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Herodotus · Histories §2.100.1-2.100.4

List of 330 Kings and the Revenge of Queen Nitocris

Passage 316 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Following King Min, the priests read the names of 330 subsequent rulers, including the sole female ruler Nitocris. She is said to have avenged her brother's murder by drowning numerous Egyptians in a subterranean banquet before taking her own life in a chamber of ash.

§2.100.1μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον κατέλεγον οἱ ἱρέες ἐκ βύβλου ἄλλων βασιλέων τριηκοσίων καὶ τριήκοντα οὐνόματα.
After this king, the priests read off from a papyrus roll the names of three hundred and thirty other kings.
ἐν τοσαύτῃσι δὲ γενεῇσι ἀνθρώπων ὀκτωκαίδεκα μὲν Αἰθίοπες ἦσαν, μία δὲ γυνὴ ἐπιχωρίη, οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι ἄνδρες Αἰγύπτιοι.
In so many generations of men, eighteen were Ethiopians, and one was a native woman, and the others were Egyptian men.
§2.100.2τῇ δὲ γυναικὶ οὔνομα ἦν, ἥτις ἐβασίλευσε, τό περ τῇ Βαβυλωνίῃ, Νίτωκρις·
The woman who ruled had the same name as the Babylonian queen, namely Nitocris.
τὴν ἔλεγον τιμωρέουσαν ἀδελφεῷ, τὸν Αἰγύπτιοι βασιλεύοντα σφέων ἀπέκτειναν, ἀποκτείναντες δὲ οὕτω ἐκείνῃ ἀπέδοσαν τὴν βασιληίην, τούτῳ τιμωρέουσαν πολλοὺς Αἰγυπτίων διαφθεῖραι δόλῳ.
They said that she, seeking vengeance for her brother—whom the Egyptians had killed when he was reigning over them, and having killed him, they then handed the kingship over to her—avenging him, destroyed many of the Egyptians by guile.
§2.100.3ποιησαμένην γάρ μιν οἴκημα περίμηκες ὑπόγαιον καινοῦν τῷ λόγῳ, νόῳ δὲ ἄλλα μηχανᾶσθαι· καλέσασαν δέ μιν Αἰγυπτίων τοὺς μάλιστα μεταιτίους τοῦ φόνου ᾔδεε πολλοὺς ἱστιᾶν, δαινυμένοισι δὲ ἐπεῖναι τὸν ποταμὸν διʼ αὐλῶνος κρυπτοῦ μεγάλου.
For they said that she made a very long underground chamber, ostensibly to inaugurate it, but in her mind she was plotting other things; and having invited many of the Egyptians, those who were chiefly responsible for the murder, she feasted them, and while they were feasting, she let the river in upon them through a great hidden pipe.
§2.100.4ταύτης μὲν πέρι τοσαῦτα ἔλεγον, πλὴν ὅτι αὐτήν μιν, ὡς τοῦτο ἐξέργαστο, ῥίψαι ἐς οἴκημα σποδοῦ πλέον, ὅκως ἀτιμώρητος γένηται.
About her they said only this much, except that when she had accomplished this, she threw herself into a chamber full of ash, so that she might escape punishment.

Notes

  1. §2.100.2τιμωρέουσαν ἀδελφεῷ — The verb τιμωρέω ("to avenge") takes the dative case for the person avenged (ἀδελφεῷ). The phrase is repeated later in §2.100.2 as τούτῳ τιμωρέουσαν ("avenging him"), emphasizing her motive of revenge.
  2. §2.100.3μιν — The Ionic form of the third-person singular accusative pronoun (equivalent to αὐτήν). In the phrase "ποιησαμένην γάρ μιν", it functions as the subject accusative of the infinitive construction (indirect speech) continuing from the verb ἔλεγον in the previous section.
  3. §2.100.3ᾔδεε — The Ionic pluperfect form of οἶδα (corresponding to Attic ᾔδει), meaning "she knew [how]" or "she was minded/intended" when governing the infinitive ἱστιᾶν ("to feast/entertain").
  4. §2.100.4αὐτήν μιν — A combination of the intensive pronoun αὐτήν and the personal pronoun μιν, functioning as a reinforced reflexive pronoun equivalent to ἑαυτήν ("herself").

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §2.100.1-2.100.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.100.1-2.100.4

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