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Herodotus · Histories §2.145.1-2.145.4

Chronological Discrepancy of Gods: Greece and Egypt

Passage 367 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The passage discusses the differences in the chronologies of the gods' origins between the Greeks and the Egyptians, taking Heracles, Dionysus, and Pan as examples, and showing that the Egyptians consider them to be far more ancient.

§2.145.1ἐν Ἕλλησι μέν νυν νεώτατοι τῶν θεῶν νομίζονται εἶναι Ἡρακλέης τε καὶ Διόνυσος καὶ Πάν, παρʼ Αἰγυπτίοισι δὲ Πὰν μὲν ἀρχαιότατος καὶ τῶν ὀκτὼ τῶν πρώτων λεγομένων θεῶν, Ἡρακλέης δὲ τῶν δευτέρων τῶν δυώδεκα λεγομένων εἶναι, Διόνυσος δὲ τῶν τρίτων, οἳ ἐκ τῶν δυώδεκα θεῶν ἐγένοντο.
Among the Greeks, Heracles, Dionysus, and Pan are considered to be the youngest of the gods; but among the Egyptians, Pan is the oldest, belonging to the first eight gods so-called, and Heracles to the second twelve so-called, and Dionysus to the third, who came from the twelve gods.
§2.145.2Ἡρακλέι μὲν δὴ ὅσα αὐτοὶ Αἰγύπτιοι φασὶ εἶναι ἔτεα ἐς Ἄμασιν βασιλέα, δεδήλωταί μοι πρόσθε· Πανὶ δὲ ἔτι τούτων πλέονα λέγεται εἶναι, Διονύσῳ δʼ ἐλάχιστα τούτων, καὶ τούτῳ πεντακισχίλια καὶ μύρια λογίζονται εἶναι ἐς Ἄμασιν βασιλέα.
For Heracles, the number of years which the Egyptians themselves say there were up to King Amasis has already been shown by me before; for Pan, they say there are even more years than these, and for Dionysus the fewest of these, and for him they reckon there to be fifteen thousand years up to King Amasis.
§2.145.3καὶ ταῦτα Αἰγύπτιοι ἀτρεκέως φασὶ ἐπίστασθαι, αἰεί τε λογιζόμενοι καὶ αἰεὶ ἀπογραφόμενοι τὰ ἔτεα.
And the Egyptians say they know these things accurately, as they always reckon and always write down the years.
§2.145.4Διονύσῳ μέν νυν τῷ ἐκ Σεμέλης τῆς Κάδμου λεγομένῳ γενέσθαι κατὰ ἑξακόσια ἔτεα καὶ χίλια μάλιστα ἐστὶ ἐς ἐμέ, Ἡρακλέι δὲ τῷ Ἀλκμήνης κατὰ εἰνακόσια ἔτεα· Πανὶ δὲ τῷ ἐκ Πηνελόπης (ἐκ ταύτης γὰρ καὶ Ἑρμέω λέγεται γενέσθαι ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων ὁ Πάν) ἐλάσσω ἔτεα ἐστὶ τῶν Τρωικῶν, κατὰ ὀκτακόσια μάλιστα ἐς ἐμέ.
Now, for Dionysus, who is said to have been born of Semele, the daughter of Cadmus, there are about sixteen hundred years to my time; and for Heracles, the son of Alcmene, about nine hundred years; while for Pan, who was born of Penelope (for of her and Hermes, Pan is said by the Greeks to have been born), the years are fewer than those of the Trojan war, being about eight hundred to my time.

Notes

  1. §2.145.2Ἡρακλέι — The dative Ἡρακλέι, placed at the beginning of the clause along with the subsequent Πανὶ and Διονύσῳ, functions as a dative of relation ('with regard to Heracles'). It is to be distinguished from the dative of agent μοι, which refers to the writer and depends on the verb δεδήλωται.
  2. §2.145.4τῶν Τρωικῶν — A genitive of comparison (genitivus comparationis) dependent on the comparative ἐλάσσω, referring to 'the Trojan war (and its times)'.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §2.145.1-2.145.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.145.1-2.145.4

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