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Histories

§2.123.1-2.123.3

Egyptian Belief in Immortality and Transmigration

Herodotus reaffirms his principle of recording testimonies as he hears them, ascribes the origin of the doctrine of the soul's immortality and transmigration to the Egyptians, and notes that certain Greeks later adopted this belief as their own.

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§2.123.1

τοῖσι μέν νυν ὑπʼ Αἰγυπτίων λεγομένοισι χράσθω ὅτεῳ1 τὰ τοιαῦτα πιθανά ἐστι· ἐμοὶ δὲ παρὰ πάντα τὸν λόγον ὑπόκειται ὅτι τὰ λεγόμενα ὑπʼ ἑκάστων ἀκοῇ γράφω. ἀρχηγετέειν δὲ τῶν κάτω Αἰγύπτιοι λέγουσι Δήμητρα καὶ Διόνυσον.

​Now, let anyone use what is said by the Egyptians for whom such things are credible; but for me, it is a set principle throughout my entire history that I write down what is said by each people just as I hear it. And the Egyptians say that Demeter and Dionysus are the rulers of the lower world.

§2.123.2

πρῶτοι δὲ καὶ τόνδε τὸν λόγον Αἰγύπτιοι εἰσὶ οἱ εἰπόντες, ὡς ἀνθρώπου ψυχὴ ἀθάνατος ἐστί, τοῦ σώματος δὲ καταφθίνοντος ἐς ἄλλο ζῷον αἰεὶ γινόμενον ἐσδύεται, ἐπεὰν δὲ πάντα περιέλθῃ τὰ χερσαῖα καὶ τὰ θαλάσσια καὶ τὰ πετεινά, αὖτις ἐς ἀνθρώπου σῶμα γινόμενον ἐσδύνει· τὴν περιήλυσιν δὲ αὐτῇ γίνεσθαι2 ἐν τρισχιλίοισι ἔτεσι.

​Moreover, the Egyptians are the first who declared this doctrine also, that the soul of man is immortal, and that when the body perishes, it enters into another living creature that is born at each time, and when it has gone the round of all creatures of the land, the sea, and the air, it enters again into a human body that is being born; and that this journey of circulation is accomplished for it in three thousand years.

§2.123.3

τούτῳ τῷ λόγῳ εἰσὶ οἳ Ἑλλήνων ἐχρήσαντο, οἳ μὲν πρότερον οἳ δὲ ὕστερον, ὡς ἰδίῳ ἑωυτῶν ἐόντι·3 τῶν ἐγὼ εἰδὼς τὰ οὐνόματα οὐ γράφω.

​There are some among the Greeks who adopted this doctrine, some earlier and others later, as if it were their own private possession; whose names, though I know them, I do not write down.

Syntax notes3 items
  1. 2.123.1χράσθω ὅτεῳ

    The subject of the imperative χράσθω is the entire clause introduced by the relative pronoun ὅτεῳ (= ᾧτινι, which contains its antecedent: 'whoever'). The verb χράομαι (here in the Ionic form χράσθω) takes the dative, governing τοῖσι ... λεγομένοισι, while ὅτεῳ is a dative of reference with πιθανά inside the relative clause.

  2. 2.123.2τὴν περιήλυσιν δὲ αὐτῇ γίνεσθαι

    The infinitive γίνεσθαι indicates that the indirect discourse (reported speech) introduced by the preceding structure (such as ὡς or the overall narrative context of hearsay) continues to govern the statement until the end of the sentence.

  3. 2.123.3ὡς ἰδίῳ ἑωυτῶν ἐόντι

    The dative participle ἐόντι (Ionic form of ὄντι) with the particle ὡς agrees with the preceding dative τούτῳ τῷ λόγῳ ('this doctrine'). The conjunction ὡς expresses a subjective reason or pretense ('as if it were...').

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)
  • 2026-09-21 AI review — note 1
urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.123.1-2.123.3