- 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-grc2:4.26.1-4.26.2
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The funeral customs of the Issedones, in which they consume the meat of the deceased parent mixed with sheep's meat and worship the gilded skull, are described along with their socially egalitarian order between men and women.
νόμοισι δὲ Ἰσσηδόνες τοῖσιδε λέγονται χρᾶσθαι. ἐπεὰν ἀνδρὶ ἀποθάνῃ πατήρ, οἱ προσήκοντες πάντες προσάγουσι πρόβατα, καὶ ἔπειτα ταῦτα θύσαντες καὶ καταταμόντες τὰ κρέα κατατάμνουσι καὶ τὸν τοῦ δεκομένου1 τεθνεῶτα γονέα, ἀναμίξαντες δὲ πάντα τὰ κρέα δαῖτα προτίθενται·
The Issedones are said to practice the following customs. Whenever a man’s father dies, all his relatives bring sheep, and then, having sacrificed these and cut up the meat, they also cut up the deceased parent of the host; and having mixed all the meat together, they set it out as a banquet.
τὴν δὲ κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ ψιλώσαντες καὶ ἐκκαθήραντες καταχρυσοῦσι καὶ ἔπειτα ἅτε ἀγάλματι χρέωνται, θυσίας μεγάλας ἐπετείους ἐπιτελέοντες. παῖς δὲ πατρὶ τοῦτο ποιέει, κατά περ Ἕλληνες τὰ γενέσια.2 ἄλλως δὲ δίκαιοι καὶ οὗτοι λέγονται εἶναι, ἰσοκρατέες δὲ ὁμοίως αἱ γυναῖκες τοῖσι ἀνδράσι.3
As for his head, they strip it of hair and flesh, clean it out, cover it with gold, and then treat it as an image of worship, performing grand annual sacrifices. A son does this for his father, just as the Greeks celebrate the Genesia. In other respects, these people also are said to be just, and the women have equal power with the men.
- 4.26.1τοῦ δεκομένου
Ionic dialect for Attic δεχομένου (the one who receives/hosts). Here it refers to the host (the son who lost his father) who is receiving his relatives.
- 4.26.2κατά περ Ἕλληνες τὰ γενέσια
A noun phrase follows the conjunction κατά περ (just as), with the corresponding verb (such as ποιέουσι or ἄγουσι) omitted. τὰ γενέσια refers to the Greek festival commemorating the dead or ancestors.
- 4.26.2ἰσοκρατέες δὲ ὁμοίως αἱ γυναῖκες τοῖσι ἀνδράσι
The copula εἰσί or the phrase λέγονται εἶναι (are said to be) from the main clause is omitted. The adjective ἰσοκρατέες (having equal power) takes the dative τοῖσι ἀνδράσι (with the men) as its complement, accompanied by ὁμοίως.