The revise the paper of the Eurasian nomad history

278 (3· 15 8 - 60 )

the Persians into the fortress. Some of the Babylonians saw what was done, and these fled to the temple of Belus; others did not see it and

stood, each firm in his position, until they too realized that they had

been betrayed. 159. So was Babylon caprured for the second time. When Darius

became its master, he pulled down the walls and wrenched the gates from their hinges. Neither of these things had been done by Cyrus when he made the hrst captllre of the town. Darius also impaled

three thousand of the chief men but turned over the town to the rest of the Babylonians. Also, that the Babylonians might have women

to carryon the race-as I said earlier, the Babylonians had strangled

their own women in their forethought for the food supply-Darius

in his forethoughtfulness ordered the surrounding peoples to provide women and to bring them to Babylon, appointing such and such a

number to each people so that the sum total of women supplied

came to fifty thousand. It is from these women that the present

Babylonians spring. 160. No man has ever surpassed Zopyrus in the ranks of the

Doers of Good Deeds for Persia. So, at least, judged Darius: neither among men of former times or afterwards-save only Cyrus himself;

for with Cyrus no Persian would think of comparing himself. It is said that often Darius would say that he would rather have Zopyrus

unblemished of his foul mutilation than twenty more Babylons added to the existing one. He honored him very much. Every year he gave him the gifts that the Persians think most honorable, and he

gave him Babylon to rule, free of all taxes, for the term of his natural life, and much else he gave him. MegabyZlls was the son of this

Zopyrus, the MegabyZlls who in Egypt was the general commanding against Athens and her allies; and it was yet another Zopyrus,

the son of this Megabyzus, who deserted from the Persians to the Athenians.

- Book Four

1'V~G~ ~ I. After the capture of Babylon, Darius made his invasion of,

i· Scythia. Asia was now at its flower, in numbers of people and great­

ness of revenues, and Darius wanted to punish the Scythians because in former times they had taken it upon themselves to invade Media;

they beat those who opposed them, and they had been the aggressor in this injustice between the peoples. As I have said earlier, I these

Scythians ruled upper Asia for twenty-eight years. They had fol­ j lowed the Cimmerians in pursuit and so invaded Asia and had put .i,

down the Medes from their empire. (The Medes had ruled Asia be­

fore the Scythians invaded.) But after their twenty-eight years in Asia they went home again, and, when they came to their own

country after so long, they found waiting them a trouble no whit less than the war against the Medes, which they had finished: they found a great army of opposition in their own land, for the Scythian

women, when their menfolk had been away such a time, had lived with their slaves.

j

2. Now all the slaves in Scythia are blinded by the Scythians,

and this custom is because of the milk-for the Scythians are milk­ drinkers. This is how they do the milking: they take a kind of bel­

lows, with pipes made of bone (very like a flute); this they insert '. into the vulva of their mares and blow into the bellows-pipes by

mouth; some of the people blow, while others milk the mare. They

say that the blowing makes the mare's veins swell and makes her udder come down. When they have drawn the milk, the pour it into

hollow containers of wood. They range their blind slaves about the buckets and get them to shake the milk. The top part of the milk they draw off and think the most valuable; that which sinks to the

bonom, less so. This, then, is why they blind all their prisoners of

war. The Scythians are, you see, not cultivators at all, but nomads.!

I. See 1.15- 16 and 10J. °1 2. This is, if a minor difficulty of interpretation as far as importance goes,

I one of the most insoluble. Clearly, Herodotus is making a connection between

279 '1'

280 k3-S)

3. A race of children then grew up from the slaves and the women. When they had learned the facts of their own breeding, they fought against the Scythian.> when they came back from among the Medes. First of all they cut off the country where they were by digging a broad trench, stretching from the Tauric Mountains to the Maeetian lake J where it is at its biggest. Then, when the Scythians tried to invade, they rook up fixed positions against them and fought. The fight took place again and again, and the Scythians were unable to get the better of them in battle. At this one of the Scythians said: "What a thing we are doing, fellow countrymen! We are fighting with our own slaves. We get killed ourselves, and we are that much fewer. We kill them, and we have that many fewer sub­ jects to rule. I think we should leave by our spears and bows. Let each one of us take up a horsewhip and go for them with that. As long as they are used co seeing us with arms, they think that they are our equals and that their fathers are likewise our equals. Let them see us with whips instead of arms, and they will learn that they are our slaves; and, once they have realized that, they will not stand their ground against us."

4· When the Scythians heard this, they carried It out. The slaves were bewildered by what happened and forgot their fighting spirit and fled. This, then, is the story of how the Scythians came to rule Asia, how they wete driven out by the Medes, and how they came back again co their own land. And this is why Darius wanted co pun­ ish them and gathered an army against them.

5· The Scythians themselves say that their nation is the youngest of all the nations and that it came into existence in this way: the first man to be in this country of theirs, which then was desolate, was

rhe Scyrhians' [Oral dependence on rheir horses for nor only rransporr bur milk ("kumiss," as ir is called in Tolsroy, who applied rhe rerm ro mare's milk of rhis very region). Their slaves do nor need ro work rhe fields, ploughing, erc. They are used for producing dairy producrs. (I rake ir rhar rhe curious srimularion of rhe mares' udders is ro be rhe work of rhe Scyrhians rhemselves, who would need ro be very far from blin,j for rhis work.) I suppose rhar, ro keep rhe slaves ar rhe dull job of incessantly "churning" rhe milk, ir would be useful ro have rhem de­ prived of sighr-ro hinder rheir moving abour like ordinary morrals, This, how­ ever, IS only a guess, No ediror has any detinirive answer ro rhe difficulries.

