Herodotus, The Histories (ed. A. D. Godley)

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XLII. All that have a temple of Zeus of Thebes or are of the Theban district sacrifice goats, but will not touch sheep. [2] For no gods are worshipped by all Egyptians in common except Isis and Osiris, who they say is Dionysus; these are worshipped by all alike. Those who have a temple of Mendes¹ or are of the Mendesian district sacrifice sheep, but will not touch goats. [3] The Thebans, and those who by the Theban example will not touch sheep, give the following reason for their ordinance:² they say that Heracles wanted very much to see Zeus and that Zeus did not want to be seen by him, but that finally, when Heracles prayed, Zeus contrived [4] to show himself displaying the head and wearing the fleece of a ram which he had flayed and beheaded. It is from this that the Egyptian images of Zeus have a ram's head; and in this, the Egyptians are imitated by the Ammonians, who are colonists from Egypt and Ethiopia and speak a language compounded of the tongues of both countries. [5] It was from this, I think, that the Ammonians got their name, too; for the Egyptians call Zeus “Amon”. The Thebans, then, consider rams sacred for this reason, and do not sacrifice them. [6] But one day a year, at the festival of Zeus, they cut in pieces and flay a single ram and put the fleece on the image of Zeus, as in the story; then they bring an image of Heracles near it. Having done this, all that are at the temple mourn for the ram, and then bury it in a sacred coffin.

¹ Mendes, Greek form of Binded, a town in the Delta where Osiris was worshipped in the form of a ram, according to monuments. Here Mendes apparently = Osiris.

² The Greeks identified with Heracles an Egyptian god Shu (called at Thebes Chonsu-Neferhotep,aagathodaimôn).

Further comments from W. W. How, J. Wells, A Commentary on Herodotus:
book 2 (general note)
book 2, chapter 42 (general note)
book 2, chapter 42, section 1: Dios
book 2, chapter 42, section 2: homoiôs
book 2, chapter 42, section 3: Hêraklea
book 2, chapter 42, section 3: krion ekdeiranta
book 2, chapter 42, section 4: phônên
book 2, chapter 42, section 5: tên epônumiên epoiêsanto
book 2, chapter 42, section 6: tuptontai ton krion

Cross references from Raphael Kühner, Bernhard Gerth, Ausführliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache (ed. Ildar Ibraguimov):
529 [Men . . men. — De . . de. — Men . . men . . de . . de. Men . . alla u. a. — Men . . te oder kai.]

Cross references from Walter Leaf, Commentary on the Iliad (1900):
24, 710 [Book 24 (Ô)]

Cross references from Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898):
osiris [Osīris]

Cross references from William Watson Goodwin, Syntax of the Moods and Tenses of the Greek Verb:
685 [Infinitive in Indirect Discourse.]
807 [Simple Infinitive and Infinitive with tou, after Verbs of Hindrance, etc.]

This text is based on the following book(s):
Herodotus, with an English translation by A. D. Godley. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1920.
OCLC: 1610641
ISBN: 0674991303, 0674991311, 0674991338, 0674991346

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