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The History of Herodotus: Page 21
Volume One - Book IV
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BOOK IV
THE FOURTH BOOK OF THE HISTORIES, CALLED MELPOMENE
1. After Babylon had been taken, the march of Dareios himself[1]
against the Scythians took place: for now that Asia was flourishing in
respect of population, and large sums were being gathered in as
revenue, Dareios formed the desire to take vengeance upon the
Scythians, because they had first invaded the Median land and had
overcome in fight those who opposed them; and thus they had been the
beginners of wrong. The Scythians in truth, as I have before said,[2]
had ruled over Upper Asia[3] for eight-and-twenty years; for they had
invaded Asia in their pursuit of the Kimmerians, and they had
deposed[4] the Medes from their rule, who had rule over Asia before
the Scythians came. Now when the Scythians had been absent from their
own land for eight-and-twenty years, as they were returning to it
after that interval of time, they were met by a contest[5] not less
severe than that which they had had with the Medes, since they found
an army of no mean size opposing them. For the wives of the Scythians,
because their husbands were absent from them for a long time, had
associated with the slaves.
2. Now the Scythians put out the eyes of
all their slaves because of the milk which they drink; and they do as
follows:--they take blow-pipes of bone just like flutes, and these
they insert into the vagina of the mare and blow with their mouths,
and others milk while they blow: and they say that they do this
because the veins of the mare are thus filled, being blown out, and so
the udder is let down. When they had drawn the milk they pour it into
wooden vessels hollowed out, and they set the blind slaves in order
about[6] the vessels and agitate the milk.
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Then that which comes to the top they skim off, considering it the
more valuable part, whereas they esteem that which settles down to
be less good than the other. For this reason[7] the Scythians put
out the eyes of all whom they catch; for they are not tillers of the
soil but nomads.
3. From these
their slaves then, I say, and from their wives had been born and bred
up a generation of young men, who having learnt the manner of their
birth set themselves to oppose the Scythians as they were returning
from the Medes. And first they cut off their land by digging a broad
trench extending from the Tauric mountains to the Maiotian lake, at
the point where[8] this is broadest; then afterwards when the
Scythians attempted to invade the land, they took up a position
against them and fought; and as they fought many times, and the
Scythians were not able to get any advantage in the fighting, one of
them said: "What a thing is this that we are doing, Scythians! We are
fighting against our own slaves, and we are not only becoming fewer in
number ourselves by being slain in battle, but also we are killing
them, and so we shall have fewer to rule over in future. Now therefore
to me it seems good that we leave spears and bows and that each one
take his horse-whip and so go up close to them: for so long as they
saw us with arms in our hands, they thought themselves equal to us and
of equal birth; but when they shall see that we have whips instead of
arms, they will perceive that they are our slaves, and having
acknowledged this they will not await our onset."
4. When they heard
this, the Scythians proceeded to do that which he said, and the others
being panic-stricken by that which was done forgot their fighting and
fled. Thus the Scythians had ruled over Asia; and in such manner, when
they were driven out again by the Medes, they had returned to their
own land. For this Dareios wished to take vengeance upon them, and was
gathering together an army to go against them.
*****
5. Now the Scythians say that their nation is the youngest of all
nations, and that this came to pass as follows:--The first man who
ever existed in this region, which then was desert, was one named Targitaos: and of this Targitaos they say, though I do not believe it
for my part, however they say the parents were Zeus and the daughter
of the river Borysthenes. Targitaos, they report, was produced from
some such origin as this, and of him were begotten three sons,
Lipoxaïs and Arpoxaïs and the youngest Colaxaïs. In the reign of
these[9] there came down from heaven certain things wrought of gold, a
plough, a yoke, a battle-axe,[10] and a cup, and fell in the Scythian
land: and first the eldest saw and came near them, desiring to take
them, but the gold blazed with fire when he approached it: then when
he had gone away from it, the second approached, and again it did the
same thing. These then the gold repelled by blazing with fire; but
when the third and youngest came up to it, the flame was quenched, and
he carried them to his own house. The elder brothers then,
acknowledging the significance of this thing, delivered the whole of
the kingly power to the youngest.
6. From Lixopaïs, they say, are
descended those Scythians who are called the race of the Auchatai;
from the middle brother Arpoxaïs those who are called Catiaroi and
Traspians, and from the youngest of them the "Royal" tribe,[11] who
are called Paralatai: and the whole together are called, they say,
Scolotoi, after the name of their king;[12] but the Hellenes gave them
the name of Scythians.