.3' The modern Sea of Azov,

(4·5-7) 281

one Targitaus by name. They say-they do say so, though for my part I do not believe it-that the parents of this Targitaus were Zeus and a daughter of the river Borysthenes.; From this breeding came Targitaus, and he had three sons-Lipoxa'is, Arpoxa'is, and the youngest, Colaxais. At the time that these ruled the land, there fell from heaven certain golden objects: a plough, a yoke, a sword, and a flask. They fell, that is, inco the Scythian country. The first of the sons to see them was the eldest, and he drew near, intending to pick them up; but at his approach the gold caught fire. When he withdrew, the second approached, but the gold did the same for him. When the burning gold had driven away these twO, the third and youngest came up, the fire was quenched when he came, and he rook the gold home. So the elder brothers, in the face 01 these signs, were convinced and turned over the whole sovereignty co the

youngest. 6, From Lipoxais were born those of the Scythians who are

called the breed of the Auchatae; from the middle one, Arpoxa',s, those called Catiari and Traspians; and from the youngest of them, who was the king, came those called Paralatae. The name of all of them is Skoloti, so called after the king. 5 The Greeks call them

Scythians. 7. This is how their nation came into being, say the Scythians;

and the total of the years, they say, from their first king, Targitaus, to the crossing of Darius into Scythia was, in all, one thousand years­ no more, but just so many. This sacred gold the kings guard with the utmost care, and every year they approach it with great sacrifices to propitiate it. Whoever has the sacred gold with him at the festival and falls asleep in the open air, he, say the Scythians, will not live the year out. Because of this he is given as much land as he can ride around in a day.6 As the territory is very large, Colaxa'is established

three kingships for his sons, but that in which the gold is under

4, The Dnieper. 5, Apparently "Skolori" is some approximarion oi, or a per name for,

Colaxa'ls, 6. Tolsroy builds a srory around Jusr such a cusrom among rhe Baskirs, who

may have lived in rhe rerrirory described by Herodorus; bur in his srory rhe man musr walk ro gain his land, for rhe space of a day. The srory is called "How Much Land Does a Man Need?"

282 (4· 7-9)

guard is far the largest. The country of those that neighbor Scythia

to the northward and above them-beyond this. none can see or

penetrate. they say. hy reason of the showers of feathers; the earth and the air are full of feathers. and these shut off the view. 7

8. This. then, is the account the Scythians give of their own land and that north of them. But the Greeks who live in POntus tell

the srory thus: Heracles, driving the oxen ofGeryon, came intO this country. which now the Scythians inhabit but was then desolate. Geryon. rhey say. lived west of the PantusO in what the Greeks call the Red Island near Gadira. outside the Pillars of Heracles, and on

the shore of Ocean. They declare that Ocean flows from the east all

round the world. but they cannot show that this is so in facr. 9 From there. so they say, Heracles came to what is now called Scythian country, and the winter and the frost overtook him. so that he drew his lion's skin all over himself before he went to sleep; and his mares,

which were grazing under the yoke, at that time were spirited away by some divine intervention.

9. When Heracles woke up. he looked for them and, searching every pan of the country. at last he came to the land called Wood­

land; and there he found. in a cave, a monster. half-woman, half­

snake; from the haunches up she was woman and. below. snake. He saw and matveled at her ;;md asked her whether she had anywhere

seen his mares straying about. She had them herself, she said, and would not give them back to him until he had lain with her. This was her price, and on these terms Heracles lay with her. But she kept postponing the return of the mares because she wanted to stay with Heracles as long as she could. and she knew that, once he had the

horses back. he woulJ be off again. At last she did give them back

and said: "These horses of yours that came here I saved for you-and you paid me a fee for saving them; for I nave three sons from you. Now tell me, when they are grown up, what I should do with them.

Shall I settle them here-l have the lordship of this land-or send

7. Herodotus explains the feathers in chapter 3J. 8. Quite a bit weSI I From somewhere near southwesl Russia 10 Spain; for [he

Plll1[US IS the Black Sea, [he Pillars of HerJcles are the Snaits of Gibraltar, and Gadira is Cadiz.

9· At 3.115 Herodows also denies rhar he can find evidence for "a sea be­ yond Europe."

(4·9- 1I ) 28 3

them to you?" That was what she asked, and he answered her, "When

you see these boys grown to manhood, do as [ shall tell you and you will make no mistake. That one of them that you see stringing this

bow, thus. and girdling himself with this belt. thus, him make to be

a dweller in this country. But whichever of them fails in these tasks I have set. send him out of the land. If you do this, you will be glad of

it yourself. and you will carry out my commands." 10. At that Heracles drew one of his bows (for until then, they

say, he always bore two) and showed her the belt and gave her the

bow and the belt. The belt had at the point of its buckle a golden flask. Having given her these, away went Heracles. But she, when

the boys had grown to manhood, gave them their names-Agathyr­

sus to the one. Gelonus to the second, Scythes to the third. And mindful of her charge, she carried out all she had been bidden. The

tWO of the boys, Agathyrsus and Gelonus, were nor able to reach the

extent of their required task, and so they were expelled by their mother and went Out of the country. But the youngest. Scythes,

was successful and stayed where he was. And so, say the Greeks,

all kings of the Scythians are descended from Scythes, the son

of Heracles, and it is because of the flask on the belt that to this day Scythians carry flasks attached to their belts. This, alone, the mother of Scythes did for him. That is the story that those Greeks

who live in Pontus tell of this. Il. There is another stOry. which is strongly urged, and It is this

one to which [ myself incline. It is this: the nomad Scythians living in Asia were hard pressed in war by the Massagetae and crossed the river Araxes intO Cimmerian country. You see, what is now the

country inhabited by the Scythians was in the old days said to be that of the Cimmerians. These Cimmerians, then, when the

Scythians were invading them, debated what to do, since those who invaded them were so great a host. The opinions among them, of course, differed. Both of the chief ones were strongly held, but the

better one was that of the princes. The judgment of the commonalty tended to running away, as being in their interest, rather than in

standing firm and risking all for what was only dust, said they; but

the judgment of the princes was that they should fight the invaders

to the death for the country that was theirs. The commonalty re­ fused to follow the princes' judgment, and rhe princes, similarly,

- --

28 4 (4. 11 - 1 3)

that of the commonalty. The commonalty resolved to leave the country withom a fight and surrender it to those who would take it over. But the princes resolved to lie in their own land when they were dead and not join in the flight of the commons. They reflected on all the many good things they had had from their fatherland and the n)any ills that were to be looked for to overtake them if they fled from her. As this was their resolve, they-the princes-split into two groups and, being of about equal numbers, fought against one another. They all died at one another's hands, and the commonalty of the Cimmerians buried them by the river Tyras-you can see their graves there still-and, having so buried them, they made theit march out of the country, and the Scythians came in and took over an empty land.

12. Even today in this Scythian country there are Cimmerian walls, a Cimmerian ferry, a part of the country called Cimmeria, and what is called the Cimmerian Bosporus. It is also clear thm, as the Cimrnerians fled before the Scythians into Asia, they founded a colony in the peninsula where now the Greeks have established the city of Sinope. It is also clear that the Scythians pursued the Cim­ merians and invaded the country of the Medes and that they did the latter thing because they mistook their road. For the Cimmerians fled constantly along the seacoast, but the Scythians, in pursuit, kept the Caucasus on their right hand until they entered the land of Media, where they turned inland from their road. This, then, is the other account of the Scythians, which is told by Greeks and barbari­ ans alike.

