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Herodotus · Histories §2.102.1-2.102.5

Sesostris' Expeditions and the Erected Pillars

Passage 318 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

King Sesostris subdued the coastal peoples of the Erythraean Sea by ship and marched across the mainland, erecting pillars that signified either bravery or cowardice, using female genitals for those who surrendered without a fight.

§2.102.1παραμειψάμενος ὦν τούτους τοῦ ἐπὶ τούτοισι γενομένου βασιλέος, τῷ οὔνομα ἦν Σέσωστρις, τούτου μνήμην ποιήσομαι·
Passing over these kings, therefore, I will make mention of the king who came after them, whose name was Sesostris.
§2.102.2τὸν ἔλεγον οἱ ἱρέες πρῶτον μὲν πλοίοισι μακροῖσι ὁρμηθέντα ἐκ τοῦ Ἀραβίου κόλπου τοὺς παρὰ τὴν Ἐρυθρὴν θάλασσαν κατοικημένους καταστρέφεσθαι, ἐς ὃ πλέοντά μιν πρόσω ἀπικέσθαι ἐς θάλασσαν οὐκέτι πλωτὴν ὑπὸ βραχέων.
The priests said that he, setting out first with long ships from the Arabian Gulf, subdued those who dwelt along the Erythraean Sea, until, sailing further, he reached a sea that was no longer navigable because of shoals.
§2.102.3ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ ὡς ὀπίσω ἀπίκετο ἐς Αἴγυπτον, κατὰ τῶν ἱρέων τὴν φάτιν, πολλὴν στρατιὴν τῶν λαβὼν ἤλαυνε διὰ τῆς ἠπείρου, πᾶν ἔθνος τὸ ἐμποδὼν καταστρεφόμενος.
From there, when he returned to Egypt, according to the report of the priests, he took a large army of them and marched through the mainland, subduing every nation that stood in his way.
§2.102.4ὁτέοισι μέν νυν αὐτῶν ἀλκίμοισι ἐνετύγχανε καὶ δεινῶς γλιχομένοισι περὶ τῆς ἐλευθερίης, τούτοισι μὲν στήλας ἐνίστη ἐς τὰς χώρας διὰ γραμμάτων λεγούσας τό τε ἑωυτοῦ οὔνομα καὶ τῆς πάτρης, καὶ ὡς δυνάμι τῇ ἑωυτοῦ κατεστρέψατο σφέας·
Now, whichever of these nations he encountered that were brave and strove fiercely for their freedom, in their lands he set up pillars with inscriptions declaring his own name and that of his country, and how he had subdued them by his own power.
§2.102.5ὅτεων δὲ ἀμαχητὶ καὶ εὐπετέως παρέλαβε τὰς πόλιας, τούτοισι δὲ ἐνέγραφε ἐν τῇσι στήλῃσι κατὰ ταὐτὰ καὶ τοῖσι ἀνδρηίοισι τῶν ἐθνέων γενομένοισι, καὶ δὴ καὶ αἰδοῖα γυναικὸς προσενέγραφε, δῆλα βουλόμενος ποιέειν ὡς εἴησαν ἀνάλκιδες.
But in the case of those whose cities he took without a fight and easily, he inscribed on their pillars the same things as for those nations that had proved courageous, and moreover, he also engraved the private parts of a woman, wishing to make it clear that they were cowardly.

Notes

  1. §2.102.1τοῦ ἐπὶ τούτοισι γενομένου βασιλέος — The preposition ἐπί followed by the dative case denotes temporal sequence, meaning 'after'. Thus, it refers to 'the king who arose after these kings'.
  2. §2.102.2τὸν ἔλεγον οἱ ἱρέες ... καταστρέφεσθαι — The accusative relative pronoun τὸν serves as the subject of the infinitive καταστρέφεσθαι in the accusative-and-infinitive construction (A.C.I.) dependent on the main verb ἔλεγον ('the priests said').
  3. §2.102.2ὑπὸ βραχέων — The neuter plural substantive βραχέα (meaning 'shoals' or 'shallows') is used with the preposition ὑπό and the genitive case to denote the cause or obstacle ('because of shoals').
  4. §2.102.3πολλὴν στρατιὴν τῶν λαβὼν — The genitive pronoun τῶν functions as a partitive genitive referring to the nations subdued just beforehand, meaning 'taking a large army from among them'.
  5. §2.102.4ὁτέοισι — The Ionic form of the dative masculine plural of the indefinite relative pronoun ὅστις (equivalent to Attic οἷστισι). Similarly, ὅτεων in §2.102.5 is the Ionic form of ὧντινων.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §2.102.1-2.102.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.102.1-2.102.5

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