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Herodotus · Histories §2.74.1

The Horned Sacred Serpents of Thebes and Their Burial

Passage 290 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The author describes the small, harmless, horned sacred serpents near Thebes and the custom of burying them in the temple of Zeus upon their death.

§2.74.1εἰσὶ δὲ περὶ Θήβας ἱροὶ ὄφιες, ἀνθρώπων οὐδαμῶς δηλήμονες, οἳ μεγάθεϊ ἐόντες μικροὶ δύο κέρεα φορέουσι πεφυκότα ἐξ ἄκρης τῆς κεφαλῆς·
There are also about Thebes sacred serpents, by no means harmful to humans, which, being small in size, bear two horns grown from the top of their head.
τοὺς θάπτουσι ἀποθανόντας ἐν τῷ ἱρῷ τοῦ Διός· τούτου γὰρ σφέας τοῦ θεοῦ φασι εἶναι ἱρούς.
These, when they die, they bury in the temple of Zeus; for they say that they are sacred to this god.

Notes

  1. §2.74.1ἀνθρώπων — Objective genitive governed by the adjective `δηλήμονες` (harmful, destructive), meaning "harmful to humans."
  2. §2.74.1μεγάθεϊ — Dative of respect (specification), limiting the scope of the adjective `μικροὶ` ("small in size").
  3. §2.74.1τοὺς — Although morphologically a relative pronoun (accusative plural masculine), in Herodotus' usage it functions here as a demonstrative pronoun ("these"), referring back to the serpents at the beginning of the clause.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §2.74.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.74.1

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