13· A man of Proconnesus, one Aristeas, son of Caystrobius, carne to the Issedones and, being inspired by Apollo, wrote a poem in which he declared that above the Issedones there lived a tribe of Arimaspians, being men with one eye, and, above these, the griffins that guard the gold, and, above these, the Hyperboreans, whose land reaches to the sea. All of these peoples, beginning with the Arimaspians and excepting only the Hyperboreans, continually make war upon their neighbors. The Issedones, says Aristeas, were thrust Out of their lands by the Arimaspians, the Scythians by the Issedones; and the Cimmerians, living by the southern sea, being hard pressed by the Scythians, also left their country. So this story~: r Ad"''' ,1'0 doe, no, 'g", with ,h, Scy,hi,n, ,boot ,hi, co"n":-..t

(4. 14- 16 ) 28 5

14. I have told you where Aristeas came from, who said all this. But I will tell you a story about him that I heard in Proconnesus and Cyzicus. The story goes that Aristeas, who was, in family, second to none in Proconnesus, went into a fuller's shop in the town and died there. The fuller closed up his shop and went off to tell the relatives of the dead man the news. The news spread through the town that Aristeas was dead; but, to contradict it, there came a man who was a citizen of Cyzicus but had corne to Proconnesus from the town of Artaca, and he said that he had met with Aristeas, who was on his way to Cyzicus, and that he had spoken with him. This man, then, sharply disputed the death; but the relatives of the dead man came to the fuller's shop with all the equipmenr appropriate to taking up the corpse. When they opened up the house, there was no Aristeas to be seen, dead or alive. In the seventh year after this he appeared in Proconnesus and wrote the poem that is now called by the Greeks the Arimaspeia; after having produced this poem, he vanished for the second time.

15. That is the story told in these towns. But I know something that happened to the Metaponrines, in Italy, twO hundred and forty years after the second disappearance of Aristeas, as I have calculated from what I know of what happened in Proconnesus and Metapon­ rum. The Metapontines say that Aristeas appeared in their country and bade them establish an altar to Apollo and set beside it a statue of Aristeas of Proconnesus, so denominated. For Aristeas said to them that they were the only Greeks living in Italy to whose country Apollo had come and that he himself-who was now Aristeas-had followed him; but then, at the time he had followed the god, he was a crow. After he had tOld them this, he vanished, and the Metapon­ tines said that they sent to Delphi to ask the god what this phantom of a man might be. The Pythia said that they should hearken to the phantom and, if they did so, it would be the better for them. So they received this oracle and did what it said. So now there stands there a starue that bears the name of Aristeas, next to the image of Apollo, and round about it are bay trees. The statue is set in the market­ place. Let that be enough for me to have said about Aristeas.

16. North of this land (which this part of my History has started to discuss) no one knows what there is. For I could not learn from anyone who claimed to be an eyewitness. Not even Aristeas himself,

286 (4· 16- 19)

whom I have jusr now menrioned, said, even in rhose very poems,

rhar he had gone anywhere beyond rhe Issedones. Whar he said abour rhe pans beyond he spoke by hearsay, declaring rhar ir was rhe Issedones who were his informanrs. I shall, however, rell everyrhing

as exacrly as I can, depending on rhe furthesr researches ro which

• Wl/ buWY evidence goes . .. 17. From rhe port of rhe !3orysrhenires, which is rhe midmosr

poinr of rhe coasrline of Scyrhia, rhe firsr rribe are rhe Callippidae,

who are Greek Scyrhians; beyond rhese rhere is a rribe called rhe

Alazones. These and rhe Callippidae in orher maners have much rhe same pracrices as rhe Scyrhians, bur rhey sow and ear grain and

onIons, garlic, lenrils, and miller. Beyond rhe Alazones live rhe

Scyrhians who are rillers of rhe ground bur who sow corn for sale and nor for rheir personal food. 10 Beyond rhese live rhe Neuri; bur north

of rhe Neuri rhe whole counrry is uninhabired, as far as we know.

18. These are rhe rribes along rhe river Hypanis, ro rhe wesr of rhe Borysrhenes. II If you cross rhe river, Hylaea, rhe Woodlands, is

rhe firsr counrry nearesr rhe sea; as you go norrh of rhis, rhere dwell

Scyrhian farmers whom rhe Greeks who live by rhe Hypanis river call Borysrhenires. (These Greeks call rhemselves "rhe people of Olbiopolis. ") 12 These farmer Scyrhians inhabir rhe land ro rhe easr for a disrance of rhree days' journey as far as rhe river called Pan­

ricapes and, northward, a Journey of eleven days by boar up rhe Borysrhenes. Norrh of rhis rhe land is empry of men for a long way.

Afrer rhis uninhabired land are rhe Man-Earers, a rribe rhar is en­

rirely peculiar and nor Scyrhians ar all. Beyond rhar is rruly desert, and nor a rribe of mankind lives in ir, as far as we know.

19. Easr of rhese farmers, if you cross rhe river Panticapes, is rhe rerritory of rhe nomad Scyrhians, who neirher sow nor plough. The

[0. This refers to the Ukraine, which then, as for so long later, was the great source of the grain thar was imported by Greece and by Europe generally. It is clear (hat Herodotus is far more used to the idea of people who grow grain for their bread and would market only such surplus as they had-i.e., a subSistence system of grain.farming. Such were the Callippidae, Alazones, etc.; but when one gets to the big open country of the Ukraine, the grain fields as the source of export and mass marketing take over.

II. The Hypanis river is the Bug; the Borysthenes is the Dnieper. 12. The Greek word here means "dwellers in the Blessed City," i.e., the big

grain pan of Olhia.

