- 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-grc2:2.48.1-2.48.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-04
This section describes the handling of the pig sacrifice during the festival of Dionysus in Egypt, and details the procession using puppets, noting similarities and differences with Greek practices.
τῷ δὲ Διονύσῳ τῆς ὁρτῆς τῇ δορπίῃ χοῖρον πρὸ τῶν θυρέων σφάξας ἕκαστος διδοῖ ἀποφέρεσθαι1 τὸν χοῖρον αὐτῷ τῷ ἀποδομένῳ τῶν συβωτέων.
But for Dionysus, on the eve of the festival, each one sacrifices a pig before his doors and gives it to be carried away to the very swineherd who sold it to him.
τὴν δὲ ἄλλην ἀνάγουσι ὁρτὴν τῷ Διονύσῳ οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι πλὴν χορῶν κατὰ ταὐτὰ σχεδὸν πάντα Ἕλλησι·2 ἀντὶ δὲ φαλλῶν ἄλλα σφι ἐστὶ ἐξευρημένα, ὅσον τε πηχυαῖα ἀγάλματα νευρόσπαστα, τὰ περιφορέουσι κατὰ κώμας γυναῖκες, νεῦον τὸ αἰδοῖον,3 οὐ πολλῷ τεῳ ἔλασσον ἐὸν τοῦ ἄλλου σώματος· προηγέεται δὲ αὐλός, αἳ δὲ ἕπονται ἀείδουσαι τὸν Διόνυσον.
And the rest of the festival for Dionysus is celebrated by the Egyptians in almost all respects in the same way as by the Greeks, except for the choral dances; but instead of phalli, they have invented other things, namely, puppets pulled by strings about a cubit high, which the women carry around the villages, with the male member nodding, which is not much smaller than the rest of the body; a flute player goes before, and they follow behind, singing of Dionysus.
διότι δὲ μέζον τε ἔχει τὸ αἰδοῖον καὶ κινέει μοῦνον τοῦ σώματος, ἔστι λόγος περὶ αὐτοῦ ἱρὸς λεγόμενος.
But as to why it has the male member so large and moves that part alone of the body, there is a sacred story told about it.
- 2.48.1ἀποφέρεσθαι
The infinitive ἀποφέρεσθαι ('to carry away') is used with the verb διδοῖ ('gives') to express purpose. This infinitive can be interpreted as middle ('for the swineherd to carry away for himself') or passive ('to be carried away by the swineherd').
- 2.48.2κατὰ ταὐτὰ σχεδὸν πάντα Ἕλλησι
The dative Ἕλλησι is governed by κατὰ ταὐτά ('in the same way as', derived from ὁ αὐτός), meaning 'in almost all respects in the same way as the Greeks'.
- 2.48.2νεῦον τὸ αἰδοῖον
This is a nominative absolute or accusative absolute construction expressing a circumstance/accompaniment to ἀγάλματα ('puppets'). The neuter singular noun τὸ αἰδοῖον ('the male member') is paired with the neuter singular present participle νεῦον ('nodding/moving').