1.187 The tomb of Nitakris

“This same queen also devised a clever ruse. She had a tomb for herself built in midair above the portal over the most frequented gate of the city and had this inscription engraved on the tomb: [2] “If any king of Babylon who comes after me needs money, let him open this tomb and take as much money as he wants. Let him not, however, open it unless he is truly in need. If he opens it for any other reason it will not go well with him.”a [3] This tomb remained undisturbed until the kingship passed to Darius, who thought it was just terrible not to use this gate and not to take the money that was lying there with its inscription inviting someone to take it. [4] He refused to use the gate because if he drove through it, a corpse would be over his head.a [5] When he opened the tomb, however, he found no money inside, just the corpse and an inscription which read: “You would not open up the graves of the dead if you were not so insatiable and shamefully greedy.” This, then, is the sort of queen she is said to have been."

--- Herodotus, Histories.

This is another interesting juxtaposition of fate and human agency. What would Odysseus do in this situation?

update: sections 1.178 to 1.193 describe large water engineering projects for military and civilian purposes.