- 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-grc2:2.66.1-2.66.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-05
Describes the breeding habits and extraordinary behaviors of cats during fires, as well as the unique mourning customs of the Egyptians when a cat or dog dies in a house.
πολλῶν δὲ ἐόντων ὁμοτρόφων τοῖσι ἀνθρώποισι θηρίων πολλῷ ἂν ἔτι πλέω ἐγίνετο, εἰ μὴ κατελάμβανε1 τοὺς αἰελούρους τοιάδε· ἐπεὰν τέκωσι αἱ θήλεαι, οὐκέτι φοιτέουσι παρὰ τοὺς ἔρσενας· οἳ δὲ διζήμενοι μίσγεσθαι αὐτῇσι οὐκ ἔχουσι.2
Though there are many wild beasts that live with humans, they would have become much more numerous if such things as the following did not happen to the cats: when the females have given birth, they no longer resort to the males; and the males, though desiring to mate with them, are not able to do so.
πρὸς ὦν ταῦτα σοφίζονται τάδε· ἁρπάζοντες ἀπὸ τῶν θηλέων καὶ ὑπαιρεόμενοι τὰ τέκνα κτείνουσι, κτείναντες μέντοι οὐ πατέονται· αἳ δὲ στερισκόμεναι τῶν τέκνων, ἄλλων δὲ ἐπιθυμέουσαι, οὕτω δὴ ἀπικνέονται παρὰ τοὺς ἔρσενας· φιλότεκνον γὰρ τὸ θηρίον.
Therefore, they devise the following trick against this: they seize and steal away the young from the females and kill them; however, having killed them, they do not eat them. And the females, being deprived of their young and desiring to have others, in this way indeed come to the males; for the beast is fond of its offspring.
πυρκαϊῆς δὲ γενομένης θεῖα πρήγματα καταλαμβάνει τοὺς αἰελούρους· οἱ μὲν γὰρ Αἰγύπτιοι διαστάντες φυλακὰς ἔχουσι τῶν αἰελούρων,3 ἀμελήσαντες σβεννύναι τὸ καιόμενον, οἱ δὲ αἰέλουροι διαδύνοντες καὶ ὑπερθρώσκοντες τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐσάλλονται ἐς τὸ πῦρ.
But when a fire breaks out, extraordinary things befall the cats; for the Egyptians, standing at intervals, keep watch over the cats, neglecting to put out what is burning; but the cats, slipping through and leaping over the men, spring into the fire.
ταῦτα δὲ γινόμενα πένθεα μεγάλα τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους καταλαμβάνει. ἐν ὁτέοισι δʼ ἂν οἰκίοισι αἰέλουρος ἀποθάνῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτομάτου,4 οἱ ἐνοικέοντες πάντες ξυρῶνται τὰς ὀφρύας μούνας, παρʼ ὁτέοισι δʼ ἂν κύων, πᾶν τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὴν κεφαλήν.
When these things happen, great grief befalls the Egyptians. And in whatever house a cat dies a natural death, all the inhabitants shave their eyebrows only, but in whichever house a dog dies, they shave their whole body and their head.
- 2.66.1πολλῷ ἂν ἔτι πλέω ἐγίνετο, εἰ μὴ κατελάμβανε
A contrary-to-fact conditional construction. The apodosis contains ἄν with the imperfect indicative (ἐγίνετο) and the protasis contains εἰ with the imperfect indicative (κατελάμβανε), expressing a counterfactual situation in past time or continuing into the present.
- 2.66.1οἳ δὲ διζήμενοι μίσγεσθαι αὐτῇσι οὐκ ἔχουσι
Although "οἳ δὲ" has the form of a relative pronoun, it functions as a demonstrative pronoun introducing a contrasted subject ("but they [the males]"), referring to "οἱ ἔρσενες" in contrast to "αἱ θήλεαι". "οὐκ ἔχουσι" means "cannot" or "have no power to," supplying the infinitive "μίσγεσθαι" from the context.
- 2.66.3διαστάντες φυλακὰς ἔχουσι τῶν αἰελούρων
The phrase "φυλακὰς ἔχουσι" (keep watch) functions as a periphrastic verbal expression, with "τῶν αἰελούρων" (the cats) acting as an objective genitive dependent on it. The aorist participle "διαστάντες" (having stood at intervals) describes the manner of the subject.
- 2.66.4ἀπὸ τοῦ αὐτομάτου
An adverbial phrase combining the preposition ἀπό with the genitive of the substantivized neuter adjective αὐτόματος (spontaneous, of itself), meaning "of its own accord" or "naturally." Here it refers to a "natural death," as opposed to being killed or dying in an accident.