28 7(4· 19- 2 3)

whole country is bare of rrees excepr for Hylaea. These nomads oc­

cupy rhe counrry to rhe easr for a journey of fourteen days, as far as

rhe river Gerrhus. 20. Across rhe river Gerrhus are rhe rerritories called Royal, and

here live rhe besr, and rhe mosr, of rhe Scyrhians, who regard rhe

orher Scyrhians as rheir slaves. The land of rhese people strerches to rhe sourh as far as rhe Tauric country and, ro rhe easr, to rhe rrench rhar was dug by rhe children of rhe blind slaves and, on rhe Maee­ rian lake, ro rhe rrade srarion called Cremnoi. IJ Parr of rheir coun­

rry, roo, srrerches to rhe river Tanais. 11 Above rhis counrry of the Royal Scythians, to the north, live rhe Black Cloaks, anorher rribe,

which is not Scythian at all. Above the Black Cloaks is marshland,

and rhis is desolate of men, as far as we know. 2 I. If you cross rhe Tanais, you are no longer in Scyrhian coun­

rry, but here, in the first of the divisions, are rhe Sauromatians, who

begin from rhe comer of rhe Maeetian lake and have territory to the north to the exrent of fifreen days' journey, it being all bare land and treeless in respect both of wild and cultivated trees. II Above rhese

live rhe Budini, in the second division, and all their land is rhick

wirh every sorr of rree. 22. Above rhe Budini ro rhe norrh is, first of all, a desert of

seven days' journey and, afrer rhe deserr, if one rums a litrie toward rhe easr, rhere are rhe Thyssagetae, a large tribe, quire peculiar to

rhemselves. They live by hunring. Near rhem, in rhe same srrerch of

country, dwell rhe people called Iyrcae; rhese also live by hunting,

and rhe manner of their hunting is rhis: a man of rhis rribe climbs a tree and lies in wair-trees are plenriful rhrough all rhis land-and has his horse trained to crouch on irs belly, to lie Iowan rhe ground,

and be ready, as is also his dog. When from his lookour post in rhe tree rhe man spots a quarry, he shoots ar ir wirh his bow and mounrs

his horse and makes after ir, rhe dog following him close behind. Above these folk, a linle ro rhe easr, live orher Scyrhians, who re­

volred from rhe Royal Scyrhians and so came to rhis country. 23. As far as rhe country of rhese Scyrhians, all rhe land I have

[3. The name Cremnoi can be translated as The Cliffs.

14. The Don. IS. Herodotus means that there ate neither native forests nor cultivated

olive groves.

288 (4· 23- 2 5)

spoken of is flat and has deep soil, but from here on it is stony and rough. When you have passed through the rough COuntry, there are people living in what are foothills of high mountains. These people are all bald from birth, men and women alike. They have snub noses and great beards, and they speak a language of their own; but they wear Scythian-style clothing, and their food comes from trees. The ~ame of the t;ee that gives them their livelihood is "ponticum," and in greatness it is about the size of a fig tree. The fruit it bears is the size of a bean anJ has a stone in it. When this fruit is ripe, they strain it through cloths, and what they get is a flow of thick black liquid. The name of this juice is aschy. 16 This they lick up and also drink it mixed with milk, and the thickest of the lees of it they com­ pound into cakes, and these they ear. They have few of the smaller livestock,17 for the pastures there are poor. Each man lives under a tree, and in winter he covers the tree with a covering of white felt; but in summer he dispenses with the felt. No one does any injury to these people, for they are accounted sacred and own no weapons of war. These are men who settle disputes among their neighbors, and, if anyone who is a fugitive takes refuge with them, no one does him wrong. Their name is the Argippaei.

24· As far as these Baldies 18 there is much that is clear about the country, as also there is about those people I have mentioned before them. For some of the Scythians come as far as these, from whom it is not difficult to make inquiries; also from the Greeks of the trade port on the Borysthenes and the other ports on the POntus. Those of the Scythians who come to these people transact their business through seven interpreters and in seven languages.

25· As far as the country of these people, then, there is some­ thing we know. But north of the Baldies, no one can say that he knows anything exactly, for high, impassable mountains bar the way, and no one has scaled them. The Baldies themselves declare­ though I personally do nOt believe it-that these mountains are the dwelling of goat-footed men, and beyond these, they say, there are

16. The ediwrs connen rhis wirh a Cossack drink called (1l5chi. The tree is a variery of cherry.

'7· The general Greek wurd for sheep and goars. 18. The bald people uf rhe earlier chaprer have now acquired BalJies as a

narional name.

(4. 25- 28 ) 289

people who sleep through six months of the year. This I cannot ac­ cept at all. But to the east of the Baldies there is country that is defi­ nitely inhabited by the Issedones; however, of what is to the north, both of the Baldies and of the lssedones, there is no knowledge to be gained except on their say-so.

26. Here are some of the customs that are said to obtain among the Issedones. When a man's father dies, the relatives all bring sheep and goats, and, having killed these, they chop up the flesh and cut up toO the flesh of their host's father and, mixing all together, serve up a feast. The dead man's head they lay bare, and dean Out, and gild and afterwards use it as a sacred image, offering great yearly sac­ rifices in its honor. Each son does so by his father, JUSt as the Greeks celebrate anniversary feasts of the dead. Otherwise these people, roo, are said to observe rules of justice strictly, and among them men and women have equal power.

27. In this case again we have actual knowledge; but from here onward it is the Issedones who say that there are men with one eye and griffins that guard gold. The Scythians have got these stories from the Issedones, and we have taken them from the Scythians and believed them and called the one-eyed people Arimaspians, as the Scythians do. For the Scythians call "one" aJ-ima and an "eye" SPOlL.

28. The whole of this aforementioned country is so gripped by winter that for eight months of the year there is truly unbearable frost such that, in those months, when you spill water, you do not make mud, but if you light a fire you will. The sea freezes over and also the entire Cimmerian Bosporus, and the Scythians who live this side of the trench move in campaign over the ice and drive their wagons across intO the land of the Sindi. So it is winter all the time during the eight months, and in the remaining four there is still cold there. This is a winter different, in its fashion, from the winter in any other country; for, in the natural season for rain, [winter,1 there falls none to speak of, but in summer it rains incessantly. When there are thunderstorms in other lands, here they do not occur, but in summer they are plenty. If there is a thunderstorm in winter in Scythia, it is thought to be a marvel and a portent. So also an earth­ quake, when it happens, be it summer or winter, in Scythia is thought to be a portent. Horses can endure this winter of theirs, but neither mules nOr asses can tolerate it at all; but in the rest of the

