- 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-grc2:4.190.1
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-11
Describes the burial customs of the Libyan nomads, who bury their dead like the Greeks except for the Nasamonians who bury them sitting, and notes their portable dwellings.
θάπτουσι δὲ τοὺς ἀποθνήσκοντας οἱ νομάδες κατά περ οἱ Ἕλληνες, πλὴν Νασαμώνων· οὗτοι δε κατημένους θάπτουσι, φυλάσσοντες, ἐπεὰν ἀπιῇ1 τὴν ψυχήν, ὅκως μιν κατίσουσι2 μηδὲ ὕπτιος ἀποθανέεται. οἰκήματα δὲ σύμπηκτα ἐξ ἀνθερίκων ἐνειρμένων περὶ σχοίνους ἐστί, καὶ ταῦτα περιφορητά. νόμοισι μὲν τοιούτοισι οὗτοι χρέωνται.
The nomads bury their dead just as the Greeks do, except for the Nasamonians; these bury them in a sitting posture, taking care, when the person is yielding up his breath, to seat him upright and prevent him from dying on his back. Their dwellings are constructed of asphodel stalks woven around rushes, and these are portable. Such are the customs they practice.
- 4.190.1ἀπιῇ
Equivalent to the Attic ἀφίῃ (third-person singular present or aorist active subjunctive of ἀφίημι, "to let go, release"). With τὴν ψυχήν ("soul") as its object, it means "to yield up one's breath" or "to die."
- 4.190.1ὅκως μιν κατίσουσι
A clause introduced by ὅκως (the Ionic form of ὅπως), representing the object of care or precaution for the participle φυλάσσοντες ("taking care"). κατίσουσι is the third-person plural future indicative of καθίζω ("to seat, set upright"), and the pronoun μιν is the Ionic equivalent of the third-person singular accusative (αὐτόν), referring to the dying person.