friendship and alliance; and he resolved too to marry a wife from
thence, whether because he desired to have a wife of Hellenic race,
or apart from that, on account of friendship for the people of Kyrene:
however that may be, he married, some say the daughter of Battos, others
of Arkesilaos, 154 and others of Critobulos, a man of repute among the
citizens; and her name was Ladike. Now whenever Amasis lay with her he
found himself unable to have intercourse, but with his other wives he
associated as he was wont; and as this happened repeatedly, Amasis said
to his wife, whose name was Ladike: "Woman, thou hast given me drugs,
and thou shalt surely perish 155 more miserably than any other woman."
Then Ladike, when by her denials Amasis was not at all appeased in his
anger against her, made a vow in her soul to Aphrodite, that if Amasis
on that night had intercourse with her (seeing that this was the remedy
for her danger), she would send an image to be dedicated to her at
Kyrene; and after the vow immediately Amasis had intercourse, and from
thenceforth whenever Amasis came in to her he had intercourse with her;
and after this he became very greatly attached to her. And Ladike paid
the vow that she had made to the goddess; for she had an image made
and sent it to Kyrene, and it was still preserved even to my own time,
standing with its face turned away from the city of the Kyrenians. This
Ladike Cambyses, having conquered Egypt and heard from her who she was,
sent back unharmed to Kyrene.
182. Amasis also dedicated offerings in Hellas, first at Kyrene an image
of Athene covered over with gold and a figure of himself made like by
painting; then in the temple of Athene at Lindson two images of stone
and a corslet of linen worthy to be seen; and also at Samos two wooden
figures of himself dedicated to Hera, which were standing even to my own
time in the great temple, behind the doors. Now at Samos he dedicated
offerings because of the guest-friendship between himself and Polycrates
the son of Aiakes; at Lindos for no guest-friendship but because the
temple of Athene at Lindos is said to have been founded by the daughters
of Danaos, who had touched land there at the time when they were fleeing
from the sons of Aigyptos. These offerings were dedicated by Amasis; and
he was the first of men who conquered Cyprus and subdued it so that it
paid him tribute.
—————
NOTES TO BOOK II
1 [ Some write "Psammitichos" with less authority.]
2 [ {tou en Memphi}: many Editors read {en Memphi}, "I heard at Memphis
from the priests of Hephaistos," but with less authority.]
3 [ {'Eliou polin} or {'Elioupolin}, cp. {'Elioupolitai} below.]
4 [ {exo e ta ounamata auton mounon}. Some understand "them" to mean
"the gods"; rather perhaps the meaning is that accounts of such things
will not be related in full, but only touched upon.]
5 [ {ison peri auton epistasthai}.]
6 [ {anthropon}, emphatic, for the rulers before him were gods (ch.
144).]
7 [ {Mina}: others read {Mena}, but the authority of the MSS. is strong
for {Mina} both here and in ch. 99.]
8 [ {tou Thebaikou nomou}, cp. ch. 164.]
9 [ {tautes on apo}: some MSS. omit {apo}, "this then is the land for
which the sixty schoines are reckoned."]
10 [ For the measures of length cp. ch. 149. The furlong ({stadion}) is
equal to 100 fathoms ({orguiai}), i.e. 606 feet 9 inches.]
11 [ Or "without rain": the word {anudros} is altered by some Editors to
{enudros} or {euudros}, "well watered."]
12 [ I have followed Stein in taking {es ta eiretai} with {legon},
meaning "at the Erythraian Sea," {taute men} being a repetition of {te
men} above. The bend back would make the range double, and hence partly
its great breadth. Others translate, "Here (at the quarries) the range
stops, and bends round to the parts mentioned (i.e. the Erythraian
Sea)."]
13 [ {os einai Aiguptou}: cp. iv. 81. Others translate, "considering
that it belongs to Egypt" (a country so vast), i.e. "as measures go in
Egypt." In any case {Aiguptos eousa} just below seems to repeat the same
meaning.]
14 [ Some Editors alter this to "fourteen."]