2\)1

.3 3· But fm the most that is told ahout these people comes fro 11 \ the Delians. These say that holy offerings come wrapped in wheat straw frolll the Hyperbureans into Scythia, 'lnd, after the Scythians, each uf their neighhurs successively forwards these offerings tll tht, puint furthest west, at the Adriatic, and, as they ;Ire then con\'eyt,d to the suuth, the people of l)oduna are the first Greeks to receive them, and from there t hey come duwn to the Melian Gulf ,md are c,uried ilcrnss into Euhocil and, ,1g,lin I'rom city to city, as far as Ca- rystus; after that, Andros is omitted frum l"i1e chain, hel',llIse the people uf Carystlls carry them to Teno.s, and the Teni'1l1s carry them to 1)elos. That is how, they sny, the offerings get to Delus, They.say too that on the first journey the I-Iyperhoreans sent, to hring the offerings, tWtl girls, whom the Delial1S callI {yperoche amI Laodice. With these, fur safety's sake, the Hyperboreans sent along with them five men as escort, citizens of their own, those who (Ire nuw cillled Peripherees rind have great honnr in Dellls. But when those wl1\1m the Hyperhoreans had sent uut did not come home ag,lin, the Ily- perboreilns made a gre<lt outcry thm it shookl alw<lys he their lot to send nut men who never came b'1Ck; and su they have the offering.~ btlrne, wrilppnl in wheaten straw, to their horders ami bid their neighhors convey them from their own land tu the next. And so, they say, hy this f11l"l11 of C<1nstant esnlrt the ufferings come to Dclos. 1 myself knu\\' uf something like this done with offerings; for the Thmcian and [Jaeonian women. when they sacrifICe to Queen Artemis, l1<1ve their offerings racked in wheat :;tr<1W.

34, This, too, 1 know that they do: girls and boys at I)(;'lllS cut their hair in hunor of the Ilyperhore'1l1 girls who died at I)c!os, The girls befure rnrtrriage cu/off;1 tress of their hair and, winding it ahout a spinJle, lay it un t\.;{~, tomh. The tomh i~ lHl the Icft-h,ll1d siJe a.s you go into the ten {~Ie of Artemi.s, and an olive tree grows over it. The neli<1n hOy$, tOll, twine ,some of their locb of hair nruul1d a greL:n stalk, all they likewise put this on the tomh, ,

35. Thq , then, have this honm from the inhahitants ol 1)e!o.s. But thcse/(;1l11c inhahitants of Delos S;IY that Arge nlld Opis, heing maids, came tu Delo$ from the 1-lyperhme'll1s and traveled thrLlugh the samc reLlples on the way, and th;1I this IV,IS he(Llre l-lypt'rpche alld Laodice. The two 'latter, indeed, came hringing the tribute that they were asse.~sed to pay, for ease of childhirth, to Eileirhyin; hut

2(,10

world, horses stanJing on ice get their limhs frosthitten, hut mules and asses can endure it.

2\). It seems to me that this is the reason why the IHlrnle.ss hre(;'d of cattle in Scythia fails to grow horns. On my side is the testimony of Homer, who has a verse in the OJy.l.le'\J which S'lyS "LI'll)' tl I -.' . ( . I 'cl, le anJ where the very lamhs Ctlme to their hirth with horns." This

verse is c(mect, for in hot p);1Ces horns grow quickly; hut in intense cold c;lttle either do not grow horns ilt all or, if they do grnw them, harely SIl.

3°· In Scythia, then, this happens heciluse of the cold. But I w,onJer all the s;lIne-fm this Hi.lto)'-y of mine fws from the hegin- nlng sought out the supplementary to the l11ilin argument-that in all the country of Elis no mule can he hred, though it is not il cold lilnd, nor is there any other manifest cause why this should he so. The Eleans themselves say thM it is some cur.se t1wt lies on them that ntl mules may be hreJ among them; hut when the time f(lr their mares to come in season approilches, they drive them into the ~leighboring territory and, in that neighboring territory, rut the )ack(lss~s on the l11ares until such time as they conceive. After t11ilt, they drive them home agilin.

, ~ I. Now concerning the feathers of which the Scythians say the ,m In the Country heyonJ them is full and that that is why they are unable to get through it or even sec it: here is what J think ahout that. North of that Scythian country the snow is continuous though less in summer t11iln in winter, as is natural. Anyone who ha~ seen heavy snow lalling from near at hand knows what I Inean ahout Illy judgment of the "feathers." For the snow i.1 like feathers; and it is h~cal~se ot t1.le winter, which is such as this, that the northern Pilrts of t,hl s c.ontll1el1t ;lre uninh'lbited. I think that the Scythians ilnL!

rh", "".hh"" ,pe,k nf the '''ow " fe'thw ;" " k;"d n( ;m:"J That IS, then, what I have to S,ly ahout the Illost di,stilnt part.~.

.3~. Con.sidering the Hypcrhnreans, then, the Scythians have nuthll1g tn tell, nor do ilny tlf the other peoples who live in thuse p,uts, except, perhaps, for the Issedones. [n my opinion, even these h,lve nllthing to tell; for, if they had, the Scythians would have told it, loo, (IS they did in the Glse o( the onc-eyed people. BlIt Hesiod due.1 t:l.1k. abllut the Hypcrhureans, ilnd so does Homer in the E{Jig- Ollr-If, I I1lteed , thm pOel11 is truly hy Homer.

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wear, out of the scalps, stitching them together like the usual coats of skin. Many Scythians also rake the right hands of their enemies, when dead, and stripping the skin off, nails and all, make of them coverings for their arrow quivers. The skin of man, it would seem, is thick and bright-indeed, in point of whiteness, the brightest of all skins. Many of [hem, too, flay whole men and, stretching the skins

upon a frame, carry them round on their horses. 65. Such are the customs among them. But for the heads them­

selves-though not of all, but of a man's deadliest enemies-each man saws off all the part beneath the eyebrows and cleans the rest. Then, if the man who does this is poor, he simply stretches a strip of raw oxhide over the outside and so uses it. But if he is rich, he gilds it on the inside and uses it in this form for a drinking Clip. They do this, too, in the case of kinsmen with whom they have had differ­ ences and whom they have finally conquered in combat in the king's presence. And when strangers of consequence come to visit, their host brings round these heads and tells, over each one, how they were his kinsfolk but waged war upon him, and how he himself con­

quered them; and they speak of this as the act of a hero. 66. Once a year the governor, each in his own district, brews a

bowl of wine from which the Scythians drink who have killed their enemies. If they have killed none such, they may not drink of the wine but sit aside, dishonored. This is indeed the greatest disgrace among them. Those of them who have killed many men, each have

two cups and drink of them both. 67. There are many soothsayers among the Scythians who proph­

esy by means of many willow rods. This is how they do it. They bring in great bundles of these rods and lay them on the ground and unfasten them. Over each rod as they set it on the ground they make their prophecy. But as they make the prophecy, they are picking up the rods, making them again into one bundle. This is their ancestral form of prophecy. But the Enarees, who are androgynes, say that their prophesying is given them by Aphrodite. They practice divina­ tion with the bark of the lime tree. When they split the bark in three, the prophet makes his prophecy, braiding and unbraiding the

bark with his fingers. 68. When the king of Scythia falls sick, he sends for the three

most reputed prophets, who prophesy in the form I have told you.