7. Thus the Scythians say they were produced;
and from the time of their origin, that is to say from the first king Targitaos, to the passing over of Dareios against them, they say that
there is a period of a thousand years and no more. Now this sacred
gold is guarded by the kings with the utmost care, and they visit it
every year with solemn sacrifices of propitiation: moreover if any one
goes to sleep while watching in the open air over this gold during the
festival, the Scythians say that he does not live out the year; and
there is given him for this so much land as he shall ride round
himself on his horse in one day. Now as the land was large, Colaxaïs,
they say, established three kingdoms for his sons; and of these he
made one larger than the rest, and in this the gold is kept. But as to
the upper parts which lie on the North side of those who dwell above
this land, they say one can neither see nor pass through any further
by reason of feathers which are poured down; for both the earth and
the air are full of feathers, and this is that which shuts off the
view.
8. Thus say the Scythians about themselves and about the region above
them; but the Hellenes who dwell about the Pontus say as follows:--
Heracles driving the cattle of Geryones came to this land, then
desert, which the Scythians now inhabit; and Geryones, says the tale,
dwelt away from the region of the Pontus, living in the island called
by the Hellenes Erytheia, near Gadeira which is outside the Pillars of
Heracles by the Ocean.--As to the Ocean, they say indeed that it flows
round the whole earth beginning from the place of the sunrising, but
they do not prove this by facts.--From thence Heracles came to the
land now called Scythia; and as a storm came upon him together with
icy cold, he drew over him his lion's skin and went to sleep.
Meanwhile the mares harnessed in his chariot disappeared by a
miraculous chance, as they were feeding.
9. Then when Heracles woke he
sought for them; and having gone over the whole land, at last he came
to the region which is called Hylaia; and there he found in a cave a
kind of twofold creature formed by the union of a maiden and a
serpent, whose upper parts from the buttocks upwards were those of a
woman, but her lower parts were those of a snake. Having seen her and
marvelled at her, he asked her then whether she had seen any mares
straying anywhere; and she said that she had them herself and would
not give them up until he lay with her; and Heracles lay with her on
condition of receiving them. She then tried to put off the giving back
of the mares, desiring to have Heracles with her as long as possible,
while he on the other hand desired to get the mares and depart; and at
last she gave them back and said: "These mares when they came hither I
saved for thee, and thou didst give me reward for saving them; for I
have by thee three sons. Tell me then, what must I do with these when
they shall be grown to manhood, whether I shall settle them here, for
over this land I have power alone, or send them away to thee?" She
thus asked of him, and he, they say, replied: "When thou seest that
the boys are grown to men, do this and thou shalt not fail of doing
right:--whichsoever of them thou seest able to stretch this bow as I
do now, and to be girded[12a] with this girdle, him cause to be the
settler of this land; but whosoever of them fails in the deeds which I
enjoin, send him forth out of the land: and if thou shalt do thus,
thou wilt both have delight thyself and perform that which has been
enjoined to thee."
10. Upon this he drew one of his bows (for up to
that time Heracles, they say, was wont to carry two) and showed her
the girdle, and then he delivered to her both the bow and the girdle,
which had at the end of its clasp a golden cup; and having given them
he departed. She then, when her sons had been born and had grown to be
men, gave them names first, calling one of them Agathyrsos and the
next Gelonos and the youngest Skythes; then bearing in mind the charge
given to her, she did that which was enjoined. And two of her sons,
Agathyrsos and Gelonos, not having proved themselves able to attain to
the task set before them, departed from the land, being cast out by
her who bore them; but Skythes the youngest of them performed the task
and remained in the land: and from Skythes the son of Heracles were
descended, they say, the succeeding kings of the Scythians
(Skythians): and they say moreover that it is by reason of the cup
that the Scythians still even to this day wear cups attached to their
girdles: and this alone his mother contrived for Skythes.[13] Such is
the story told by the Hellenes who dwell about the Pontus.