15 [ {pentastomou}: some less good MSS. have {eptastomou}, "which has
seven mouths."]
16 [ See note on i. 203.]
17 [ {ton erkhomai lexon}: these words are by many Editors marked as
spurious, and they certainly seem to be out of place here.]
18 [ {kou ge de}: "where then would not a gulf be filled up?"]
19 [ {katarregnumenen}: some Editors read {katerregmenen} ("broken up by
cracks") from {katerregnumenen}, which is given by many MSS.]
1901 [ Or possibly "with rock below," in which case perhaps
{upopsammoteren} would mean "rather sandy underneath."]
20 [ We do not know whether these measurements are in the larger
Egyptian cubit of 21 inches or the smaller (equal to the ordinary
Hellenic cubit) of 18½ inches, cp. i. 178.]
21 [ {kai to omoion apodido es auxesin}, "and to yield the like return
as regards increased extent." (Mr. Woods); but the clause may be only a
repetition of the preceding one.]
22 [ i.e. Zeus.]
23 [ i.e. of the district of Thebes, the Thebaïs.]
24 [ {te Libue}.]
25 [ The meaning seems to be this: "The Ionians say that Egypt is the
Delta, and at the same time they divide the world into three parts,
Europe, Asia, and Libya, the last two being divided from one another by
the Nile. Thus they have left out Egypt altogether; and either they must
add the Delta as a fourth part of the world, or they must give up the
Nile as a boundary. If the name Egypt be extended, as it is by the other
Hellenes, to the upper course of the Nile, it is then possible to retain
the Nile as a boundary, saying that half of Egypt belongs to Asia and
half to Libya, and disregarding the Delta (ch. 17). This also would be
an error of reckoning, but less serious than to omit Egypt together."
The reasoning is obscure because it alludes to theories (of Hecataios
and other writers) which are presumed to be already known to the
reader.]
26 [ {Katadoupon}, i.e. the first cataract.]
27 [ "and it gives us here, etc." ({parekhomenos}).]
28 [ {logo de eipein thoumasiotere}. Or perhaps, "and it is more
marvellous, so to speak."]
29 [ {ton ta polla esti andri ke k.t.l.} I take {ton} to refer to the
nature of the country, as mentioned above; but the use of {os} can
hardly be paralleled, and the passage probably requires correction. Some
Editors read {ton tekmeria polla esti k.t.l.} "wherein there are many
evidences to prove, etc." Stein omits {ton} and alters the punctuation,
so that the clauses run thus, "when it flows from the hottest parts to
those which for the most part are cooler? For a man who is capable of
reasoning about such matters the first and greatest evidence to prove
that it is not likely to flow from snow, is afforded by the winds,
etc."]
30 [ {ouk ekhei elegkhon}, "cannot be refuted" (because we cannot
argue with him), cp. Thuc. iii. 53, {ta de pseude elegkhon ekhei}. Some
translate, "does not prove his case."]
31 [ {tes arkhaies diexodou}, "his original (normal) course."]
32 [ {ouk eonton anemon psukhron}: the best MSS. read {kai anemon
psukhron} ("and there are cold winds"), which Stein retains, explaining
that the cold North winds would assist evaporation.]
33 [ {autos eoutou peei pollo upodeesteros e tou thereos}.]
34 [ {diakaion ten diexodon auto}, i.e. {to reri}. Some Editors read
{autou} (with inferior MSS.) or alter the word to {eoutou}.]
35 [ "set forth, so far as I understood."]
36 [ {epi makrotaton}, "carrying the inquiry as far as possible," cp.
ch. 34.]
37 [ I have little doubt that this means the island of Elephantine; for
at this point only would such a mixture of races be found. To this the
writer here goes back parenthetically, and then resumes the account of
the journey upwards from Tachompso. This view is confirmed by the fact
that Strabo relates the same thing with regard to the island of Philai
just above Elephantine.]
3701 [ Cp. i. 72, note 86.]
38 [ {oleureon}.]
39 [ {zeias}.]
40 [ i.e. the hieratic and the demotic characters.]
41 [ {murias, os eipein logo}.]
