Quelques remarques sur le thème de la démesure dans le livre II des Histoires d’Hérodote

• Main Author: Typhaine Haziza
• Format: Article
• Language: fra
• Published: Presses universitaires de Caen 2006-12-01
• Series: Kentron
• Online Access: http://journals.openedition.org/kentron/1771

In this article, I intend to analyse the image of the Pharaoh that is conveyed in the second book of Herodotus’ Histories, through the study of several anecdotes. The first aspect of this image – and one that seems obvious – is that of the barbarous king, fraught with hubris, which meets the Greek traditional opinion. Yet, it is not the only aspect that is displayed in Herodotus’ work and when one reads it more carefully – especially the story of Pheros (II, 111) and that of Rhampsinites, usually known as the Tale of the Thieves (II, 121) –, most of these accounts appear to be rooted in Egyptian culture. Thus, one can analyse Herodotus’ anecdotes from different perspectives and the use of the theme of the Pharaoh’s hubris – so obvious in the story of Pheros – might be considered the result of a process of mental reappropriation by Herodotus: he might not have understood the story otherwise. Through the choice of his sources and through his owns schemes of perception, Herodotus provides us with alternative images of the Egyptian Pharaoh.