Herodotus 2.52
Sisk, Mercedes A. /
- Created on 2017-05-04 20:58:19
- Translated by Mercedes Sisk
- Aligned by Sisk, Mercedes A.
Translated into English by David Grene
Ἑλληνική Transliterate
English
ἔθυον δὲ πάντα πρότερον οἱ Πελασγοὶ θεοῖσι ἐπευχόμενοι , ὡς ἐγὼ ἐν Δωδώνῃ οἶδα ἀκούσας , ἐπωνυμίην δὲ οὐδ᾽ οὔνομα ἐποιεῦντο οὐδενὶ αὐτῶν : οὐ γὰρ ἀκηκόεσάν κω . θεοὺς δὲ προσωνόμασαν σφέας ἀπὸ τοῦ τοιούτου , ὅτι κόσμῳ θέντες τὰ πάντα πρήγματα καὶ πάσας νομὰς εἶχον . ἔπειτα δὲ χρόνου πολλοῦ διεξελθόντος ἐπύθοντο ἐκ τῆς Αἰγύπτου ἀπικόμενα τὰ οὐνόματα τῶν θεῶν τῶν ἄλλων , Διονύσου δὲ ὕστερον πολλῷ ἐπύθοντο . καὶ μετὰ χρόνον ἐχρηστηριάζοντο περὶ τῶν οὐνομάτων ἐν Δωδώνῃ : τὸ γὰρ δὴ μαντήιον τοῦτο νενόμισται ἀρχαιότατον τῶν ἐν Ἕλλησι χρηστηρίων εἶναι , καὶ ἦν τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον μοῦνον . ἐπεὶ ὦν ἐχρηστηριάζοντο ἐν τῇ Δωδώνῃ οἱ Πελασγοὶ εἰ ἀνέλωνται τὰ οὐνόματα τὰ ἀπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων ἥκοντα , ἀνεῖλε τὸ μαντήιον χρᾶσθαι . ἀπὸ μὲν δὴ τούτου τοῦ χρόνου ἔθυον τοῖσι οὐνόμασι τῶν θεῶν χρεώμενοι : παρὰ δὲ Πελασγῶν Ἕλληνες ἐξεδέξαντο ὕστερον .
Formerly
the
Pelasgians
made
all
their
sacrifices
with
invocations
to
gods
(
I
know
of
this
from
what
I
heard
at
Dodona
)
but
no
special
titles
or
name
on
any
one
of
them
;
for
they
had
not
yet
heard
of
any
such
.
They
gave
them
the
title
"
gods
"
from
the
circumstance
that
they
had
disposed
everything
in
order
and
arranged
all
.
But
afterwards
,
after
a
great
while
,
they
learned
the
names
that
came
from
Egypt
-
those
of
the
other
gods
,
that
is
;
for
the
name
of
Dionysus
they
learned
long
after
that
.
And
after
a
time
they
consulted
the
oracle
at
Dodona
about
the
names
.
This
oracle
at
Dodona
was
the
most
ancient
oracular
place
of
all
among
the
Greeks
,
and
at
that
time
it
was
the
only
one
.
When
the
Pelasgians
asked
the
oracle
in
Dodona
whether
they
should
take
on
the
names
that
came
from
the
barbarians
,
the
oracle
bade
them
use
the
names
.
And
from
that
time
on
they
sacrificed
using
the
names
of
the
gods
,
and
afterwards
the
Greeks
received
the
names
from
the
Pelasgians
.