- 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-grc2:2.39.1-2.39.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-04
This section describes the procedure of slaughtering the sacrificial beast in Egypt, the curses uttered upon its severed head, how it is disposed of, and the origin of the custom whereby Egyptians do not eat the head of any animal.
ἀγαγόντες τὸ σεσημασμένον κτῆνος πρὸς τὸν βωμὸν ὅκου ἂν θύωσι, πῦρ ἀνακαίουσι, ἔπειτα δὲ ἐπʼ αὐτοῦ οἶνον κατὰ τοῦ ἱρηίου ἐπισπείσαντες καὶ ἐπικαλέσαντες τὸν θεὸν σφάζουσι, σφάξαντες δὲ ἀποτάμνουσι τὴν κεφαλήν.
Having brought the marked beast to the altar wherever they may be sacrificing, they kindle a fire, and then, having poured wine over the victim upon the altar and having invoked the god, they slaughter it; and having slaughtered it, they cut off its head.
σῶμα μὲν δὴ τοῦ κτήνεος δείρουσι, κεφαλῇ δὲ κείνῃ πολλὰ καταρησάμενοι φέρουσι, τοῖσι μὲν ἂν ᾖ ἀγορὴ καὶ Ἕλληνές σφι ἔωσι ἐπιδήμιοι ἔμποροι, οἳ δὲ φέροντες ἐς τὴν ἀγορὴν ἀπʼ ὦν ἔδοντο,1 τοῖσι δὲ ἂν μὴ παρέωσι Ἕλληνες, οἳ δʼ2 ἐκβάλλουσι ἐς τὸν ποταμόν·
Now they flay the body of the beast, but as for that head, having heaped many curses upon it, they carry it away; for those in whose case there is a market and there are Greek merchants residing among them, they carry it to the market and sell it, but for those in whose case Greeks are not present, they throw it into the river.
καταρῶνται δὲ τάδε λέγοντες τῇσι κεφαλῇσι, εἴ τι μέλλοι ἢ σφίσι τοῖσι θύουσι ἢ Αἰγύπτῳ τῇ συναπάσῃ κακὸν γενέσθαι, ἐς κεφαλὴν ταύτην τραπέσθαι.3
And they curse the heads, saying the following: that if any evil is about to happen either to themselves who are sacrificing or to the whole of Egypt, it may be turned upon this head.
κατὰ μέν νυν τὰς κεφαλὰς τῶν θυομένων κτηνέων καὶ τὴν ἐπίσπεισιν τοῦ οἴνου πάντες Αἰγύπτιοι νόμοισι τοῖσι αὐτοῖσι χρέωνται ὁμοίως ἐς πάντα τὰ ἱρά, καὶ ἀπὸ τούτου τοῦ νόμου οὐδὲ ἄλλου οὐδενὸς ἐμψύχου κεφαλῆς γεύσεται Αἰγυπτίων οὐδείς.
Now, concerning the heads of the sacrificed beasts and the pouring of the wine, all Egyptians observe these same customs similarly for all sacrifices, and because of this custom, no Egyptian will taste the head of any other living thing either.
- 2.39.2ἀπʼ ὦν ἔδοντο
An example of tmesis characteristic of the Ionic dialect, where the particle ὦν (equivalent to Attic οὖν) is inserted between the preposition/prefix ἀπό and the verb ἔδοντο (3rd person plural aorist middle of ἀποδίδωμι, "to sell").
- 2.39.2τοῖσι μὲν ἂν ᾖ ἀγορὴ ... οἳ δὲ ... τοῖσι δὲ ... οἳ δʼ
The dative relative pronoun τοῖσι is placed at the beginning as a dative of interest ("for those in whose case..."), and is followed by οἳ δὲ ("they") as the subject of the main clause (pronominal use of the article with δέ). This represents an irregular anacoluthon where a relative-conditional structure is picked up by a pronominal subject in the main clause.
- 2.39.3ἐς κεφαλὴν ταύτην τραπέσθαι
The infinitive τραπέσθαι (aorist middle infinitive of τρέπω) functions as an infinitive of wish or command (or an infinitive representing an imperative in indirect discourse) conveying the content of the curse introduced by λέγοντες.