- 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-grc2:2.181.1-2.181.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
King Amasis allies with Cyrene and marries Ladice, but threatens her under suspicion of witchcraft due to temporary impotence. Her vow to Aphrodite resolves the issue, and later, Cambyses conquers Egypt and sends her back unharmed.
Κυρηναίοισι δὲ Ἄμασις φιλότητά τε καὶ συμμαχίην συνεθήκατο, ἐδικαίωσε δὲ καὶ γῆμαι αὐτόθεν, εἴτʼ ἐπιθυμήσας Ἑλληνίδος γυναικὸς εἴτε καὶ ἄλλως φιλότητος Κυρηναίων εἵνεκα·
Amasis made a treaty of friendship and alliance with the Cyrenaeans, and decided also to take a wife from there, whether because he desired a Greek wife, or simply for the sake of friendship with the Cyrenaeans.
γαμέει δὲ ὦν οἳ μὲν λέγουσι Βάττου οἳ δʼ Ἀρκεσίλεω θυγατέρα, οἳ δὲ Κριτοβούλου ἀνδρὸς τῶν ἀστῶν δοκίμου, τῇ οὔνομα ἦν Λαδίκη· τῇ ἐπείτε συγκλίνοιτο ὁ Ἄμασις, μίσγεσθαι οὐκ οἷός τε ἐγίνετο, τῇσι δὲ ἄλλῃσι γυναιξὶ ἐχρᾶτο.
In any case, he married her; some say she was the daughter of Battus, others of Arcesilaus, and others of Critobulus, a distinguished citizen, and her name was Ladice. Whenever Amasis lay down with her, he was unable to have intercourse, though he had intercourse with his other wives.
ἐπείτε δὲ πολλὸν τοῦτο ἐγίνετο, εἶπε ὁ Ἄμασις πρὸς τὴν Λαδίκην ταύτην καλεομένην, ὦ γύναι, κατά με ἐφάρμαξας,1 καὶ ἔστι τοι οὐδεμία μηχανὴ μὴ οὐκ ἀπολωλέναι2 κάκιστα γυναικῶν πασέων.
When this had happened many times, Amasis said to this woman called Ladice: “Woman, you have cast a spell on me, and there is no way for you to avoid dying the most wretched death of all women.”
ἡ δὲ Λαδίκη, ἐπείτε οἱ ἀρνευμένῃ οὐδὲν ἐγίνετο πρηΰτερος ὁ Ἄμασις, εὔχεται ἐν τῷ νόῳ τῇ Ἀφροδίτῃ, ἤν οἱ ὑπʼ ἐκείνην τὴν νύκτα μιχθῇ ὁ Ἄμασις, τοῦτο γάρ οἱ κακοῦ εἶναι3 μῆχος, ἄγαλμά οἱ ἀποπέμψειν ἐς Κυρήνην. μετὰ δὲ τὴν εὐχὴν αὐτίκα οἱ ἐμίχθη ὁ Ἄμασις. καὶ τὸ ἐνθεῦτεν ἤδη, ὁκότε ἔλθοι Ἄμασις πρὸς αὐτήν, ἐμίσγετο, καὶ κάρτα μιν ἔστερξε μετὰ τοῦτο.
Ladice, when Amasis grew no gentler despite her denials, prayed in her heart to Aphrodite that if Amasis should have intercourse with her that night (for this was her only remedy against the disaster), she would send an image of her to Cyrene. Immediately after the prayer, Amasis had intercourse with her. And from then on, whenever Amasis came to her, he had intercourse, and he loved her dearly after this.
ἡ δὲ Λαδίκη ἀπέδωκε τὴν εὐχὴν τῇ θεῷ· ποιησαμένη γὰρ ἄγαλμα ἀπέπεμψε ἐς Κυρήνην, τὸ ἔτι καὶ ἐς ἐμὲ ἦν σόον, ἔξω τετραμμένον τοῦ Κυρηναίων ἄστεος. ταύτην τὴν Λαδίκην, ὡς ἐπεκράτησε Καμβύσης Αἰγύπτου καὶ ἐπύθετο αὐτῆς ἥτις εἴη, ἀπέπεμψε ἀσινέα ἐς Κυρήνην.
And Ladice paid her vow to the goddess; for she had an image made and sent it to Cyrene, which was still safe in my time, facing outward from the city of the Cyrenaeans. As for this Ladice, when Cambyses conquered Egypt and learned who she was, he sent her back unharmed to Cyrene.
- 2.181.3κατά με ἐφάρμαξας
An example of tmesis, where the pronoun με is inserted between the preposition κατά and the verb ἐφάρμαξας. It has the same meaning as the compound verb κατεφαρμάσσω (to administer drugs or cast a spell upon).
- 2.181.3μὴ οὐκ ἀπολωλέναι
The construction of μὴ οὐ with an infinitive following a negative expression containing the idea of preventing or avoiding (οὐδεμία μηχανὴ [ἔστι], "there is no way"). It functions as a double negative, emphasizing that something cannot fail to happen ("to avoid dying" i.e., "that you will certainly die").
- 2.181.4εἶναι
The infinitive εἶναι is used in a γάρ clause expressing a reason. This is due to the continuation of indirect speech (oratio obliqua) representing her thoughts, dependent on the main verb εὔχεται (prayed).