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Herodotus · Histories §2.141.1-2.141.6

Reign of Sethos and the Miracle of the Field Mice

Passage 363 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The priest of Hephaestus, Sethos, becomes king but deprives the warrior class of their privileges, leading them to refuse to fight when Sennacherib invades. Encouraged by a divine dream, Sethos leads an army of commoners to Pelusium, where a plague of field-mice destroys the enemy's weapons in the night, securing an Egyptian victory.

§2.141.1μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον βασιλεῦσαι τὸν ἱρέα τοῦ Ἡφαίστου, τῷ οὔνομα εἶναι Σεθῶν·
After him, they said, the priest of Hephaestus, whose name was Sethos, became king.
τὸν ἐν ἀλογίῃσι ἔχειν παραχρησάμενον τῶν μαχίμων Αἰγυπτίων ὡς οὐδὲν δεησόμενον αὐτῶν, ἄλλα τε δὴ ἄτιμα ποιεῦντα ἐς αὐτούς, καί σφεας ἀπελέσθαι τὰς ἀρούρας· τοῖσι ἐπὶ τῶν προτέρων βασιλέων δεδόσθαι ἐξαιρέτους ἑκάστῳ δυώδεκα ἀρούρας.
He held the warrior class of the Egyptians in no esteem and neglected them as if he would have no need of them; and besides doing other dishonorable things to them, he deprived them of their fields, twelve arouras of which had been given as a special privilege to each man under the former kings.
§2.141.2μετὰ δὲ ἐπʼ Αἴγυπτον ἐλαύνειν στρατὸν μέγαν Σαναχάριβον βασιλέα Ἀραβίων τε καὶ Ἀσσυρίων· οὔκων δὴ ἐθέλειν τοὺς μαχίμους τῶν Αἰγυπτίων βοηθέειν.
Afterwards, Sennacherib, king of the Arabs and Assyrians, marched a great army against Egypt; and so the warriors of the Egyptians refused to come to the rescue.
§2.141.3τὸν δʼ ἱρέα ἐς ἀπορίην ἀπειλημένον ἐσελθόντα ἐς τὸ μέγαρον πρὸς τὤγαλμα ἀποδύρεσθαι οἷα κινδυνεύει παθεῖν.
The priest, driven to despair, entered into the sanctuary and before the statue lamented what kind of things he was in danger of suffering.
ὀλοφυρόμενον δʼ ἄρα μιν ἐπελθεῖν ὕπνον, καί οἱ δόξαι ἐν τῇ ὄψι ἐπιστάντα τὸν θεὸν θαρσύνειν ὡς οὐδὲν πείσεται ἄχαρι ἀντιάζων τὸν Ἀραβίων στρατόν· αὐτὸς γάρ οἱ πέμψειν τιμωρούς.
As he was wailing, sleep came upon him, and it seemed to him in his vision that the god stood over him and encouraged him, saying that he would suffer nothing unpleasant when opposing the army of the Arabs, for he himself would send him helpers.
§2.141.4τούτοισι δή μιν πίσυνον τοῖσι ἐνυπνίοισι, παραλαβόντα Αἰγυπτίων τοὺς βουλομένους οἱ ἕπεσθαι, στρατοπεδεύσασθαι ἐν Πηλουσίῳ· ταύτῃ γὰρ εἰσὶ αἱ ἐσβολαί·
Trusting indeed in these dreams, he took with him those of the Egyptians who were willing to follow him and encamped at Pelusium, for this is where the entrance is.
ἕπεσθαι δέ οἱ τῶν μαχίμων μὲν οὐδένα ἀνδρῶν, καπήλους δὲ καὶ χειρώνακτας καὶ ἀγοραίους ἀνθρώπους.
But none of the warrior class followed him, only merchants, artisans, and market-folk.
§2.141.5ἐνθαῦτα ἀπικομένοισι τοῖσι ἐναντίοισι αὐτοῖσι ἐπιχυθέντας νυκτὸς μῦς ἀρουραίους κατὰ μὲν φαγεῖν τοὺς φαρετρεῶνας αὐτῶν κατὰ δὲ τὰ τόξα, πρὸς δὲ τῶν ἀσπίδων τὰ ὄχανα, ὥστε τῇ ὑστεραίῃ φευγόντων σφέων γυμνῶν πεσεῖν πολλούς.
When the opponents arrived there, field-mice swarmed upon them by night and devoured their quivers, their bows, and furthermore the handles of their shields, so that on the next day, as they fled unarmed, many of them fell.
§2.141.6καὶ νῦν οὗτος ὁ βασιλεὺς ἕστηκε ἐν τῷ ἱρῷ τοῦ Ἡφαίστου λίθινος, ἔχων ἐπὶ τῆς χειρὸς μῦν, λέγων διὰ γραμμάτων τάδε· ἐς ἐμέ τις ὁρέων εὐσεβὴς ἔστω.
And now this king stands in the temple of Hephaestus, made of stone, holding a mouse in his hand, and saying through an inscription these words: "Let anyone who looks upon me be pious."

Notes

  1. §2.141.1τὸν ἐν ἀλογίῃσι ἔχειν παραχρησάμενον τῶν μαχίμων Αἰγυπτίων ὡς οὐδὲν δεησόμενον αὐτῶν — This is an accusative with infinitive construction in indirect discourse (subject τὸν, verb ἔχειν). The participle παραχρησάμενον modifies τὸν and governs the genitive τῶν μαχίμων Αἰγυπτίων. ὡς οὐδὲν δεησόμενον is an accusative absolute (or a participle agreeing with τὸν) accompanied by ὡς, representing the subjective belief of the agent ("on the ground that he would not need them").
  2. §2.141.1σφεας ἀπελέσθαι τὰς ἀρούρας — The aorist infinitive ἀπελέσθαι (from ἀπαιρέω / ἀποαιρέω, "to deprive/take away") takes a double accusative: the person deprived (σφέας) and the thing taken away (τὰς ἀρούρας).
  3. §2.141.3ὀλοφυρόμενον δʼ ἄρα μιν ἐπελθεῖν ὕπνον — In this indirect discourse clause, the subject of the infinitive ἐπελθεῖν is ὕπνον (accusative), and the object is μιν (accusative). The present participle ὀλοφυρόμενον modifies the object μιν (referring to the priest).
  4. §2.141.5ἐνθαῦτα ἀπικομένοισι τοῖσι ἐναντίοισι αὐτοῖσι ἐπιχυθέντας νυκτὸς μῦς ἀρουραίους — The dative construction ἀπικομένοισι τοῖσι ἐναντίοισι αὐτοῖσι ("upon those enemies who had arrived there") is governed by the participle ἐπιχυθέντας ("having swarmed over", from ἐπιχέομαι, which takes a dative). The subject of this accusative-and-infinitive construction is μῦς ἀρουραίους, with which the accusative plural participle ἐπιχυθέντας agrees.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §2.141.1-2.141.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.141.1-2.141.6

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