k68-7 1 ) 3°5

As a rule, they sax something like this: "Someone, so-and-so, has sworn by the Royal Hearth and perjured himself." They mention the name of some citizen, whoever he may be. (It is the custom of the Scythians to swear by the Royal Hearth when they wish to take their greatest oaths.) The man whom they describe as having forsworn himself is then seized and brought in. The prophets accuse the man brought in, alleging that he has manifestly-their prophetic gift has so manifested it-sworn falsely by the Royal Hearth and therefore the king is sick. He denies it-denies that he has perjured himself­ and makes a great to-do. On his denial, the king sends for twice as many prophets. If these, on looking into their prophetic art, confirm the man's perjury, his head is at once stricken off, and the first party of prophets divides his goods among them. But if the new prophets acquit him, yet other prophets are sent for and again others. If the majority acquit the man, it is decided that the first prophets them­ selves shall be killed.

69. They then kill them in this way: they fill a wagon with fire­ wood and yoke oxen to it. They tie the prophets' feet and their hands behind them and gag them. They then shut them into the middle of the firewood, set fire to it, and, terrifying the oxen, drive them off. Many of the oxen are burned up with the prophets, and many escape, only singed, when the pole of the wagon is burnt through. In this way they burn prophets on other charges, toO, call­ ing them "liar prophets." When the king kills someone, he does not leave his children alive but kills all the males; the females, however, he does not injure.

70. This is how the Scythians make sworn agreements with whomsoever they make them: into a big earthenware bowl they pour wine and with it mingle the blood of the contracting parties. They extract the blood by striking the body with an awl or making a small cut in it with a knife. Then they dip into the bowl a sword, arrows, an axe, and a javelin. Having done that, they pray a great deal and thereafter drink off the bowl, both those who contract on both sides and the most important of their followers.

71. The burial places of their kings are in the country of the Ger­ rhi, t.he place up to which the Borysthenes is navigable. At this place, when their king dies, they dig a great four-cornered pit, and, having made it ready, they take up the dead man-having coated

306 (4.7 1 -7 2 )

his body with wax and cut open his belly and cleaned it and filled it with chopped marsh plants and incense and parsley seed and anise,

and sewn it together again-anJ put him on a wagon, in which they carry him to another nation. These in their turn receive the corpse when it is brought them and do what the Royal Scythians do: they cut off a piece of ear, shave their hair, cut their forearms, tear fore­

head and nose, and drive arrows rhrough their left hanel. Then they convey the corpse of the king on the wagon to another nation of those they rule. Those to whom they have already come follow

along. When they have conveyed the corpse around to all the sub­

ject nations, they are in the country of the Gerrhi, who live furthest

of all whom they rule, and at the place of burial. Afterwards, when they put the dead man in his grave on a bed, they fix spears on either

side of the corpse and stretch above them planks of wood and roof

these in with plaited rushes; and in the open space that is left in the burial place they bury one of his concubines, after strangling her, and his wine-bearer, cook, groom, valet, and message-bearer. Also his horses, and the firstiruits of everything else, and his golden cups (the Scythians use neither silver nor bronze). Having done thiS,

they rear a huge barrow of earth, shOWing the greatest zeal and ri­ valry with one another to make it as big as possible.

72. When the year has come round in its course, they do some­ th!ng else. Of the king's remaining servants they take those most

suitable for their purposes (and these are native-born Scythians, for the servants of the king are those he bids to serve him; he has no purchased slaves), and they strangle fifty of them and fifty of his mc)st beautiful horses; and they remove their bellies, and clean them

out, and fill them with chaff, anJ stitch them up. Then the half of a

wheel is fixed, upside down, on twO pieces of wood, and the other half of the wheel on two other posts, and they fix many more in this fashion. They then drive long stakes lengthwise through the horses' bodies, up to the necks, and mount the horses upon the half-wheels.

The half-wheels in front suppOrt the horses' shoulders; those behind,

the belly, by the hindquarters. The legs on both sides hang loose. They put bits and reins in the horses' mouths and stretch these to

the front and fasten them from pegs. Each one of the fifty young men

who were srrangled they mOunt on a horse. They contrive the

mounting of the horsemen by driving an upright stake along the

C4-7 2 -75) 3°7

spine, up to the neck; but a part of the stake projects below, so that

they can fit it into a hole they make in the stake that goes through

the horse lengthwise. They set these, horses and riders, in a circle around the tomb, and, having done so, they ride off themselves.

73. That is how they bury their kings. But as to the rest of the

Scythians, when they die, their nearest relatives carry them around

among their friends on wagons. Each friend receives and entertains those who follow the procession and offers a share of all the food to the dead man, the same as to everyone else. For forty days all these

people who are not kings are carried round in this way, and then

they are buried. When they have buried the dead, the relatives pu­

rify themselves as follows: they anoint and wash their heads; as to

their bodies, they set up three sticks, leaning them against one an­ other, and stretch, over these, woollen mats; and, having barricaded

off this place as best they can, they make a pit in the center of the

sticks and the mats and into it throw red-hot stones. 74. Now, they have hemp growing in that country that is very

like flax, except that it is thicker and taller. J3 This plant grows both

wild and under cultivation, and from it the Thracians make gar­ ments very like linen. Unless someone is very expert, he could not tell the garment made of linen from the hempen one. Someone who

has never yet seen hemp would certainly judge the garment to be

linen. 75. The Scythians take the seed of this hemp and, creeping

under the mats, J4 throw the seed onto the stones as they glow with

heat. The seed so cast on the stone gives off smoke and a vapor; no Greek steam bath could be stronger. The Scythians in their delight at the steam bath howl loudly. This indeed serves them instead of a

bath, as they never let water near their bodies at all. But their

women pound to bits cypress and cedar and frankincense wood on a rough rock and mix water with it. When they have made of the wood and the water a thick paste, they smear it all over their bodies

and faces. A wonderful scent pervades them from this; a day later

they take off the plaster, and they have become shining clean.

