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Herodotus · Histories §2.129.1-2.129.3

Just Rule of Mycerinus and the Death of His Daughter

Passage 351 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

King Mycerinus was highly praised for opening the temples and ruling with justice, unlike his father, but he faced his first misfortune when his only daughter died, prompting him to bury her inside a hollow gilded wooden cow.

§2.129.1μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον βασιλεῦσαι Αἰγύπτου Μυκερῖνον ἔλεγον Χέοπος παῖδα·
After him, they said, Mycerinus, the son of Cheops, became king of Egypt.
τῷ τὰ μὲν τοῦ πατρὸς ἔργα ἀπαδεῖν, τὸν δὲ τά τε ἱρὰ ἀνοῖξαι καὶ τὸν λεὼν τετρυμένον ἐς τὸ ἔσχατον κακοῦ ἀνεῖναι πρὸς ἔργα τε καὶ θυσίας, δίκας δέ σφι πάντων βασιλέων δικαιότατα κρίνειν.
To him the deeds of his father were displeasing, and he opened the temples, and released the people, who had been worn down to the utmost of misery, to return to their occupations and sacrifices, and judged lawsuits for them more justly than all the other kings.
§2.129.2κατὰ τοῦτο μέν νυν τὸ ἔργον ἁπάντων ὅσοι ἤδη βασιλέες ἐγένοντο Αἰγυπτίων αἰνέουσι μάλιστα τοῦτον.
For this deed, indeed, of all the kings who had yet ruled Egypt, they praise Mycerinus the most.
τά τε ἄλλα γάρ μιν κρίνειν εὖ, καὶ δὴ καὶ τῷ ἐπιμεμφομένῳ ἐκ τῆς δίκης παρʼ ἑωυτοῦ διδόντα ἄλλα ἀποπιμπλάναι αὐτοῦ τὸν θυμόν.
For they say that he not only judged other matters well, but also, if anyone complained of his judgment, he would satisfy his anger by giving him other things from his own property.
§2.129.3ἐόντι δὲ ἠπίῳ τῷ Μυκερίνῳ κατὰ τοὺς πολιήτας καὶ ταῦτα ἐπιτηδεύοντι πρῶτον κακῶν ἄρξαι τὴν θυγατέρα ἀποθανοῦσαν αὐτοῦ, τὴν μοῦνόν οἱ εἶναι ἐν τοῖσι οἰκίοισι τέκνον.
But while Mycerinus was gentle toward his citizens and practiced these things, the first of his misfortunes was the death of his daughter, who was his only child in his house.
τὸν δὲ ὑπεραλγήσαντά τε τῷ περιεπεπτώκεε πρήγματι, καὶ βουλόμενον περισσότερόν τι τῶν ἄλλων θάψαι τὴν θυγατέρα, ποιήσασθαι βοῦν ξυλίνην κοίλην, καὶ ἔπειτα καταχρυσώσαντά μιν ταύτην ἔσω ἐν αὐτῇ θάψαι ταύτην δὴ τὴν ἀποθανοῦσαν θυγατέρα.
Grieving excessively at the calamity that had befallen him, and wishing to bury his daughter more magnificently than anyone else, he had a hollow wooden cow made, and then, having covered it with gold, he buried this very daughter who had died inside it.

Notes

  1. 2.129.1τῷ — Dative of the relative pronoun, functioning as a dative of interest or reference ("to him") with the following infinitive phrase, particularly with ἀπαδεῖν ("to be displeasing").
  2. 2.129.1τὸν δὲ — Accusative masculine singular of the demonstrative pronoun with δὲ, introducing "but he" as a new subject, functioning as the subject accusative of the following infinitive constructions (ἀνοῖξαι, ἀνεῖναι, κρίνειν).
  3. 2.129.3ἐόντι δὲ ἠπίῳ τῷ Μυκερίνῳ — Dative present participle combined with a dative noun. Although it resembles an absolute construction (like a genitive absolute), it functions here as a dative of interest ("for Mycerinus, while he was..."), indicating the person affected by the following event (ἄρξαι).
  4. 2.129.3ποιήσασθαι — Aorist middle infinitive of ποιέω, expressing the causative or benefactive middle force ("to have made for himself" or "to order to be made").

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §2.129.1-2.129.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.129.1-2.129.3

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