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Herodotus · Histories §2.171.1-2.171.3

Mysteries of Osiris and Origins of the Thesmophoria

Passage 393 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The author keeps holy silence on the mysteries of Osiris' sufferings and the Thesmophoria of Demeter. He explains that the daughters of Danaus brought this rite from Egypt, and only the Arcadians preserved it after the Dorian invasion.

§2.171.1ἐν δὲ τῇ λίμνῃ ταύτῃ τὰ δείκηλα τῶν παθέων αὐτοῦ νυκτὸς ποιεῦσι, τὰ καλέουσι μυστήρια Αἰγύπτιοι.
On this lake they perform by night the representations of his sufferings, which the Egyptians call "mysteries".
περὶ μέν νυν τούτων εἰδότι μοι ἐπὶ πλέον ὡς ἕκαστα αὐτῶν ἔχει, εὔστομα κείσθω.
Now concerning these, though I know more details about how each of them is, let them be kept in holy silence.
§2.171.2καὶ τῆς Δήμητρος τελετῆς πέρι, τὴν οἱ Ἕλληνες θεσμοφόρια καλέουσι, καὶ ταύτης μοι πέρι εὔστομα κείσθω, πλὴν ὅσον αὐτῆς ὁσίη ἐστὶ λέγειν·
And concerning the rite of Demeter, which the Greeks call Thesmophoria, concerning this too let it be kept in holy silence by me, except so much of it as it is lawful to speak.
§2.171.3αἱ Δαναοῦ θυγατέρες ἦσαν αἱ τὴν τελετὴν ταύτην ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἐξαγαγοῦσαι καὶ διδάξασαι τὰς Πελασγιώτιδας γυναῖκας· μετὰ δὲ ἐξαναστάσης πάσης Πελοποννήσου ὑπὸ Δωριέων ἐξαπώλετο ἡ τελετή, οἱ δὲ ὑπολειφθέντες Πελοποννησίων καὶ οὐκ ἐξαναστάντες Ἀρκάδες διέσωζον αὐτὴν μοῦνοι.
It was the daughters of Danaus who brought this rite out of Egypt and taught it to the Pelasgian women; but afterwards, when the whole Peloponnese was depopulated by the Dorians, the rite perished, and those of the Peloponnesians who were left behind and not driven out, namely the Arcadians, alone preserved it.

Notes

  1. §2.171.1εἰδότι μοι — The participle εἰδότι (dative singular masculine of εἰδώς) modifies the personal pronoun μοι. In the impersonal-like imperative construction εὔστομα κείσθω ("let it be kept in holy silence"), it functions as a dative of relation or ethical dative indicating the person who has the knowledge of the matter.
  2. §2.171.1εὔστομα κείσθω — Literally, "let it lie in well-spoken/holy things." This is a standard religious and idiomatic formula meaning "let a holy silence be maintained" or "let it remain unmentioned" out of reverence.
  3. §2.171.3ἐξαναστάσης πάσης Πελοποννήσου ὑπὸ Δωριέων — A genitive absolute construction with the aorist active participle ἐξαναστάσης (from ἐξανιστάω, used intransitively) and πάσης Πελοποννήσου. Accompanied by the prepositional phrase ὑπὸ Δωριέων (by the Dorians), it conveys a passive sense ("when the entire Peloponnese was driven out / depopulated").
  4. §2.171.3οἱ δὲ ὑπολειφθέντες Πελοποννησίων — The genitive plural noun Πελοποννησίων functions as a partitive genitive dependent on the substantivized passive participle οἱ ὑπολειφθέντες ("those of the Peloponnesians who were left behind").

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §2.171.1-2.171.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.171.1-2.171.3

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