11. There is however also another story, which is as follows, and to
this I am most inclined myself. It is to the effect that the nomad
Scythians dwelling in Asia, being hard pressed in war by the Massagetai, left their abode and crossing the river Araxes came
towards the Kimmerian land (for the land which now is occupied by the
Scythians is said to have been in former times the land of the
Kimmerians); and the Kimmerians, when the Scythians were coming
against them, took counsel together, seeing that a great host was
coming to fight against them; and it proved that their opinions were
divided, both opinions being vehemently maintained, but the better
being that of their kings: for the opinion of the people was that it
was necessary to depart and that they ought not to run the risk of
fighting against so many,[14] but that of the kings was to fight for
their land with those who came against them: and as neither the people
were willing by means to agree to the counsel of the kings nor the
kings to that of the people, the people planned to depart without
fighting and to deliver up the land to the invaders, while the kings
resolved to die and to be laid in their own land, and not to flee with
the mass of the people, considering the many goods of fortune which
they had enjoyed, and the many evils which it might be supposed would
come upon them, if they fled from their native land. Having resolved
upon this, they parted into two bodies, and making their numbers equal
they fought with one another: and when these had all been killed by
one another's hands, then the people of the Kimmerians buried them by
the bank of the river Tyras (where their burial-place is still to be
seen), and having buried them, then they made their way out from the
land, and the Scythians when they came upon it found the land deserted
of its inhabitants.
12. And there are at the present time in the land
of Scythia Kimmerian walls, and a Kimmerian ferry; and there is also a
region which is called Kimmeria, and the so-called Kimmerian
Bosphorus. It is known moreover that the Kimmerians, in their flight
to Asia from the Scythians, also made a settlement on that peninsula
on which now stands the Hellenic city of Sinope; and it is known too
that the Scythians pursued them and invaded the land of Media, having
missed their way; for while the Kimmerians kept ever along by the sea
in their flight, the Scythians pursued them keeping Caucasus on their
right hand, until at last they invaded Media, directing their course
inland. This then which has been told is another story, and it is
common both to Hellenes and Barbarians.
13. Aristeas however the son of Caÿstrobios, a man of Proconnesos,
said in the verses which he composed, that he came to the land of the
Issedonians being possessed by Phœbus, and that beyond the Issedonians
dwelt Arimaspians, a one-eyed race, and beyond these the gold-guarding
griffins, and beyond them the Hyperboreans extending as far as the
sea: and all these except the Hyperboreans, beginning with the
Arimaspians, were continually making war on their neighbours, and the
Issedonians were gradually driven out of their country by the
Arimaspians and the Scythians by the Issedonians, and so the
Kimmerians, who dwelt on the Southern Sea, being pressed by the
Scythians left their land. Thus neither does he agree in regard to
this land with the report of the Scythians.
14. As to Aristeas who composed[15] this, I have said already whence
he was; and I will tell also the tale which I heard about him in
Proconnesos and Kyzicos. They say that Aristeas, who was in birth
inferior to none of the citizens, entered into a fuller's shop in
Proconnesos and there died; and the fuller closed his workshop and
went away to report the matter to those who were related to the dead
man. And when the news had been spread abroad about the city that
Aristeas was dead, a man of Kyzicos who had come from the town of
Artake entered into controversy with those who said so, and declared
that he had met him going towards Kyzicos and had spoken with him: and
while he was vehement in dispute, those who were related to the dead
man came to the fuller's shop with the things proper in order to take
up the corpse for burial; and when the house was opened, Aristeas was
not found there either dead or alive. In the seventh year after this
he appeared at Proconnesos and composed those verses which are now
called by the Hellenes the /Arimaspeia/, and having composed them he
disappeared the second time.
15. So much is told by these cities; and
what follows I know happened to the people of Metapontion in Italy[16]
two hundred[17] and forty years after the second disappearance of
Aristeas, as I found by putting together the evidence at Proconnesos
and Metapontion. The people of Metapontion say that Aristeas himself
appeared in their land and bade them set up an altar of Apollo and
place by its side a statue bearing the name of Aristeas of
Proconnesos; for he told them that to their land alone of all the
Italiotes[18] Apollo had come, and he, who now was Aristeas, was
accompanying him, being then a raven when he accompanied the god.
Having said this he disappeared; and the Metapontines say that they
sent to Delphi and asked the god what the apparition of the man meant:
and the Pythian prophetess bade them obey the command of the
apparition, and told them that if they obeyed, it would be the better
for them. They therefore accepted this answer and performed the
commands; and there stands a statue now bearing the name of Aristeas
close by the side of the altar dedicated to Apollo,[19] and round it
stand laurel trees; and the altar is set up in the market-place. Let
this suffice which has been said about Aristeas.
