Herodotus · Histories §2.82.1-2.82.2

Astrological Prediction of Destiny and Records of Portents

Passage 298 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Explains how the Egyptians established the association of months and days with gods, predicted individual destiny based on birth dates (which Greek poets adopted), and carefully recorded portents to predict future outcomes.

§2.82.1καὶ τάδε ἄλλα Αἰγυπτίοισι ἐστὶ ἐξευρημένα, μείς τε καὶ ἡμέρη ἑκάστη θεῶν ὅτευ ἐστί, καὶ τῇ ἕκαστος ἡμέρῃ γενόμενος ὁτέοισι ἐγκυρήσει καὶ ὅκως τελευτήσει καὶ ὁκοῖός τις ἔσται.

And these other things have also been discovered by the Egyptians: to which of the gods each month and day belongs, and what fortunes a person will meet with, how he will end his life, and what sort of person he will be, depending on the day on which he was born.

καὶ τούτοισι τῶν Ἑλλήνων οἱ ἐν ποιήσι γενόμενοι ἐχρήσαντο.

And those of the Greeks who were engaged in poetry made use of these things.

§2.82.2τέρατά τε πλέω σφι ἀνεύρηται ἢ τοῖσι ἄλλοισι ἅπασι ἀνθρώποισι· γενομένου γὰρ τέρατος φυλάσσουσι γραφόμενοι τὠποβαῖνον, καὶ ἤν κοτε ὕστερον παραπλήσιον τούτῳ γένηται, κατὰ τὠυτὸ νομίζουσι ἀποβήσεσθαι.

Also, more portents have been discovered by them than by all other men; for when a portent occurs, they observe it and write down the outcome, and if ever later something similar to it happens, they believe that it will turn out in the same way.

Notes

2.82.1τῇ ἕκαστος ἡμέρῃ γενόμενος — A construction where the relative/demonstrative pronoun τῇ is used instead of ᾗ, with its antecedent ἡμέρῃ incorporated into the relative clause. It means "on the day on which each person was born," expressing a causal or conditional relationship between the day of birth and a person's fate.
2.82.1οἱ ἐν ποιήσι γενόμενοι — Literally "those who became involved in poetry," which is a periphrastic expression frequently used by Herodotus to mean "poets" (οἱ ποιηται).
2.82.2νομίζουσι ἀποβήσεσθαι — An infinitive construction introduced by the verb of thinking νομίζουσι. The semantic subject of the future infinitive ἀποβήσεσθαι (such as "matters" or "the outcome") is omitted because it is obvious from the context.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §2.82.1-2.82.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.82.1-2.82.2

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