Humanitext Reader

Diodorus Siculus · Bibliotheca Historica §1.59.1-1.59.4

The Blindness and Cure of the Son of Sesoosis

Passage 60 of 406 · Greek

Summary

The son of Sesōosis succeeds to the throne and takes his father's name, but suffers from blindness. Following an oracle, he recovers his sight with the urine of a faithful gardener's wife, burns the unfaithful women alive, and dedicates giant obelisks to the god in Heliopolis.

§1.59.1ὁ δʼ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ διαδεξάμενος τὴν βασιλείαν καὶ τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς προσηγορίαν ἑαυτῷ περιθέμενος πρᾶξιν μὲν πολεμικὴν ἢ μνήμης ἀξίαν οὐδʼ ἡντινοῦν συνετελέσατο, συμπτώματι δὲ περιέπεσεν ἰδιάζοντι.
His son, having succeeded to the kingdom and assumed his father's name, accomplished no military deed or action worthy of memory whatsoever, but fell into a peculiar misfortune.
§1.59.2ἐστερήθη μὲν γὰρ τῆς ὁράσεως εἴτε διὰ τὴν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα τῆς φύσεως κοινωνίαν εἴθʼ, ὥς τινες μυθολογοῦσι, διὰ τὴν εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν ἀσέβειαν, ἐν ᾧ χειμαζόμενός ποτε τὸ φερόμενον ῥεῦμα κατηκόντισε· διὰ δὲ τὴν ἀτυχίαν ἀναγκασθεὶς καταφυγεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν τῶν θεῶν βοήθειαν, ἐπὶ χρόνους ἱκανοὺς πλείσταις θυσίαις καὶ τιμαῖς τὸ θεῖον ἐξιλασκόμενος λασκόμενος οὐδεμιᾶς ἐτύγχανε πολυωρίας·
For he was deprived of his sight, either because of his natural affinity with his father, or, as some mythologize, because of his impiety toward the river, into which, being once caught in a storm, he cast a spear against the rushing current; and having been forced by this misfortune to fly to the assistance of the gods, though he tried for a sufficient time to propitiate the deity with very many sacrifices and honors, he obtained no regard.
§1.59.3τῷ δεκάτῳ δʼ ἔτει μαντείας αὐτῷ γενομένης τιμῆσαί τε τὸν θεὸν τὸν ἐν Ἡλιουπόλει καὶ γυναικὸς οὔρῳ νίζεσθαι τὸ πρόσωπον ἥτις ἑτέρου πεῖραν ἀνδρὸς οὐκ εἴληφε, τῶν μὲν γυναικῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἰδίας ἀρξάμενος καὶ πολλὰς ἐξετάσας οὐδεμίαν εὗρεν ἀδιάφθορον πλὴν κηπουροῦ τινος, ἣν ὑγιὴς γενόμενος ἔγημε· τὰς δʼ ἄλλας ζώσας ἐν κώμῃ τινὶ κατέκαυσεν, ἣν Αἰγύπτιοι διὰ τὸ σύμπτωμα τοῦτο προσηγόρευσαν ἱερὰν βῶλον·
But in the tenth year, an oracle having been given to him to worship the god in Heliopolis and to wash his face with the urine of a woman who had had no experience of another man, he began with his own wife, and having tested many women, he found none uncorrupted except a certain gardener's wife, whom, upon becoming healthy, he married; but the others he burned alive in a certain village, which the Egyptians, because of this occurrence, called the Sacred Clod.
§1.59.4τῷ δʼ ἐν Ἡλιουπόλει θεῷ τὰς χάριτας ἀπονέμων τῆς εὐεργεσίας κατὰ τὸν χρησμὸν ὀβελίσκους ἀνέθηκε δύο μονολίθους, τὸ μὲν πλάτος ὀκτώ, τὸ δὲ μῆκος πηχῶν ἑκατόν.
And rendering thanks for the benefit to the god in Heliopolis, according to the oracle, he dedicated two monolithic obelisks, eight cubits in breadth and one hundred in length.

Notes

  1. §1.59.1τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς προσηγορίαν ἑαυτῷ περιθέμενος — The verb περιτίθημι literally means "to put around, clothe oneself with," and is used here metaphorically to mean "assuming his father's name" (i.e., taking the name Sesōosis).
  2. §1.59.2ἐξιλασκόμενος λασκόμενος — A likely textual duplication (dittography) where the second word λασκόμενος is a copyist's error repeating the end of ἐξιλασκόμενος. The sense of the present participle is conative ("trying to propitiate").
  3. §1.59.3μαντείας αὐτῷ γενομένης τιμῆσαί τε ¦p.v.1.p.102¦ τὸν θεὸν τὸν ἐν Ἡλιουπόλει καὶ γυναικὸς οὔρῳ νίζεσθαι τὸ πρόσωπον — The infinitives τιμῆσαι and νίζεσθαι depend on the genitive absolute phrase μαντείας γενομένης, expressing the substance or command of the oracle ("to worship... and to wash...").
  4. §1.59.3ἀπὸ τῆς ἰδίας ἀρξάμενος — The noun γυναικός (wife/woman) is omitted after τῆς ἰδίας, meaning "beginning with his own (wife)." The preceding genitive τῶν γυναικῶν provides the context for this ellipsis.

Cite this passage

Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica §1.59.1-1.59.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0060.tlg001.humanitext-grc5:1.59.1-1.59.4

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.