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Herodotus · Histories §2.139.1-2.139.3

Sabacos' Dream and Departure from Egypt

Passage 361 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Sabacos had a dream in which he was advised to cut the priests in half, but interpreting this as a trial from the gods and noting that the fifty-year rule foretold by the oracle had expired, he voluntarily departed from Egypt.

§2.139.1τέλος δὲ τῆς ἀπαλλαγῆς τοῦ Αἰθίοπος ὧδε ἔλεγον γενέσθαι· ὄψιν ἐν τῷ ὕπνῳ τοιήνδε ἰδόντα αὐτὸν οἴχεσθαι φεύγοντα·
And they said that the end of the departure of the Ethiopian came about in this way: that having seen such a vision in his sleep, he fled away.
ἐδόκέε οἱ ἄνδρα ἐπιστάντα συμβουλεύειν τοὺς ἱρέας τοὺς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ συλλέξαντα πάντας μέσους διαταμεῖν.
It seemed to him that a man stood over him and advised him to assemble all the priests in Egypt and cut them in half.
§2.139.2ἰδόντα δὲ τὴν ὄψιν ταύτην λέγειν αὐτὸν ὡς πρόφασίν οἱ δοκέοι ταύτην τοὺς θεοὺς προδεικνύναι, ἵνα ἀσεβήσας περὶ τὰ ἱρὰ κακόν τι πρὸς θεῶν ἢ πρὸς ἀνθρώπων λάβοι· οὔκων ποιήσειν ταῦτα, ἀλλὰ γάρ οἱ ἐξεληλυθέναι τὸν χρόνον, ὁκόσον κεχρῆσθαι ἄρξαντα Αἰγύπτου ἐκχωρήσειν.
Having seen this vision, he said that it seemed to him that the gods were presenting this as a pretext, so that by committing impiety toward the temples he might receive some evil from gods or from men; therefore he would not do this, but rather the time had expired for him, as much as it had been prophesied that he should rule Egypt and then depart.
§2.139.3ἐν γὰρ τῇ Αἰθιοπίῃ ἐόντι αὐτῷ τὰ μαντήια, τοῖσι χρέωνται Αἰθίοπες, ἀνεῖλε ὡς δέοι αὐτὸν Αἰγύπτου βασιλεῦσαι ἔτεα πεντήκοντα.
For while he was in Ethiopia, the oracles which the Ethiopians use declared to him that he must rule Egypt for fifty years.
ὡς ὦν ὁ χρόνος οὗτος ἐξήιε καὶ αὐτὸν ἡ ὄψις τοῦ ἐνυπνίου ἐπετάρασσε, ἑκὼν ἀπαλλάσσετο ἐκ τῆς Αἰγύπτου ὁ Σαβακῶς.
When, therefore, this time was expiring and the vision of the dream was troubling him, Sabacos departed from Egypt of his own free will.

Notes

  1. 2.139.1ὧδε ἔλεγον γενέσθαι — The main verb ἔλεγον ('they said') introduces the indirect discourse (accusative with infinitive) that continues through the end of 2.139.2. The following οἴχεσθαι is also an infinitive dependent on this construction.
  2. 2.139.1συλλέξαντα — An accusative singular masculine participle agreeing with the implied subject (Sabacos) of the infinitive διαταμεῖν ('to cut in half'). Although the pronoun referring to Sabacos in the main clause is the dative οἱ, the subject of the infinitive διαταμεῖν is conceived in the accusative, which dictates the case of the participle.
  3. 2.139.2δοκέοι — An oblique optative (optativus obliquus) in the indirect discourse (introduced by ὡς). It is used after the past tenses of the main narrative (ἔλεγον, λέγειν) representing what would be an indicative imperfect (or present) in direct speech.
  4. 2.139.2ὁκόσον κεχρῆσθαι — Although within a subordinate clause introduced by the relative ὁκόσον, the verb appears as a perfect passive infinitive of χράω ('to declare by oracle') because the indirect discourse is maintained.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §2.139.1-2.139.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.139.1-2.139.3

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