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Herodotus · Histories §2.172.1-2.172.5

Accession of Amasis and the Story of the Golden Foot-Basin

Passage 394 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

After the fall of Apries, Amasis, a commoner, becomes king. He wins over the Egyptians, who initially despised him, by using the analogy of a golden foot-basin recast into a worshipped divine image.

§2.172.1Ἀπρίεω δὲ ὧδε καταραιρημένου ἐβασίλευσε Ἄμασις, νομοῦ μὲν Σαΐτεω ἐών, ἐκ τῆς δὲ ἦν πόλιος, οὔνομά οἱ ἐστὶ Σιούφ.
After Apries had been overthrown in this manner, Amasis became king; he was of the district of Sais, and the city from which he came was named Siuph.
§2.172.2τὰ μὲν δὴ πρῶτα κατώνοντο τὸν Ἄμασιν Αἰγύπτιοι καὶ ἐν οὐδεμιῇ μοίρῃ μεγάλῃ ἦγον ἅτε δὴ δημότην τὸ πρὶν ἐόντα καὶ οἰκίης οὐκ ἐπιφανέος· μετὰ δὲ σοφίῃ αὐτοὺς ὁ Ἄμασις, οὐκ ἀγνωμοσύνῃ προσηγάγετο.
At first indeed the Egyptians despised Amasis and held him in no great respect, seeing that he had formerly been a commoner and of an undistinguished house; but afterwards Amasis won them over by wisdom and not by harshness.
§2.172.3ἦν οἱ ἄλλα τε ἀγαθὰ μυρία, ἐν δὲ καὶ ποδανιπτὴρ χρύσεος, ἐν τῷ αὐτός τε ὁ Ἄμασις καὶ οἱ δαιτυμόνες οἱ πάντες τοὺς πόδας ἑκάστοτε ἐναπενίζοντο·
He had among countless other treasures a golden foot-basin, in which Amasis himself and all his guests were accustomed on each occasion to wash their feet.
τοῦτον κατʼ ὦν κόψας ἄγαλμα δαίμονος ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἐποιήσατο, καὶ ἵδρυσε τῆς πόλιος ὅκου ἦν ἐπιτηδεότατον· οἱ δὲ Αἰγύπτιοι φοιτέοντες πρὸς τὤγαλμα ἐσέβοντο μεγάλως.
Breaking this up, therefore, he made from it an image of a god, and set it up in the most suitable place of the city; and the Egyptians, frequenting the image, worshipped it greatly.
§2.172.4μαθὼν δὲ ὁ Ἄμασις τὸ ἐκ τῶν ἀστῶν ποιεύμενον, συγκαλέσας Αἰγυπτίους ἐξέφηνε φὰς ἐκ τοῦ ποδανιπτῆρος τὤγαλμα γεγονέναι, ἐς τὸν πρότερον μὲν τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους ἐνεμέειν τε καὶ ἐνουρέειν καὶ πόδας ἐναπονίζεσθαι, τότε δὲ μεγάλως σέβεσθαι.
When Amasis learned of that which was being done by the citizens, he called the Egyptians together and revealed the matter, saying that the image had been made from the foot-basin, into which formerly the Egyptians used to vomit and urinate and wash their feet, but which they now worshipped greatly.
§2.172.5ἤδη ὦν ἔφη λέγων ὁμοίως αὐτὸς τῷ ποδανιπτῆρι πεπρηγέναι· εἰ γὰρ πρότερον εἶναι δημότης, ἀλλʼ ἐν τῷ παρεόντι εἶναι αὐτῶν βασιλεύς· καὶ τιμᾶν τε καὶ προμηθέεσθαι ἑωυτοῦ ἐκέλευε.
And so he said, speaking to them, that he himself had now fared similarly to the foot-basin; for even if he had been a commoner before, yet at the present time he was their king; and he commanded them to honor and have regard for him.

Notes

  1. 2.172.1καταραιρημένου — Ionic perfect passive participle, genitive masculine singular, of the verb κατααιρέω (corresponding to Attic καθαιρέω 'to pull down, overthrow'). It corresponds to Attic καθῃρημένου.
  2. 2.172.1ἐκ τῆς δὲ ἦν πόλιος — Here τῆς acts as a relative pronoun (or relative adjective with the preposition ἐκ). The antecedent πόλιος is attracted into the relative clause, meaning 'and the city from which he came.'
  3. 2.172.3κατʼ ὦν κόψας — An example of tmesis, where the Ionic particle ὦν (= οὖν) is inserted between the prefix and the verb of the compound κατακόπτω ('to cut up, break up').
  4. 2.172.5εἰ γὰρ πρότερον εἶναι δημότης — In indirect discourse introduced by ἔφη, the infinitive εἶναι is used in the subordinate clause (the conditional εἰ-clause) instead of an indicative. This is a characteristic construction in Herodotus where subordinate clauses in indirect speech also take the infinitive.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §2.172.1-2.172.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.172.1-2.172.5

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