- 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-grc2:2.41.1-2.41.6
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-04
The author explains the Egyptian reverence for female cattle as sacred to Isis, their strict avoidance of physical contact and utensils of Greeks, and the specific procedures for burying dead oxen and other livestock.
τοὺς μέν νυν καθαροὺς βοῦς τοὺς ἔρσενας καὶ τοὺς μόσχους οἱ πάντες Αἰγύπτιοι θύουσι, τὰς δὲ θηλέας οὔ σφι ἔξεστι θύειν, ἀλλὰ ἱραί εἰσι τῆς Ἴσιος·
Now, all the Egyptians sacrifice clean male oxen and calves, but it is not permitted for them to sacrifice females, rather, these are sacred to Isis.
τὸ γὰρ τῆς Ἴσιος ἄγαλμα ἐὸν γυναικήιον1 βούκερων ἐστὶ κατά περ Ἕλληνες τὴν Ἰοῦν γράφουσι, καὶ τὰς βοῦς τὰς θηλέας Αἰγύπτιοι πάντες ὁμοίως σέβονται προβάτων πάντων μάλιστα μακρῷ.
For the statue of Isis is of a female form with bull’s horns, just as the Greeks depict Io, and all the Egyptians alike revere female cattle by far the most of all beasts.
τῶν εἵνεκα2 οὔτε ἀνὴρ Αἰγύπτιος οὔτε γυνὴ ἄνδρα Ἕλληνα φιλήσειε ἂν3 τῷ στόματι, οὐδὲ μαχαίρῃ ἀνδρὸς Ἕλληνος χρήσεται οὐδὲ ὀβελοῖσι οὐδὲ λέβητι, οὐδὲ κρέως καθαροῦ βοὸς διατετμημένου Ἑλληνικῇ μαχαίρῃ γεύσεται.
For this reason, no Egyptian man or woman would kiss a Greek man on the mouth, nor will they use the knife of a Greek man, nor his roasting-spits, nor his cauldron, nor will they taste the meat of a clean ox that has been cut with a Greek knife.
θάπτουσι δὲ τοὺς ἀποθνήσκοντας βοῦς τρόπον τόνδε· τὰς μὲν θηλέας ἐς τὸν ποταμὸν ἀπιεῖσι, τοὺς δὲ ἔρσενας κατορύσσουσι ἕκαστοι ἐν τοῖσι προαστείοισι, τὸ κέρας τὸ ἕτερον ἢ καὶ ἀμφότερα ὑπερέχοντα4 σημηίου εἵνεκεν· ἐπεὰν δὲ σαπῇ καὶ προσίῃ ὁ τεταγμένος χρόνος, ἀπικνέεται ἐς ἑκάστην πόλιν βᾶρις ἐκ τῆς Προσωπίτιδος καλευμένης νήσου.
They bury the oxen that die in the following manner: the females they cast into the river, and the males they bury, each in their own suburbs, with one horn or even both protruding above the ground for a sign. And when the carcass has decayed and the appointed time arrives, there comes to each city a flat-bottomed boat from the island called Prosopitis.
ἣ δʼ ἔστι μὲν ἐν τῷ Δέλτα, περίμετρον δὲ αὐτῆς εἰσὶ σχοῖνοι ἐννέα. ἐν ταύτῃ ὦν τῇ Προσωπίτιδι νήσῳ ἔνεισι μὲν καὶ ἄλλαι πόλιες συχναί, ἐκ τῆς δὲ αἱ βάριες παραγίνονται5 ἀναιρησόμεναι τὰ ὀστέα τῶν βοῶν, οὔνομα τῇ πόλι Ἀτάρβηχις, ἐν δʼ αὐτῇ Ἀφροδίτης ἱρὸν ἅγιον ἵδρυται.
This island is in the Delta, and its circumference is nine schoenoi. In this island of Prosopitis, then, there are many other cities, but the one from which the boats come to collect the bones of the oxen is named Atarbechis, and in it a sacred temple of Aphrodite is established.
ἐκ ταύτης τῆς πόλιος πλανῶνται πολλοὶ ἄλλοι ἐς ἄλλας πόλις, ἀνορύξαντες δὲ τὰ ὀστέα ἀπάγουσι καὶ θάπτουσι ἐς ἕνα χῶρον πάντες. κατὰ ταὐτὰ δὲ τοῖσι βουσὶ καὶ τἆλλα κτήνεα θάπτουσι ἀποθνήσκοντα· καὶ γὰρ περὶ ταῦτα οὕτω σφι νενομοθέτηται· κτείνουσι γὰρ δὴ οὐδὲ ταῦτα.
From this city many others travel about to the other cities, and having dug up the bones, they carry them away and all bury them in one place. In the same manner as the oxen, they also bury the other beasts when they die; for concerning these also it is thus ordained among them, since they do not kill these either.
- 2.41.2ἐὸν γυναικήιον
The present participle ἐὸν (neuter singular nominative) agrees with the subject τὸ ἄγαλμα, describing its state or quality. It can be understood with a concessive nuance: "while being of female form (it has bull's horns)."
- 2.41.3τῶν εἵνεκα
The pronoun τῶν can be interpreted either as a feminine plural genitive referring back to the female cattle (τὰς βοῦς τὰς θηλέας) or as a neuter plural referring to the whole preceding situation. Given the context of extreme reverence for these animals causing the avoidance of Greeks, it is best understood as 'for the sake of these (female cattle).'
- 2.41.3φιλήσειε ἂν
An optative with the particle ἂν expressing potentiality. It is coordinated with the subsequent future indicatives (χρήσεται, γεύσεται), emphasizing a strong habitual refusal or the absolute improbability of such an action.
- 2.41.4τὸ κέρας τὸ ἕτερον ἢ καὶ ἀμφότερα ὑπερέχοντα
An accusative absolute construction. Since the singular τὸ κέρας τὸ ἕτερον and the plural ἀμφότερα are coordinated, the participle takes the neuter plural accusative form ὑπερέχοντα. It describes the attendant circumstance of the buried bull's horns protruding above the ground.
- 2.41.5ἐκ τῆς δὲ αἱ βάριες παραγίνονται
The demonstrative pronoun τῆς (genitive feminine singular) anticipates the following noun Ἀτάρβηχις (the city of Atarbechis). Together with the coordinating conjunction δέ, it functions similarly to a relative clause: 'and from this (city) the boats arrive'.