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Herodotus · Histories §2.85.1-2.85.2

Egyptian Mourning Customs and Transport of the Body

Passage 301 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Describes the Egyptian customs of mourning for a person of standing, detailing how women and men separately express grief through physical lamentation before the corpse is taken for embalming.

§2.85.1θρῆνοι δὲ καὶ ταφαί σφεων εἰσὶ αἵδε·
Their lamentations and burials are as follows.
τοῖσι ἂν ἀπογένηται ἐκ τῶν οἰκίων ἄνθρωπος τοῦ τις καὶ λόγος ᾖ, τὸ θῆλυ γένος πᾶν τὸ ἐκ τῶν οἰκίων τούτων κατʼ ὦν ἐπλάσατο τὴν κεφαλὴν πηλῷ ἢ καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον, κἄπειτα ἐν τοῖσι οἰκίοισι λιποῦσαι τὸν νεκρὸν αὐταὶ ἀνὰ τὴν πόλιν στρωφώμεναι τύπτονται ἐπεζωσμέναι καὶ φαίνουσαι τοὺς μαζούς, σὺν δέ σφι αἱ προσήκουσαι πᾶσαι,
Whenever a man of some standing dies from a household, all the female kind of that household daub their head with mud, or even their face, and then, leaving the corpse in the house, they themselves wander through the city and beat themselves, girt up and exposing their breasts, and with them all their female kinswomen.
§2.85.2ἑτέρωθεν δὲ οἱ ἄνδρες, τύπτονται ἐπεζωμένοι καὶ οὗτοι.
On the other side, the men also beat themselves, they too being girt up.
ἐπεὰν δὲ ταῦτα ποιήσωσι, οὕτω ἐς τὴν ταρίχευσιν κομίζουσι.
When they have done this, they then carry the corpse to the embalming.

Notes

  1. 2.85.1τοῖσι ἂν ἀπογένηται — The relative pronoun `τοῖσι` is the Ionic dative plural corresponding to `οἷς`, introducing a conditional relative clause with `ἂν` and the subjunctive `ἀπογένηται`. It refers to the household members who experience the death.
  2. 2.85.1κατʼ ὦν ἐπλάσατο — This is an example of tmesis, where the Ionic particle `ὦν` (equivalent to `οὖν`) is inserted between the prefix `κατα-` and the verb `ἐπλάσατο` (from `καταπλάσσω`, aorist middle).
  3. 2.85.1λιποῦσαι — While the formal grammatical subject is the singular collective noun `τὸ θῆλυ γένος πᾶν`, the aorist participle `λιποῦσαι` (and subsequent participles `στρωφώμεναι` and `ἐπεζωσμέναι`) is in the feminine plural, agreeing with the logical subject (the individual women) in a constructio ad sensum.
  4. 2.85.2κομίζουσι — The object of this transitive verb is omitted but is understood from the context to be `τὸν νεκρόν` (the corpse) mentioned in the previous section.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §2.85.1-2.85.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.85.1-2.85.2

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