- Source
- Herodotus. Godley, Alfred Denis, editor. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1920-1925 (printing).
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.140.1-1.140.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-10-31
The author discusses the secret Persian custom of exposing corpses to birds or dogs, contrasts the Magi with Egyptian priests regarding their unique practice of killing various small creatures, and returns to his main narrative.
ταῦτα μὲν ἀτρεκέως ἔχω περὶ αὐτῶν εἰδὼς εἰπεῖν·1 τάδε μέντοι ὡς κρυπτόμενα λέγεται καὶ οὐ σαφηνέως περὶ τοῦ ἀποθανόντος, ὡς οὐ πρότερον θάπτεται ἀνδρὸς Πέρσεω ὁ νέκυς πρὶν ἂν ὑπʼ ὄρνιθος ἢ κυνὸς ἑλκυσθῇ.2
These things I am able to say with certain knowledge about them; but the following is spoken of as a secret and not clearly concerning the dead, namely that the corpse of a Persian man is not buried before it has been dragged by a bird or a dog.
Μάγους μὲν γὰρ ἀτρεκέως οἶδα ταῦτα ποιέοντας· ἐμφανέως γὰρ δὴ ποιεῦσι. κατακηρώσαντες δὲ ὦν τὸν νέκυν Πέρσαι γῇ κρύπτουσι. Μάγοι δὲ κεχωρίδαται3 πολλὸν τῶν τε ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων καὶ τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἱρέων.
For I know for certain that the Magi do this; for they do it openly. But the Persians cover the corpse with wax and then bury it in the earth. The Magi, however, differ greatly both from other men and from the priests in Egypt.
οἳ μὲν γὰρ ἁγνεύουσι ἔμψυχον μηδὲν κτείνειν, εἰ μὴ ὅσα θύουσι· οἱ δὲ δὴ Μάγοι αὐτοχειρίῃ πάντα πλὴν κυνὸς καὶ ἀνθρώπου κτείνουσι, καὶ ἀγώνισμα μέγα τοῦτο ποιεῦνται, κτείνοντες ὁμοίως μύρμηκάς τε καὶ ὄφις καὶ τἆλλα ἑρπετὰ καὶ πετεινά. καὶ ἀμφὶ μὲν τῷ νόμῳ τούτῳ ἐχέτω4 ὡς καὶ ἀρχὴν ἐνομίσθη, ἄνειμι δὲ ἐπὶ τὸν πρότερον λόγον.
For the latter make it a matter of purity not to kill any living thing, except what they sacrifice; whereas the Magi kill with their own hands all things except a dog and a man, and they make this a great achievement, killing alike ants and snakes and other creeping and winged things. Now concerning this custom, let it be as it was originally ordained, and I shall return to my former narrative.
- 1.140.1ἔχω ... εἰδὼς εἰπεῖν
The verb ἔχω governs the infinitive εἰπεῖν to express capability ('to be able to say'), while the participle εἰδώς acts adverbially to modify the statement ('with certain knowledge'). The participle is not the direct complement of ἔχω.
- 1.140.1πρὶν ἂν ... ἑλκυσθῇ
Due to the negation (οὐ) in the main clause, πρὶν ἄν with the subjunctive (ἑλκυσθῇ, aorist passive subjunctive of ἑλκύω) is used to express 'not... until'.
- 1.140.2κεχωρίδαται
Third-person plural perfect passive of the verb χωρίζω. It exhibits the characteristic Ionic ending -αται instead of the standard Attic -νται used for consonant-stem perfects.
- 1.140.3ἐχέτω
Third-person singular imperative of ἔχω. Here it is used intransitively and impersonally, forming the idiomatic expression ἀμφὶ... ἐχέτω ὡς... meaning 'concerning ..., let it be as ...' or 'let it stand as it is'.