)3. The Greek word I have tmnslated is kannabis. It is apparently identical with the modern plant so called.

)4. Herodotus is referring back to chap[er 73 and the rent-like structure en­ closed with mats and having the red-hot stones in a pit In [he center.

308 k 76 -7 8)

76 . These people dreadfully avoid the use of foreign customs, and especially those of the Greeks, as the case first of Anacharsis and, later, that of Scyles prove. First of all, Anacharsis. He traveled over much of the world, sight-seeing, and showed that he had gained great wisdom in the course of his travels; and then he came back to Scythia. On his homeward journey he put in at Cyzicus after sailing through the Hellespont. He found there the people of Cyzi­ cus celebrating a festival to the Mother of the Gods,J5 with great pomp. And so Anacharsis prayed to the Mother that, if he came back to his own land safe and sound, he would sacrifice as he saw the Cyzicenes doing and would establish an all-night festival there. When he came back to Scythia, he stole away to the district called Hylaea (this is near the Racecourse of Achilles, and the whole dis­ trier is heavily wooded). Slipping into this place secretly, Anacharsis celebrated the whole festival to the Goddess, carrying the drum and wearing the images tied to himself. One of the Scythians noticed him doing all this and informed the king, Saulius, who came and, when he himself saw Anacharsis at his celebrating, shot him dead with his bow. Now when anyone mentions Anacharsis, the Scythians say they do not know any such person-and that is because he went traveling to Greece and adopted foreign customs. As I heard from Tymnes, the deputy for Ariapithes, Anacharsis was uncle of Idanthyrsus, king of Scythia, and the son of Gnurus, son of Lycus, son of Spargapithes. So if Anacharsis was of this descent, he should know that he was killed by his own brother! For Idanthyrsus was the son of Saulius, and it was Saulius who killed Anacharsis.

77. Indeed, I have heard another story, which is told by the Pelo­ ponnesians. According to this, Anacharsis was sent by the Scythian king to become a student of Greece, and, when he came back, he told him who sent him that all Greeks were overrestless for any kind of learning, save only the Lacedaemonians. With them alone it was possible sensibly to urge arguments and listen to them in tum. This must be a silly story fabricated by the Greeks themselves; in any

case, the man was killed, as I have said before.

78. That is how Anacharsis fared as a result of his foreign cus­ toms and his association with the Greeks. And, a great many years

35. Cybele.

k78 -79) 30 9

after, it was much the same with Scyles, son of Ariapithes. Ari­ apithes, the king of Scythia, had among other sons, Scyles. But he was born of a woman of Istria, not a nati ve-born Scythian at all. His mother taught him Greek speech and letters. Later, Ariapithes died through the treachery of Spargapithes, king of the Agathyrsi, and Scyles took over the throne of the Scythians and also his father's wife, whose name was Opoea. This Opoea was a native Scythian, and Ariapithes had had by her a son, Oricus. Though Scyles became king of Scythia, he was not pleased with the Scythian manner of life but was far more given to Greek ways, from the training he had had. So this is what he did: as often as he led the army of the Scythians to the city of the Borysthenites-these Borysthenites declare that they are Milesians-he would leave his army in the suburbs but himself go within the walls and shut up the gates. Then he would take off his Scythian clothes and take on Greek clothes and in that shape would go and walk about the marketplace, with no bodyguards or indeed anyone else. They guarded the gates that no Scythian might see him wearing Greek dress. He followed a Greek way of life, and, in es­ pecial, he made offerings to the gods in the Greek fashion. When he had spent a month or more like this, he would put on his Scythian clothes and go back. He did this very often, and built himself a

house in Borysthenes, and married a wife from these parts and brought her to the house.

79. Now he was destined to end ill, and this ill overtook him in the following instance.)6 He was eager to be initiated in the rites of

the Bacchic Dionysus, and when he had this project in hand, a very great portent occurred, for all to see. He had (as I said a little time ago) this great rich house in the city of the Borysthenites, and all about it stood sphinxes and griffins made of white stone. Upon this the god hurled his thunderbolt. Though it burned down entirely, Scyles nonetheless completed his initiation. Now the Scythians

36. This is a sentence that occurs several times in Herodotus. By it he means to distinguish a deeply underlying impersonal sequence of cause and effect (a chain of matching events and consequences reaching into the distant past and involving a balance of evil and evil) from the events that precipitate the final destruction of the individual person. The Greek word proplwsis sometimes, hut certainly not always, means "excuse." It does not mean that here but may fairly be rendered by something as neutral as "this instance."

3 10 (4.79- 8 1)

taunt the Greeks about the Bacchic rites; they say that the Greeks, against all reason, discover a god who sets men on to madness. So when Scyles was initiated into the Bacchic mystery, one of the Borysthenites made a joke of the matter to the Scythians: "You are always laughing at us, Scythians, because we worship Bacchus and the god takes possession of us. Now it is your own king that the god has seized upon, and he is mad under his inspiration. If you doubt me, come, and I will show him to you." The leading men among the Scythians did indeed come; the Borysthenite man, who had so talked, brought them there secretly and stowed them in a tower to watch. When Scyles appeared with his band of devotees and the Scythians saw him in Bacchic frenzy, they were furious at it and went and told the whole army what they had seen.

80. When, after that, Scyles went back to his own country, the Scythians rebelled against him and set up in his stead his brother, Octamasades, who was the son of the daughter of Teres. Scyles, per­ ceiving what was growing against him and from what it derived, took refuge in Thrace. Octamasades, when he learned of this, led an expedition into Thrace. When he came to the lster, the Thracians met him there. As they were about to Join battle, Sitalces 37 sent to Octamasades and said: "Why should we make trial of one another? YOLI are my sister's son. You have my brother with you. You give him back to me, and I will give you Scyles. But neither I nor you need bring danger on our armies." This was the message that Sitalces sent by his heralds. (There was under the protection of Octamasades a brother of Sitalces who had fled from Sitalces to him.) Octamasades agreed to the terms and gave up his own uncle to Sitalces and took back his brother, Scyles. Sitalces, when he got his brother, took him away; but Octamasades beheaded Scyles on the spot. So careful are the Scythians to guard their own customs, and such are the penalties that they impose on those who take to foreign customs over and above their own.

81. The numbers of the Scythians I was not able to learn with accuracy. I heard, indeed, different accounts of how many they are, some saying they are very many and some few-few, that is, as far as

37· The king of rhe Odrysians, a well-known personage. His farher was Teres. He was rhus rhe uncle of Ocromasades.