16. Now of the land about which this account has been begun, no one
knows precisely what lies beyond it:[20] for I am not able to hear of
any one who alleges that he knows as an eye-witness; and even Aristeas, the man of whom I was making mention just now, even he, I
say, did not allege, although he was composing verse,[21] that he went
further than the Issedonians; but that which is beyond[20] them he
spoke of by hearsay, and reported that it was the Issedonians who said
these things. So far however as we were able to arrive at certainty by
hearsay, carrying inquiries as far as possible, all this shall be
told.
17. Beginning with the trading station of the Borysthenites,--for of
the parts along the sea this is the central point of all Scythia,--
beginning with this, the first regions are occupied by the Callipidai,
who are Hellenic Scythians; and above these is another race, who are
called Alazonians.[22] These last and the Callipidai in all other
respects have the same customs as the Scythians, but they both sow
corn and use it as food, and also onions, leeks, lentils and millet.
Above the Alazonians dwell Scythians who till the ground, and these
sow their corn not for food but to sell. Beyond them dwell the Neuroi;
and beyond the Neuroi towards the North Wind is a region without
inhabitants, as far as we know. These races are along the river
Hypanis to the West of the Borysthenes; but after crossing the
Borysthenes, first from the sea-coast is Hylaia, and beyond this as
one goes up the river dwell agricultural Scythians, whom the Hellenes
who live upon the river Hypanis call Borysthenites, calling themselves
at the same time citizens of Olbia.[23] These agricultural Scythians
occupy the region which extends Eastwards for a distance of three
days' journey,[24] reaching to a river which is called Panticapes, and
Northwards for a distance of eleven days' sail up the Borysthenes.
Then immediately beyond[20] these begins the desert[25] and extends
for a great distance; and on the other side of the desert dwell the
Androphagoi,[26] a race apart by themselves and having no connection
with the Scythians. Beyond[20] them begins a region which is really
desert and has no race of men in it, as far as we know.
19. The region
which lies to the East of these agricultural Scythians, after one has
crossed the river Panticapes, is occupied by nomad Scythians, who
neither sow anything nor plough the earth; and this whole region is
bare of trees except Hylaia. These nomads occupy a country which
extends to the river Gerros, a distance of fourteen[27] days' journey
Eastwards.
20. Then on the other side of the Gerros we have those
parts which are called the "Royal" lands and those Scythians who are
the bravest and most numerous and who esteem the other Scythians their
slaves. These reach Southwards to the Tauric land, and Eastwards to
the trench which those who were begotten of the blind slaves dug, and
to the trading station which is called Cremnoi[28] upon the Maiotian
lake; and some parts of their country reach to the river Tanaïs.
Beyond[20] the Royal Scythians towards the North Wind dwell the
Melanchlainoi,[29] of a different race and not Scythian. The region
beyond the Melanchlainoi is marshy and not inhabited by any, so far as
we know.
21. After one has crossed the river Tanaïs the country is no longer
Scythia, but the first of the divisions belongs to the Sauromatai, who
beginning at the corner of the Maiotian lake occupy land extending
towards the North Wind fifteen days' journey, and wholly bare of trees
both cultivated and wild. Above these, holding the next division of
land, dwell the Budinoi, who occupy a land wholly overgrown with
forest consisting of all kinds of trees.
22. Then beyond[20] the Budinoi towards the North, first there is desert for seven days'
journey; and after the desert turning aside somewhat more towards the
East Wind we come to land occupied by the Thyssagetai, a numerous
people and of separate race from the others. These live by hunting;
and bordering upon them there are settled also in these same regions
men who are called Irycai, who also live by hunting, which they
practise in the following manner:--the hunter climbs up a tree and
lies in wait there for his game (now trees are abundant in all this
country), and each has a horse at hand, which has been taught to lie
down upon its belly in order that it may make itself low, and also a
dog: and when he sees the wild animal from the tree, he first shoots
his arrow and then mounts upon his horse and pursues it, and the dog
seizes hold of it. Above these in a direction towards the East dwell
other Scythians, who have revolted from the Royal Scythians and so
have come to this region.
