Histories

Herodotus

Herodotus. Godley, Alfred Denis, translator. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1920-1925 (printing).

As for the Getae, who claim to be immortal, I have already given an account of their practices.[*](Hdt. 4.94) The Trausi, who in all else conform to the customs of other Thracians, do as I will show at the times of birth and death.

When a child is born, the kinsmen sit around it and lament all the ills that it must endure from its birth onward, recounting all the sorrows of men. The dead, however, they bury with celebration and gladness, asserting that he is rid of so many ills and has achieved a state of complete blessedness.