42 [ Referring apparently to iii. 28, where the marks of Apis are given.
Perhaps no animal could be sacrificed which had any of these marks.]
43 [ {kephale keine}, "that head," cp. {koilien keinen} in the next
chapter.]
44 [ {katharon}.]
45 [ {baris}, cp. ch. 96.]
46 [ Or, "descended from Aigyptos."]
4601 [ Or, "assuming that in those days as now, they were wont to make
voyages, and that some of the Hellenes were seafaring folk."]
47 [ {stelai}, "upright blocks."]
48 [ {lampontos tas nuktas megathos}: some Editors alter {megathos} to
{megalos} or {mega phos}.]
49 [ {enagizousi}.]
50 [ {uon}: some Editors read {oion} "sheep," on the authority of one
MS.]
51 [ {ta ounamata}, which means here rather the forms of personification
than the actual names.]
52 [ {ai pramanteis}.]
53 [ {phegon}.]
54 [ {upo phego pephukuie}, i.e. the oak-tree of the legend was a real
growing tree, though the dove was symbolical.]
55 [ {panegurias}.]
56 [ {prosagogas}, with the idea of bringing offerings or introducing
persons.]
57 [ {epoiethesan}, "were first celebrated."]
58 [ So B.R.]
59 [ {sumphoiteousi}.]
5901 [ i.e. 700,000.]
60 [ See ch. 40.]
61 [ {tesi thusiesi, en tini nukti}: some MSS. give {en te nukti}: hence
several Editors read {tes thusies en te nukti}, "on the night of the
sacrifice."]
62 [ Or, "for what end this night is held solemn by lighting of lamps"
(B.R.), making {phos kai timen} one idea.]
63 [ {alexomenous}: this, which is adopted by most Editors, is the
reading of some less good MSS.; the rest have {alexomenoi}, "strike them
and defend themselves."]
6301 [ {eousa e Aiguptos k.t.l.}: the MSS. have {eousa de Aiguptos}:
Stein reads {eousa gar Aiguptos}.]
64 [ {theia pregmata katalambanei tous aielourous}, which may mean only,
"a marvellous thing happens to the cats."]
65 [ {es 'Ermeo polin}.]
66 [ {dikhelon, oplai boos}, "he is cloven-footed, and his foot is that
of an ox." The words {oplai boos} are marked as spurious by Stein.]
67 [ i.e. above the marshes, cp. ch. 92.]
68 [ {pante}, which by some is translated "taken all together," "at
most." Perhaps there is some corruption of text, and the writer meant to
say that it measured two cubits by one cubit.]
6801 [ The reading of the Medicean MS. is {en esti}, not {enesti} as
hitherto reported.]
69 [ Or, "calling the song Linos."]
70 [ {ton Linon okothen elabon}: the MSS. have {to ounoma} after
{elabon}, but this is omitted by almost all Editors except Stein, who
justifies it by a reference to ch. 50, and understands it to mean "the
person of Linos." No doubt the song and the person are here spoken off
indiscriminately, but this explanation would require the reading {tou
Linou}, as indeed Stein partly admits by suggesting the alteration.]
71 [ The words "and Bacchic (which are really Egyptian)," are omitted by
several of the best MSS.]
72 [ {epezosmenai}.]
73 [ In connexion with death apparently, cp. ch. 132, 170. Osiris is
meant.]
74 [ {sindonos bussines}.]
75 [ {to kommi}.]
76 [ {nros}.]
77 [ Or, "a pleasant sweet taste."]
78 [ {apala}, "soft."]
79 [ {kat oligous ton kegkhron}.]
80 [ {apo ton sillikuprion tou karpou}.]
81 [ {zuga}, to tie the sides and serve as a partial deck.]
82 [ {esti de oud' outos}: a few MSS. have {ouk} instead of {oud'}, and
most Editors follow them. The meaning however seems to be that even here
the course in time of flood is different, and much more in the lower
parts.]
83 [ {os apergmenos ree}: the MSS. mostly have {os apergmenos reei},
in place of which I have adopted the correction of Stein. Most other
Editors read {os apergmenos peei} (following a few inferior MSS.), "the
bend of the Nile which flows thus confined."]
