For the Magians cf. 101 n. and App. VIII, § 3.
οἵην δή. Translate ‘for such they say the invocation is’; H. does not profess himself to have understood the incantation. Darmstetter (iv. 53) says, ‘H. may have heard the Magi sing the very same Gathas which are now sung by the Mobeds in Bombay.’ The hymns invoke Ormazd and his ministering spirits and dwell upon their attributes; they are not a ‘Theogony’ in the Hesiodic sense (ii. 53. 2 n.).
ὁ θύσας. Greek usage left a portion for the priests. Strabo (732) says the Persian god's share was the life (ψυχή) of the victim.
λόγος αἱρέει. More often without an object (cf. vi. 124. 3); ‘as reason takes him,’ i. e. as he pleases.
