In Bed with an Egyptian Princess: Herodotus on Theft, Pyramids and Conquest

Abstract

Following in the footsteps of Homer, both in the Iliad and in the Odyssey, Herodotus of Halicarnassus gives women a very conspicuous presence in the only work attributed to him, known as the Histories. Usually, the women who appear in his work are directly related to prominent male characters. In this respect, daughterhood is one of the most distinct roles played by women in Herodotus’ Histories. Twelve of the women actively involved in the narrative written by the author of Halicarnassus are identified as daughters of kings, tyrants or other noblemen, both of Greek and barbarian origin. Among the available examples, in this paper we focus on three Egyptian princesses, daughters of the pharaohs Rhampsinitus, Cheops and Amasis —in reality, Apries—, because they constitute precious instances for exploring the tensions arising in parent-child relationships in the Herodotean work. We aim at determining whether these princesses are individually fulfilled as characters, despite being sexually dominated daughters by their fathers, either biological other putative. To this end, we conduct an in-depth analysis of the three passages in which they appear (Hdt. 2.121ε; 2.126; 3.1), taking into account why and under what circumstances they are sexually controlled, how they interact with their fathers and other male characters and what consequences the sexual control they are subjected to has on them. Results show that the three Egyptian princesses achieve their own fulfilment as a wife, builder and avenger, respectively. We conclude that Herodotus confers on them visibility, dignity and their own non-transferable personality.