84 [ Not therefore in the Delta, to which in ch. 15 was assigned a later
origin than this.]
85 [ {kat' ouden einai lamprotetos}: Stein reads {kai} for {kat'}, thus
making the whole chapter parenthetical, with {ou gar elegon} answered
by {parameipsamenos on}, a conjecture which is ingenious but not quite
convincing.]
86 [ {stratien pollen labon}: most of the MSS. have {ton} after
{pollen}, which perhaps indicates that some words are lost.]
87 [ {kai prosotata}: many MSS. have {kai ou prosotata}, which is
defended by some Editors in the sense of a comparative, "and not
further."]
88 [ {Suroi} in the better MSS.; see note in i.6.]
89 [ {Surioi}.]
90 [ {kata tauta}: the better MSS. have {kai kata tauta}, which might
be taken with what follows, punctuating after {ergazontai} (as in the
Medicean MS.): "they and the Egyptians alone of all nations work flax;
and so likewise they resemble one another in their whole manner of
living."]
91 [ {polon}, i.e. the concave sun-dial, in shape like the vault of
heaven.]
92 [ The gnomon would be an upright staff or an obelisk for observation
of the length of the shadow.]
93 [ i.e. Red Clod.]
94 [ {Turion stratopedon}, i.e. "the Tyrian quarter" of the town: cp.
ch. 154.]
95 [ {ten sen}, or {tauten}, "this land."]
96 [ {es o meteke auton}, "until at last he dismissed it"; but the
construction is very irregular, and there is probably some corruption of
text. Stein reads {ekon} by conjecture for {es o}.]
97 [ {delon de kata per epoiese}: a conjectural emendation of {delon
de' kata gar epoiese}, which some editors retain, translating thus, "and
this is clear; for according to the manner in which Homer described the
wanderings of Alexander, etc., it is clear how, etc."]
98 [ Il. vi. 289. The sixth book is not ordinarily included in the
{Diomedeos aristeia}.]
99 [ Od. iv. 227. These references to the Odyssey are by some thought to
be interpolations, because they refer only to the visit of Menelaos to
Egypt after the fall of Troy; but Herodotus is arguing that Homer, while
rejecting the legend of Helen's stay in Egypt during the war, yet has
traces of it left in this later visit to Egypt of Menelaos and Helen, as
well as in the visit of Paris and Helen to Sidon.]
100 [ Od. iv. 351.]
101 [ {kai tode to khorion}: probably {to khorion} ought to be struck
out: "this also is evident."]
102 [ {podeonas}, being the feet of the animals whose skins they were.]
103 [ Cp. vii. 152.]
104 [ {elasai}, which may be intransitive, "rushed into every kind of
evil."]
105 [ {stadioi}.]
106 [ {krossas}.]
107 [ {bomidas}.]
108 [ i.e. the three small pyramids just to the East of the great
pyramid.]
109 [ {oute gar k.t.l.}, "for there are no underground chambers," etc.
Something which was in the mind of the writer has been omitted either
by himself or his copyists, "and inferior to it also in other respects,
for," etc. unless, as Stein supposes, we have here a later addition
thrown in without regard to the connexion.]
110 [ {touto megathos}, "as regards attaining the same size," but
probably the text is corrupt. Stein reads {to megathos} in his later
editions.]
111 [ Or, "Philition."]
112 [ {to theo}, the goddess Leto, cp. i. 105.]
113 [ {suntakhunein auton ton bion}: some MSS. and Editors read {auto}
for {auton}, "that heaven was shortening his life."]
114 [ More literally, "bidding him take up the blood-money, who would."
The people of Delphi are said to have put Esop to death and to have been
ordered by the Oracle to make compensation.]
115 [ {os an einai 'Podopin}: so the MSS. Some Editors read {'Podopios},
others {'Podopi}.]
116 [ {antion de autout tou neou}.]
117 [ {epaphroditoi ginesthai}.]
