Rhodopis herodotus biography
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(Her. Was Rhodopis a fellow slave of Aesop, the maker-of-stories (logopoios)? In the section where he gives an account of the pyramids of modern-day Giza – which looked as astounding and wondrous an achievement to the ancient observer as they still do to us today – and of the reign of the pharaohs of the Fourth dynasty who built them – Cheops (ruled c.2596–2573 BC), Chephren (c.2472–c.2448) and Mycerinos (c.2472–c.2448) – Herodotus includes the intriguing story of a famous Thracian courtesan by the name of Rhodopis who lived in the Greek trading enclave of Naucratis.
Herodotus’ Story (Book 2, 134–6)
Mycerinus also left a pyramid – a good deal smaller than his father’s – each side of whose square base is 280 feet long, and whose lower half is fashioned out of Ethiopian stone.
Key shared elements with later Cinderella variants include supernatural intervention (the eagle akin to a magical helper), the footwear as a unique identifier, and resolution through marriage to royalty, though without the rags-to-riches persecution arc. The infant god tries to escape by changing into different forms, and is finally caught in the shape of a bull and torn into seven parts.
Strabo, for his part, incorporates an additional curious anecdote according to which, when Doricha (also called Rhodopis, he tells us) was bathing in a river, an eagle snatched her sandal from the attendant’s hands, then flew all the way to Memphis and dropped it in the Egyptian king’s lap. 15.63–8)
My untaught brother was caught in the flame of harlot love, and suffered loss together with foul shame; reduced to need, he roams the dark blue seas with agile oar, and the wealth he cast away by evil means once more by evil means he seeks.
After finding Rhodopis in Naucratis, he made her his wife, and later built the third pyramid to honor her memory.
A strikingly similar story features in Herodotus’ narrative only a couple of paragraphs above the story of Rhodopis (Histories 2.126), this time of an Egyptian princess turned courtesan who built a pyramid for herself.
What is more, Rhodopis flourished during the reign of Amasis, long, long after the age of the kings who left the pyramids to posterity, and not way back in the time of Mycerinus.
Rhodopis herself was Thracian by birth; she was owned by a man from Samos called Iadmon, the son of Hephaestopolis, who was also the master of Aesop, the fabulist.
Hera in her jealousy sends the Titans to kill the divine child. Why do these Thracian women attack and dismember Orpheus? Works such as the 2021 essay "Cinderella's Transformation: From Patriarchal to 21st Century Expressions of Femininity" analyze modern adaptations of the Cinderella tale, highlighting how they dismantle gender stereotypes by depicting heroines who challenge servitude and prioritize self-determination in diverse contexts.[23] These appear in post-2020 articles and digital media, fostering discussions on intersectional themes like race, class, and power in folklore derived from ancient sources.
Rhodopis
Title: Rhodopis
Location: Thrace & Naucratis, Egypt
Born: c.
Herodotus’ reference to the seafaring career of Charaxus seems to be confirmed by the newest fragment of Sappho’s poetry, published in 2014 and known as “The Brothers Poem”, in which the names of Charaxus as well as his and Sappho’s younger brother Larichus appear. W.W. How and J. Wells, in their Commentary on Herodotus, mention a modern Arab tale in which the third pyramid was haunted by a beautiful naked woman who drove men mad; this might indeed be a relic of a very old tradition.
The tale of the seductive sandal, Strabo’s fanciful embellishment of Rhodopis’ biography, probably also belongs to Egyptian traditional lore, but Herodotus pleads ‘not guilty’ for this late addition, even if it parallels his own emphasis on sensual charisma and a path leading from poverty and powerlessness to luxury and privilege.
Returning to our story, we should unequivocally affirm with Herodotus that it is ludicrous to claim that the third pyramid of Giza was built by or in memory of Rhodopis who lived in the 6th century BC in the city of Naucratis.
Doricha-Rhodopis, Aesop, and Sappho
But what about the rest of Herodotus’ tale?
Corcella, O. As plausible and exciting as the prospect is, the document needs too much modern supplementation to be unreservedly accepted as genuine physical evidence connecting us to the famous courtesan.
The historicity of the offering itself, however, has not been called into doubt by scholars, even if many have wondered why a low-status individual such as a Naucratian hetaira would dedicate this specific offering, displayed in one of the admittedly most prominent locations (next to the Altar of the Chians) within the most prestigious Greek sanctuary.
The Titans then boil the pieces in a cauldron, roast the divine flesh on spits and taste it. But that is enough about Rhodopis.” (trans. His name was worth mentioning only because he was the brother of Sappho and because she (allegedly) later admonished and mocked him (κατεκερτόμησέ μιν, katekertomēse min) in her poetry.
Naucratis has been ceded to the Greeks by the pharaoh Psammetichus I (664–610 BC), and was initially founded by Ionians from Miletus. Pars II: Orphicorum et Orphicis Similium Testimonia et Fragmenta. · ·], “Rhodopis dedicated”. Giambattista Basile's Lo cunto de li cunti (1634) incorporates similar ancient roots in its tale La Gatta Cenerentola, where a persecuted girl rises via magical means and a fitting slipper.[20] This connection illustrates how Greek-Egyptian precursors permeated folklore, shaping literary adaptations over centuries.