(4. 81 - 84) 311

they are true Scythians. But they showed me something that I could actually see in this matter. There is between the river Borysthenes and the river Hypanis a place, Exampaeus. I mentioned it a little while ago when I said that there was a brackish spring there and that the water flowing from it renders the river Hypanis undrinkable. In this place is set a bronze bowl that in size is some six times larger than the bowl at the mouth of the Pontus that Pausanias, son of Cleombrorus, dedicated. For anyone who has not yet seen Pausanias' bowl, I will show the size of the other this way: the Scythian bowl contains easily 5,400 gallons and in thickness is about four inches. This vessel, the natives say, was made our of arrowheads. For, they say, their king, Ariantas, wanted to know the number of the Scythi­ ans, and he bade them all bring, each one, an arrowhead. He threat­ ened with death whoever failed to bring the arrowheads. Thus was collected a huge mass of arrowheads, and then he resolved to make and leave after him a memorial made of them. So he made this bowl

1 from the arrowheads and dedicated it in this place, Exampaeus. So much have I heard of the number of the Scythians.

82. The country does not have great marvels except for the - rivers, which are the greatest and most numerous in the world. But

the thing, apart from the rivers and the size of the open country, that is most notable I will tell you. They showed me the footprint of Heracles, on rock; it is like a man's footprint but is three feet long, and it is by the river Tyras. That is enough about that. I will now go

. back to the story I began to relate. 38

'-q-83' When Darius was making FIlS preparations against the Scythi­ ,..1.. ans and had sent out messengers, commanding some of his subjects

1

to furnish a land army and others ships and others, still, to bridge the Thracian Bosporus, Artabanus, son of Hystaspes and thus a brother of Darius, begged him by no means to make a campaign against the Scythians. The Scythians, he said, were impossible to deal with. But, for all his good advice, he failed to persuade Darius. So Artabanus gave over his urging, and Darius, when all was pre­

pared, marched his army off from Susa. 84. Then Oeobazus, a Persian, begged Darius to leave behind

one of his sons; he had three, and all were with the army. The king

38. The srory of Darius' invasion of Scyrhia, hegun in chaprer I of rhis book.

_______1 _

13 0

finally the Massagetae got t he upper hand. The most of the Persian army died on rhe spot and, among them, C yrus h imself, having ruled , in al l, twenty-nine years. To myris so ugh t out hi s corpse among the Persian dead, and, when she found it, she fi lled a skin with hu- man blood and fixed his head in the skin , and, insultin g ove r the dead, she said: "I am alive and conqu eror, bur you have desrroyed me, all th e same , by robbing me of my son by trick ery. Now it is you and I; and I will give you your fill of blood, even as I threatened." There are many srories of the dearh of Cy rus, bur th is tha t I have told see ms to me the most convincing. "

2 I 5. The Massagetae wear the same kind of clothes as the Scyrh - ians and live much the same. They are both cavalry and infarurv-i- for th ey hav e some of both-and archers and spearmen ; and they are used ro carry battle-axes as well. They use gold and bronze for e ve ryth ing. For their spearpoin ts and arrowhea ds and battle-axes are all made of bronze, but on th e ir headgear , belts, and gird les they use ado rn ments of gold. In the same way, the breastp late s of their horses a re bronze, but the rei ns , bits. and cheekplares are o f go ld. Iron and silve r they do not use at a ll , fo r indeed the re is none in the ir co untry, but there is a great plenty of gold and bronze.

216 . The se are thei r customs: each of the m marries a wife, but the wives they have in common. Th e Greeks say that it is the Scythians that do this, but it is not th e Scyt hia ns that do so but the Massagetae. When a man of the Massagetae desires a woman, he hangs h is quiver on the fron t of her wagon and lies with her, fear- lessly. There is no definite limit to life ot her than th is: when a man grows very old, all h is relat ives come together and kill him , and sheep and goats along wit h him , and stew a ll th e meat toget her and have a banquet of it . T ha t is regarded as the happiest lot ; any man who dies of disease they do not eat but bury h im in the ground, la- menting that he did not co me to being eaten . They do not sow land at all but live off cattle and also fish , whic h they have in abundance from the river Araxe s. They are drinke rs of milk. Of th e gods, th ey worship the sun on ly, to whom they sacrifice ho rses , and their argu- ment for th e sacrifi ce is thi s: to the swiftest of a ll gods they assign th e swiftest of a ll mort al thi ngs.

8 2. Cyrus died in 5 2 9 B.C.

~ Book Two

I . Wh en Cy rus was dead , Cambyses inh erited th e kingdom .' He was th e son of Cy rus and Ca ssandane , th e da ught er of Pharnaspes, and Cassa ndane had died before Cy rus him self; Cy rus had mourned greatly for her and instructed all his subjects to do likewise. C am- bvses, th en , was a son of this woman and Cyrus; he regarded the loni ans and A eo lians as slaves who were his by inheritance from hi s fathe r, and he made war again st Egypt, taking along his various sub- ject s, including th ose Greeks whom he ruled .

2. The Egyptians, before Psammetichu s became their king, 2 th ought that th ey were the oldest of mankind . But Psammetic hu s, when he became king, wanted to know truly whic h were the oldest , and from that tim e the Egyptians conside r that the Phrygians are older than th emselves but that they, the Egyptians, are older tha n anyone else . For Psammetichus, whe n he cou ld not in any way dis- cover by inqu iry which were th e first people, devi sed the following plan . He took two newborn children of just ordinary people and gave th em to a shephe rd to brin g up among h is flocks. T he man ner of their upbr inging was to be thi s: th e kin g charged th at no one of th ose who came face to face with the ch ildren shou ld ut ter a word and that the ch ildren sho uld be kept in a lonely dwelling by the m- selves. At a suitab le t ime the she pherd was to bring the goats to them, give them their fill of milk , and do a ll the nece ssary thi ngs. Psammetichu s did this and gave these orders because he wished to hear from those children, as soon as they were done with meaning- less noises, which language they would speak fi rst. T h is, indeed, was what happened. For when two years had gone by, as the shep- herd was performing h is tasks, he opened the doo r and went in, and th e ch ildren clasped h is knees and reached out th e ir hand s, ca lling out "bekos." At first , when the sheph erd heard thi s, he remained silent about it. But as he came constantly and gave careful heed to

I . 529 B. C. 2 . About 660 B. C.

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