118 [ {katekertomese min}: Athenæus says that Sappho attacked the
mistress of Charaxos; but here {min} can hardly refer to any one
but Charaxos himself, who doubtless would be included in the same
condemnation.]
119 [ {propulaia}.]
120 [ "innumerable sights of buildings."]
121 [ {tassomenon}, "posted," like an army; but the text is probably
unsound: so also in the next line, where the better MSS. have {men
Boubasti poli}, others {e en Boubasti polis}. Stein reads {e en Boubasti
poli}, "the earth at the city of Bubastis." Perhaps {e en Boubasti
polis} might mean the town as opposed to the temple, as Mr. Woods
suggests.]
122 [ Cp. ch. 161, {egeneto apo prophasios, ton k.t.l.} Perhaps however
{prophasin} is here from {prophaino} (cp. Soph. Trach. 662), and it
means merely "that the gods were foreshowing him this in order that,"
etc. So Stein.]
123 [ i.e. for their customary gift or tribute to him as king.]
124 [ The chronology is inconsistent, and some propose, without
authority, to read "three hundred years."]
125 [ {tas arouras}, cp. ch. 168, where the {aroura} is defined as a
hundred Egyptian units square, about three-quarters of an acre.]
126 [ {es to megaron}.]
127 [ Not on two single occasions, but for two separate periods of time
it was stated that the sun had risen in the West and set in the East;
i.e. from East to West, then from West to East, then again from East
to West, and finally back to East again. This seems to be the meaning
attached by Herodotus to something which he was told about astronomical
cycles.]
128 [ {ouk eontas}: this is the reading of all the best MSS., and also
fits in best with the argument, which was that in Egypt gods were
quite distinct from men. Most Editors however read {oikeontas} on
the authority of a few MSS., "dwelling with men." (The reading of the
Medicean MS. is {ouk eontas}, not {oukeontas} as stated by Stein.)]
129 [ i.e. that the Hellenes borrowed these divinities from Egypt, see
ch. 43 ff. This refers to all the three gods above mentioned and not (as
Stein contended) to Pan and Dionysos only.]
130 [ {kai toutous allous}, i.e. as well as Heracles; but it may mean
"that these also, distinct from the gods, had been born," etc. The
connexion seems to be this: "I expressed my opinion on all these cases
when I spoke of the case of Heracles; for though the statement there
about Heracles was in one respect inapplicable to the rest, yet in the
main conclusion that gods are not born of men it applies to all."]
131 [ {stadioi}.]
132 [ {mneas}, of which 60 go to the talent.]
133 [ Cp. ch. 112.]
134 [ {neos}.]
135 [ I understand that each wall consisted of a single stone, which
gave the dimensions each way: "as regards height and length" therefore
it was made of a single stone. That it should have been a monolith,
except the roof, is almost impossible, not only because of the size
mentioned (which in any case is suspicious), but because no one would
so hollow out a monolith that it would be necessary afterwards to put on
another stone for the roof. The monolith chamber mentioned in ch. 175,
which it took three years to convey from Elephantine, measured only
21 cubits by 14 by 8. The {parorophis} or "cornice" is not an "eave
projecting four cubits," but (as the word is explained by Pollux) a
cornice between ceiling and roof, measuring in this instance four cubits
in height and formed by the thickness of the single stone: see Letronne,
Recherches pour servir, etc. p. 80 (quoted by Bähr).]
136 [ {erpase}, "took as plunder."]
137 [ {aparti}: this word is not found in any MS. but was read here by
the Greek grammarians.]
13701 [ i.e. 120,000.]
138 [ Cp. iv. 159.]
139 [ {kuneen}, perhaps the royal helmet or Pschent, cp. ch. 151.]
140 [ {apemataise}, euphemism for breaking wind.]
141 [ {oudena logon auto donta}: many Editors change {auto} to {eouto},
in which case it means "taking no time to consider the matter," as
elsewhere in Herodotus; but cp. iii. 50 {istoreonti logon audena
edidou}.]
142 [ {nomon}, and so throughout the passage.]
14201 [ i.e. 160,000.]
