller than his father’s, which was square, each side being three plethra, lacking twenty feet, and made of Ethiopian stone up to half its height. This pyramid indeed some Greeks say belongs to Rhodopis, the courtesan, but they do not speak correctly.
οὐδὲ ὦν οὐδὲ εἰδότες μοι φαίνονται λέγειν οὗτοι ἥτις ἦν ἡ Ῥοδῶπις· οὐ γὰρ ἄν οἱ πυραμίδα ἀνέθεσαν ποιήσασθαι τοιαύτην,2 ἐς τὴν ταλάντων χιλιάδες ἀναρίθμητοι ὡς λόγῳ εἰπεῖν ἀναισίμωνται· πρὸς δὲ ὅτι κατὰ Ἄμασιν βασιλεύοντα ἦν ἀκμάζουσα Ῥοδῶπις, ἀλλʼ οὐ κατὰ τοῦτον.
Indeed, they do not seem to me even to know who Rhodopis was; for they would not have attributed to her the making of such a pyramid, upon which, so to speak, countless thousands of talents were spent. Moreover, Rhodopis was at her height during the reign of Amasis, and not during the time of this king.
ἔτεσι γὰρ κάρτα πολλοῖσι ὕστερον τούτων τῶν βασιλέων τῶν τὰς πυραμίδας ταύτας ἦν λιπομένων Ῥοδῶπις, γενεὴν μὲν ἀπὸ Θρηίκης, δούλη δὲ ἦν Ἰάδμονος τοῦ Ἡφαιστοπόλιος ἀνδρὸς Σαμίου, σύνδουλος δὲ Αἰσώπου τοῦ λογοποιοῦ. καὶ γὰρ οὗτος Ἰάδμονος ἐγένετο, ὡς διέδεξε τῇδε οὐκ ἥκιστα·3
For Rhodopis lived very many years later than these kings who left these pyramids; she was by birth from Thrace, and was a slave of Iadmon, the son of Hephaestopolis, a Samian, and a fellow-slave of Aesop the story-writer. For indeed Aesop also belonged to Iadmon, as was shown most clearly by this:
ἐπείτε γὰρ πολλάκις κηρυσσόντων Δελφῶν ἐκ θεοπροπίου ὃς βούλοιτο ποινὴν τῆς Αἰσώπου ψυχῆς ἀνελέσθαι,4 ἄλλος μὲν οὐδεὶς ἐφάνη, Ἰάδμονος δὲ παιδὸς παῖς ἄλλος Ἰάδμων ἀνείλετο. οὕτω καὶ Αἴσωπος Ἰάδμονος ἐγένετο.
when the Delphians, in accordance with an oracle, repeatedly made a proclamation asking if anyone wished to accept compensation for the life of Aesop, no one else appeared, but another Iadmon, the grandson of the first Iadmon, took it up. Thus Aesop too is shown to have belonged to Iadmon.
- 2.134.1εἴκοσι ποδῶν καταδέουσαν κῶλον ἕκαστον τριῶν πλέθρων
The participle 'καταδέουσαν' is feminine accusative singular, modifying 'πυραμίδα'. It means 'lacking', with the measure of deficit in the genitive 'εἴκοσι ποδῶν'. The standard of reference is expressed by the genitive 'τριῶν πλέθρων'. 'κῶλον ἕκαστον' is an accusative of specification, meaning 'each side'. Thus, the phrase means 'each side being twenty feet short of three plethra' (i.e., 280 feet).
- 2.134.2οὐ γὰρ ἄν οἱ πυραμίδα ἀνέθεσαν ποιήσασθαι τοιαύτην
A past contrafactual construction using 'ἄν' with the aorist indicative 'ἀνέθεσαν' (from 'ἀνατίθημι', to attribute or dedicate). 'οἱ' is the dative of the third-person pronoun, equivalent to 'αὐτῇ' (to her). 'ποιήσασθαι' is an indirect middle infinitive meaning 'to have (something) made for oneself'. The clause means 'for they would not have attributed to her the having made of such a pyramid,' supporting the argument that she could not have built it.
- 2.134.3ὡς διέδεξε τῇδε οὐκ ἥκιστα
The verb 'διέδεξε' (from 'διαδείκνυμι') is used here impersonally ('it became clear') or intransitively ('it showed'). The dative demonstrative pronoun 'τῇδε' ('by this' / 'in this way') functions proleptically, pointing forward to the following 'ἐπείτε' clause. 'οὐκ ἥκιστα' is a litotes meaning 'not least' or 'especially', used for strong emphasis.
- 2.134.4ὃς βούλοιτο ποινὴν τῆς Αἰσώπου ψυχῆς ἀνελέσθαι
The clause 'ὃς βούλοιτο' uses the optative in a relative clause of past generalization ('whoever wished') or as an oblique optative depending on a past leading verb. 'ποινὴν' refers to the blood-money or compensation for a slaying. 'τῆς Αἰσώπου ψυχῆς' is an objective genitive meaning 'for the soul (life) of Aesop'.