Burial Places and Rites for Sacred Animals — Herodotus, Histories Book 2 (2.67.1–2.67.2), Greek & English

§2.67.1

ἀπάγονται δὲ οἱ αἰέλουροι ἀποθανόντες¹ ἐς ἱρὰς στέγας, ἔνθα θάπτονται ταριχευθέντες, ἐν Βουβάστιπόλι· τὰς δὲ κύνας ἐν τῇ ἑωυτῶν ἕκαστοι πόλι θάπτουσι ἐν ἱρῇσι θήκῃσι. ὣς δὲ αὕτως τῇσι κυσὶ οἱ ἰχνευταὶ θάπτονται. τὰς δὲ μυγαλᾶς καὶ τοὺς ἴρηκας ἀπάγουσι ἐς Βουτοῦν πόλιν, τὰς δὲ ἴβις ἐς Ἑρμέω πόλιν.

And the cats, when they die, are carried away to sacred chambers, where they are buried after being embalmed, in the city of Bubastis; and dogs they bury each in their own city in sacred coffins. In the very same way as the dogs, the ichneumons are buried. But shrew-mice and hawks they carry away to the city of Buto, and ibises to the City of Hermes.

§2.67.2

τὰς δὲ ἄρκτους ἐούσας σπανίας καὶ τοὺς λύκους οὐ πολλῷ τεῳ ἐόντας ἀλωπέκων μέζονας αὐτοῦ θάπτουσι τῇ ἂν εὑρεθέωσι κείμενοι.²

And bears, which are rare, and wolves, which are not much bigger than foxes, they bury on the spot where they are found lying.

Syntax notes2 items

2.67.1ἀποφανόντες
An aorist active participle meaning 'having died' or 'when they die,' agreeing with the subject οἱ αἰέλουροι. The spelling ἀποφανόντες in the provided text is a corruption or manuscript variant of ἀποθανόντες (from ἀποθνῄσκω), which is adopted for the translation.
2.67.2τῇ ἂν εὑρεθέωσι κείμενοι
In the clause introduced by the relative adverb τῇ ('where/in the place where'), the aorist passive subjunctive εὑρεθέωσι (Ionic for εὑρεθῶσι) is combined with ἄν to express an indefinite general condition ('wherever they might be found'). κείμενοι is a supplementary participle describing the state of the subject when found ('lying').

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — source 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.67.1-2.67.2