- 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-grc2:2.51.1-2.51.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-04
Explains that the custom of making Hermes statues with erect organs came not from Egypt but from the Pelasgians to the Athenians and then to other Greeks, mentioning its connection to Samothracian mysteries.
ταῦτα μέν νυν καὶ ἄλλα πρὸς τούτοισι, τὰ ἐγὼ φράσω, Ἕλληνες ἀπʼ Αἰγυπτίων νενομίκασι· τοῦ δὲ Ἑρμέω τὰ ἀγάλματα ὀρθὰ ἔχειν τὰ αἰδοῖα1 ποιεῦντες οὐκ ἀπʼ Αἰγυπτίων μεμαθήκασι, ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ Πελασγῶν πρῶτοι μὲν Ἑλλήνων ἁπάντων Ἀθηναῖοι παραλαβόντες, παρὰ δὲ τούτων ὧλλοι.
These customs then, and others besides them which I shall mention, the Greeks have adopted from the Egyptians. However, as for making the statues of Hermes with erect male organs, they did not learn this from the Egyptians but from the Pelasgians; the Athenians were the first of all the Greeks to receive this custom, and from them the others did so.
Ἀθηναίοισι γὰρ ἤδη τηνικαῦτα ἐς Ἕλληνας τελέουσι2 Πελασγοὶ σύνοικοι ἐγένοντο ἐν τῇ χώρῃ, ὅθεν περ καὶ Ἕλληνες ἤρξαντο νομισθῆναι. ὅστις δὲ τὰ Καβείρων ὄργια μεμύηται,3 τὰ Σαμοθρήικες ἐπιτελέουσι παραλαβόντες παρὰ Πελασγῶν, οὗτος ὡνὴρ οἶδε τὸ λέγω·
For indeed, at that time, when the Athenians were already counted among the Greeks, the Pelasgians became their fellow-dwellers in their land, from which very circumstance the Athenians also began to be considered Greeks. And whoever has been initiated into the rites of the Cabiri, which the Samothracians perform having received them from the Pelasgians, that man knows what I mean.
τὴν γὰρ Σαμοθρηίκην οἴκεον πρότερον Πελασγοὶ οὗτοι οἵ περ Ἀθηναίοισι σύνοικοι ἐγένοντο, καὶ παρὰ τούτων Σαμοθρήικες τὰ ὄργια παραλαμβάνουσι.
For these Pelasgians who became fellow-dwellers with the Athenians previously inhabited Samothrace, and from them the Samothracians receive their rites.
ὀρθὰ ὦν ἔχειν τὰ αἰδοῖα τἀγάλματα τοῦ Ἑρμέω Ἀθηναῖοι πρῶτοι Ἑλλήνων μαθόντες παρὰ Πελασγῶν ἐποιήσαντο· οἱ δὲ Πελασγοὶ ἱρόν τινα λόγον περὶ αὐτοῦ ἔλεξαν, τὰ ἐν τοῖσι ἐν Σαμοθρηίκῃ μυστηρίοισι δεδήλωται.
Thus, the Athenians were the first of the Greeks to make the statues of Hermes with erect male organs, having learned it from the Pelasgians; and the Pelasgians told a certain sacred story about this, which is revealed in the mysteries in Samothrace.
- 2.51.1ὀρθὰ ἔχειν τὰ αἰδοῖα
ὀρθὰ is the neuter plural accusative of the adjective ὀρθός, functioning predicatively with τὰ αἰδοῖα. The infinitive ἔχειν here means 'to have/keep in a certain state,' together expressing the action of making the statues with erect male organs.
- 2.51.2ἐς Ἕλληνας τελέουσι
τελέουσι is the dative plural present active participle of τελέω (to count, enroll), agreeing with Ἀθηναίοισι. The phrase ἐς Ἕλληνας τελεῖν means 'to be counted or registered among the Greeks.'
- 2.51.2μεμύηται
The third-person singular perfect middle/passive of μυέω (to initiate). Since μυέω takes a double accusative (the person and the rites), the accusative representing the rites (τὰ Καβείρων ὄργια) is retained even in the middle/passive construction.