23. As far as the country of these Scythians the whole land which has
been described is level plain and has a deep soil; but after this
point it is stony and rugged. Then when one has passed through a great
extent of this rugged country, there dwell in the skirts of lofty
mountains men who are said to be all bald-headed from their birth,
male and female equally, and who have flat noses and large chins and
speak a language of their own, using the Scythian manner of dress, and
living on the produce of trees. The tree on the fruit of which they
live is called the Pontic tree, and it is about the size of a fig-
tree: this bears a fruit the size of a bean, containing a stone. When
the fruit has ripened, they strain it through cloths and there flows
from it a thick black juice, and this juice which flows from it is
called /as-chy/. This they either lick up or drink mixed with milk,
and from its lees, that is the solid part, they make cakes and use
them for food; for they have not many cattle, since the pastures there
are by no means good. Each man has his dwelling under a tree, in
winter covering the tree all round with close white felt-cloth, and in
summer without it. These are injured by no men, for they are said to
be sacred, and they possess no weapon of war. These are they also who
decide the disputes rising among their neighbours; and besides this,
whatever fugitive takes refuge with them is injured by no one: and
they are called Argippaians.[30]
24. Now as far as these bald-headed men there is abundantly clear
information about the land and about the nations on this side of them;
for not only do certain of the Scythians go to them, from whom it is
not difficult to get information, but also some of the Hellenes who
are at the trading-station of the Borysthenes and the other trading-
places of the Pontic coast: and those of the Scythians who go to them
transact their business through seven interpreters and in seven
different languages.
25. So far as these, I say, the land is known;
but concerning the region to the North of[20] the bald-headed men no
one can speak with certainty, for lofty and impassable mountains
divide it off, and no one passes over them. However these bald-headed
men say (though I do not believe it) that the mountains are inhabited
by men with goats' feet; and that after one has passed beyond these,
others are found who sleep through six months of the year. This I do
not admit at all as true. However, the country to the East of the
bald-headed men is known with certainty, being inhabited by the Issedonians, but that which lies beyond both the bald-headed men and
the Issedonians towards the North Wind is unknown, except so far as we
know it from the accounts given by these nations which have just been
mentioned.
26. The Issedonians are said to have these customs:--when a
man's father is dead, all the relations bring cattle to the house, and
then having slain them and cut up the flesh, they cut up also the dead
body of the father of their entertainer, and mixing all the flesh
together they set forth a banquet. His skull however they strip of the
flesh and clean it out and then gild it over, and after that they deal
with it as a sacred thing[31] and perform for the dead man great
sacrifices every year. This each son does for his father, just as the
Hellenes keep the day of memorial for the dead.[32] In other respects
however this race also is said to live righteously, and their women
have equal rights with the men.
27. These then also are known; but as
to the region beyond[20] them, it is the Issedonians who report that
there are there one-eyed men and gold-guarding griffins; and the
Scythians report this having received it from them, and from the
Scythians we, that is the rest of mankind, have got our belief; and we
call them in Scythian language Arimaspians, for the Scythians call the
number one /arima/ and the eye /spu/.
28. This whole land which has been described is so exceedingly severe
in climate, that for eight months of the year there is frost so hard
as to be intolerable; and during these if you pour out water you will
not be able to make mud, but only if you kindle a fire can you make
it; and the sea is frozen and the whole of the Kimmerian Bosphorus, so
that the Scythians who are settled within the trench make expeditions
and drive their waggons over into the country of the Sindians. Thus it
continues to be winter for eight months, and even for the remaining
four it is cold in those parts. This winter is distinguished in its
character from all the winters which come in other parts of the world;
for in it there is no rain to speak of at the usual season for rain,
whereas in summer it rains continually; and thunder does not come at
the time when it comes in other countries, but is very frequent,[33]
in the summer; and if thunder comes in winter, it is marvelled at as a
prodigy: just so, if an earthquake happens, whether in summer or in
winter, it is accounted a prodigy in Scythia. Horses are able to
endure this winter, but neither mules nor asses can endure it at all,
whereas in other countries horses if they stand in frost lose their
limbs by mortification, while asses and mules endure it.
29. I think
also that it is for this reason that the hornless breed of oxen in
that country have no horns growing; and there is a verse of Homer in
the Odyssey[34] supporting my opinion, which runs this:--
"Also the Libyan land, where the sheep very quickly grow hornèd,"
for it is rightly said that in hot regions the horns come quickly,
whereas in extreme cold the animals either have no horns growing at
all, or hardly any.[35]
30. In that land then this takes place on account of the cold; but
(since my history proceeded from the first seeking occasions for
digression)[36] I feel wonder that in the whole land of Elis mules
cannot be bred, though that region is not cold, nor is there any other
evident cause. The Eleians themselves say that in consequence of some
curse mules are not begotten in their land; but when the time
approaches for the mares to conceive, they drive them out into the
neighbouring lands and there in the land of their neighbours they
admit to them the he-asses until the mares are pregnant, and then they
drive them back.
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