14202 [ i.e. 250,000.]
143 [ {arourai}, cp. ch. 141.]
144 [ {ekaston}: if {ekastoi} be read (for which there is more MS.
authority) the meaning will be that "a thousand Calasirians and a
thousand Hermotybians acted as guards alternately, each for a year," the
number at a time being 1000 not 2000.]
14401 [ {pente mneai}.]
145 [ {arusteres},={kotulai}.]
146 [ {tou neou}.]
147 [ {e trokhoiedes kaleomene}, "the Wheel."]
148 [ The last words, "and when—again," are not found in the best MSS.,
and are omitted by Stein. However their meaning, if not expressed, is
implied.]
149 [ {pugonos}.]
150 [ {tou autou eontes lithou}: some MSS. and many Editors have
{Aithiopikou} for {tou autou}, "of Ethiopian stone." For {eontes} the
MSS. have {eontos}, which may be right, referring to {tou bathrou}
understood, "the base being made of," etc.]
151 [ {tou megalou}, a conjecture founded upon Valla's version, which
has been confirmed by a MS. The other MSS. have {tou megarou}, which is
retained by some Editors, "on each side of the sanctuary."]
152 [ "are claiming a share when no part in it belongs to them."]
153 [ Or possibly of alum: but the gift seems a very small one in any
case. Some propose to read {eikosi mneas khrusou}.]
154 [ Or, according to a few MSS., "Battos the son of Arkesilaos."]
155 [ "thou hast surely perished."]
BOOK III. THE THIRD BOOK OF THE HISTORIES, CALLED THALEIA
1. Against this Amasis then Cambyses the son of Cyrus was making his
march, taking with him not only other nations of which he was ruler,
but also Hellenes, both Ionians and Aiolians: 1 and the cause of the
expedition was as follows:—Cambyses sent an envoy to Egypt and asked
Amasis to give him his daughter; and he made the request by counsel of
an Egyptian, who brought this upon Amasis 2 having a quarrel with him
for the following reason:—at the time when Cyrus sent to Amasis and
asked him for a physician of the eyes, whosoever was the best of those
in Egypt, Amasis had selected him from all the physicians in Egypt and
had torn him away from his wife and children and delivered him up
to Persia. Having, I say, this cause of quarrel, the Egyptian urged
Cambyses on by his counsel bidding him ask Amasis for his daughter, in
order that he might either be grieved if he gave her, or if he refused
to give her, might offend Cambyses. So Amasis, who was vexed by the
power of the Persians and afraid of it, knew neither how to give nor how
to refuse: for he was well assured that Cambyses did not intend to have
her as his wife but as a concubine. So making account of the matter
thus, he did as follows:—there was a daughter of Apries the former king,
very tall and comely of form and the only person left of his house, and
her name was Nitetis. This girl Amasis adorned with raiment and with
gold, and sent her away to Persia as his own daughter: but after a time,
when Cambyses saluted her calling her by the name of her father, the
girl said to him: "O king, thou dost not perceive how thou hast been
deceived by Amasis; for he adorned me with ornaments and sent me
away giving me to thee as his own daughter, whereas in truth I am the
daughter of Apries against whom Amasis rose up with the Egyptians and
murdered him, who was his lord and master." These words uttered and this
occasion having arisen, led Cambyses the son of Cyrus against Egypt,
moved to very great anger.
2. Such is the report made by the Persians; but as for the Egyptians
they claim Cambyses as one of themselves, saying that he was born of
this very daughter of Apries; for they say that Cyrus was he who sent to
Amasis for his daughter, and not Cambyses. In saying this however they
say not rightly; nor can they have failed to observe (for the Egyptians
fully as well as any other people are acquainted with the laws and
customs of the Persians), first that it is not customary among them for
a bastard to become king, when there is a son born of a true marriage,
and secondly that Cambyses was the son of Cassandane the daughter of
Pharnaspes, a man of the Achaimenid family, and not the son of the
Egyptian woman: but they pervert the truth of history, claiming to be
kindred with the house of Cyrus. Thus it is with these matters;