Also With The People Of Kyrene Amasis Made An Agreement For 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, 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 shall surely perish more miserably than any other."
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 is 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.
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 Lindos 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.
End of An Account of Egypt, by Herodotus
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