- 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-grc2:1.182.1-1.182.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-02
The text describes the alleged descent of the god in the Babylonian temple as told by the Chaldeans, comparing it to similar religious practices in Egyptian Thebes and Lycian Patara, including the celibacy and confinement of the serving women.
φασὶ δὲ οἱ αὐτοὶ οὗτοι, ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐ πιστὰ λέγοντες,1 τὸν θεὸν αὐτὸν φοιτᾶν τε ἐς τὸν νηὸν καὶ ἀμπαύεσθαι ἐπὶ τῆς κλίνης, κατά περ ἐν Θήβῃσι τῇσι Αἰγυπτίῃσι κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον, ὡς λέγουσι οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι·
These same people say, though they tell what is not credible to me, that the god himself visits the temple and rests upon the couch, just as in Egyptian Thebes in the same manner, as the Egyptians say;
καὶ γὰρ δὴ ἐκεῖθι κοιμᾶται ἐν τῷ τοῦ Διὸς τοῦ Θηβαιέος2 γυνή, ἀμφότεραι δὲ αὗται λέγονται ἀνδρῶν οὐδαμῶν ἐς ὁμιλίην φοιτᾶν· καὶ κατά περ ἐν Πατάροισι τῆς Λυκίης ἡ πρόμαντις τοῦ θεοῦ, ἐπεὰν γένηται·3 οὐ γὰρ ὦν αἰεί ἐστι χρηστήριον αὐτόθι· ἐπεὰν δὲ γένηται τότε ὦν συγκατακληίεται τὰς νύκτας ἔσω ἐν τῷ νηῷ.
for there also a woman sleeps in the temple of the Theban Zeus, and both of these women are said to have no intercourse with any men; and just as it is with the prophetess of the god in Patara of Lycia, whenever there is one; for indeed there is not always an oracle there; but whenever there is one, then indeed she is locked up for the nights inside the temple.
- 1.182.1ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐ πιστὰ λέγοντες
The nominative participle λέγοντες agrees with the subject of the main clause, οἱ αὐτοὶ οὗτοι (the Chaldeans). This concessive or parenthetical participle expresses Herodotus' own skeptical attitude toward their claim.
- 1.182.2ἐν τῷ τοῦ Διὸς τοῦ Θηβαιέος
After the article τῷ, a noun for 'temple' or 'sacred precinct' (such as ἱρῷ or νηῷ) is omitted. This is a standard Greek ellipse where the neuter dative article before a deity's name in the genitive denotes their temple.
- 1.182.2ἐπεὰν γένηται
The subject of the aorist subjunctive γένηται is most naturally understood to be χρηστήριον (oracle) from the following clause. This indicates that in Patara, an oracle was not active constantly, but only on occasions when it occurred was the prophetess locked in.