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Herodotus · Histories §2.107.1-2.107.2

Plot of Sesostris' Brother and His Escape

Passage 323 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Upon his return to Egypt, Sesostris faces an assassination plot by fire set by his own brother, but escapes by sacrificing two of his six children on the advice of his wife.

§2.107.1τοῦτον δὴ τὸν Αἰγύπτιον Σέσωστριν ἀναχωρέοντα καὶ ἀνάγοντα πολλοὺς ἀνθρώπους τῶν ἐθνέων τῶν τὰς χώρας κατεστρέψατο, ἔλεγον οἱ ἱρέες, ἐπείτε ἐγίνετο ἀνακομιζόμενος ἐν Δάφνῃσι τῇσι Πηλουσίῃσι, τὸν ἀδελφεὸν ἑωυτοῦ, τῷ ἐπέτρεψε ὁ Σέσωστρις τὴν Αἴγυπτον, τοῦτον ἐπὶ ξείνια αὐτὸν καλέσαντα καὶ πρὸς αὐτῷ τοὺς παῖδας περινῆσαι ἔξωθεν τὴν οἰκίην ὕλῃ, περινήσαντα δὲ ὑποπρῆσαι.
The priests said that when this Egyptian Sesostris was returning and bringing with him many people from the nations whose lands he had conquered, upon his arrival at Pelusian Daphnae, his own brother, to whom Sesostris had entrusted Egypt, invited him and his children along with him to a banquet, piled up wood all around the outside of the house, and having piled it up, set fire to it.
§2.107.2τὸν δὲ ὡς μαθεῖν τοῦτο, αὐτίκα συμβουλεύεσθαι τῇ γυναικί· καὶ γὰρ δὴ καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτὸν ἅμα ἄγεσθαι· τὴν δέ οἱ συμβουλεῦσαι τῶν παίδων ἐόντων ἓξ τοὺς δύο ἐπὶ τὴν πυρὴν ἐκτείναντα γεφυρῶσαι τὸ καιόμενον, αὐτοὺς δὲ ἐπʼ ἐκείνων ἐπιβαίνοντας ἐκσώζεσθαι.
They said that when Sesostris realized this, he at once consulted his wife, for indeed he had brought his wife along with him; and she advised him, since they had six children, to stretch out two of them over the pyre and bridge the burning gap, so that they themselves might step upon them and escape.
ταῦτα ποιῆσαι τὸν Σέσωστριν, καὶ δύο μὲν τῶν παίδων κατακαῆναι τρόπῳ τοιούτῳ, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς ἀποσωθῆναι ἅμα τῷ πατρί.
Sesostris did this, and while two of his children were burned to death in this manner, the rest were saved together with their father.

Notes

  1. §2.107.1τοῦτον δὴ τὸν Αἰγύπτιον Σέσωστριν — The accusative 'this Egyptian Sesostris' at the very beginning of the sentence is introduced as the subject of the indirect discourse depending on the main verb 'ἔλεγον'. Due to the long intervening temporal clause ('ἐπείτε...'), the syntax is resumed with the pronoun 'τοῦτον' referring to the brother. The initial accusative functions as a prolepsis, introducing the main topic of the narrative before the actual grammatical structure is fully developed.
  2. §2.107.2ὡς μαθεῖν — A characteristic Herodotean construction where an infinitive ('μαθεῖν') is used instead of an indicative verb in a subordinate temporal clause ('ὡς...') within indirect discourse. Similarly, the subsequent verbs 'συμβουλεύεσθαι' and 'ἄγεσθαι' are also infinitives in indirect discourse.
  3. §2.107.2τῶν παίδων ἐόντων ἓξ — Meaning 'of the children, who were six in number'. The genitive 'τῶν παίδων' agrees with the present participle 'ἐόντων' (Ionic dialect for 'ὄντων') and functions as a partitive genitive in relation to the subsequent 'τοὺς δύο' (two of them). The phrase sets the background context.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §2.107.1-2.107.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.107.1-2.107.2

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