2. Herodotus, Histories, 1.1, 1.56-1.57, 1.71, 1.125, 1.135, 1.138, 1.152, 1.172, 1.203.2, 1.207, 2.2, 2.5, 2.11, 2.30, 2.35-2.64, 2.75, 2.81-2.82, 2.91, 2.102, 2.104, 2.119, 2.137, 2.139, 2.143, 2.152-2.154, 2.158, 2.169, 2.171, 2.173, 2.178, 3.17-3.25, 3.38, 3.72, 3.98-3.106, 3.113-3.114, 4.5-4.82, 4.99-4.101, 4.106, 4.114, 4.119, 4.127, 4.183, 6.58-6.60, 7.11, 7.60, 7.70, 7.101-7.104, 7.208, 8.144, 8.144.2, 9.122 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Diodorus Siculus,, featuring of diet in his ethnographic descriptions • Dissoi Logoi, and Herodotus’ ethnography • Egypt, ethnographies of • Ethnography • Greeks, ethnography among • Hecataeus of Abdera, structure of ethnographies • Histories (Herodotus),, and the ethnography of Scythia • Homer, ethnographic elements • Jews, ethnographies on • Persians, Herodotus’ ethnography • Sophists, and ethnography • diet, in ethnographic imagination • discourse, ethnographic • ethnographic writing, barbarian eating and drinking • ethnographies/ethnographers,, connection of distant times and places by Greek writers • ethnography • ethnography, Graeco-Roman • ethnography, Herodotean • ethnography, Persian • ethnography, and Ethiopians • ethnography, and ethical inquiry • ethnography, definition • ethnography, ethnographies • ethnography, inter-Hellenic • ethnography, physical conditions and character • ethnography, structure of • ethnography/“Ethnography” • paradoxography, and ethnography • poetry, ethnographic evidence in • sexual activity, ethnographic attitudes
Found in books: Bar Kochba (1997) 192, 193, 194, 204, 209; Bloch (2022) 85, 86; Bosak-Schroeder (2020) 92, 93, 98, 194; Gagné (2020) 143; Gera (2014) 63, 64, 205, 215; Gruen (2011) 204; Gruen (2020) 14, 45, 53; Hankinson (1998) 79, 80, 81; Kingsley Monti and Rood (2022) 128, 162, 163, 164; Kirkland (2022) 83, 86, 160, 163, 168, 169, 170, 187, 196, 197, 199, 200, 214, 217, 218, 220, 221, 229, 230, 233, 234; Konig (2022) 201, 365; König (2012) 344; Lieu (2004) 106; Lightfoot (2021) 59, 60, 61, 62, 64, 65; Morrison (2020) 84, 85, 92, 147, 148, 150, 151, 153, 156, 157, 159, 160, 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 171, 173, 174, 177; Papadodima (2022) 126, 127; Poulsen and Jönsson (2021) 269, 279; Wolfsdorf (2020) 493, 498, 499, 500, 505, 506, 508, 509, 510, 511, 513, 514, 527
1.1. Ἡροδότου Ἁλικαρνησσέος ἱστορίης ἀπόδεξις ἥδε, ὡς μήτε τὰ γενόμενα ἐξ ἀνθρώπων τῷ χρόνῳ ἐξίτηλα γένηται, μήτε ἔργα μεγάλα τε καὶ θωμαστά, τὰ μὲν Ἕλλησι τὰ δὲ βαρβάροισι ἀποδεχθέντα, ἀκλεᾶ γένηται, τά τε ἄλλα καὶ διʼ ἣν αἰτίην ἐπολέμησαν ἀλλήλοισι. Περσέων μέν νυν οἱ λόγιοι Φοίνικας αἰτίους φασὶ γενέσθαι τῆς διαφορῆς. τούτους γὰρ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἐρυθρῆς καλεομένης θαλάσσης ἀπικομένους ἐπὶ τήνδε τὴν θάλασσαν, καὶ οἰκήσαντας τοῦτον τὸν χῶρον τὸν καὶ νῦν οἰκέουσι, αὐτίκα ναυτιλίῃσι μακρῇσι ἐπιθέσθαι, ἀπαγινέοντας δὲ φορτία Αἰγύπτιά τε καὶ Ἀσσύρια τῇ τε ἄλλῃ ἐσαπικνέεσθαι καὶ δὴ καὶ ἐς Ἄργος. τὸ δὲ Ἄργος τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον προεῖχε ἅπασι τῶν ἐν τῇ νῦν Ἑλλάδι καλεομένῃ χωρῇ. ἀπικομένους δὲ τούς Φοίνικας ἐς δὴ τὸ Ἄργος τοῦτο διατίθεσθαι τὸν φόρτον. πέμπτῃ δὲ ἢ ἕκτῃ ἡμέρῃ ἀπʼ ἧς ἀπίκοντο, ἐξεμπολημένων σφι σχεδόν πάντων, ἐλθεῖν ἐπὶ τὴν θάλασσαν γυναῖκας ἄλλας τε πολλάς καὶ δὴ καὶ τοῦ βασιλέος θυγατέρα· τὸ δέ οἱ οὔνομα εἶναι, κατὰ τὠυτὸ τὸ καὶ Ἕλληνές λέγουσι, Ἰοῦν τὴν Ἰνάχου· ταύτας στάσας κατά πρύμνην τῆς νεὸς ὠνέεσθαι τῶν φορτίων τῶν σφι ἦν θυμός μάλιστα· καὶ τοὺς Φοίνικας διακελευσαμένους ὁρμῆσαι ἐπʼ αὐτάς. τὰς μὲν δὴ πλεῦνας τῶν γυναικῶν ἀποφυγεῖν, τὴν δὲ Ἰοῦν σὺν ἄλλῃσι ἁρπασθῆναι. ἐσβαλομένους δὲ ἐς τὴν νέα οἴχεσθαι ἀποπλέοντας ἐπʼ Αἰγύπτου.
1.56. τούτοισι ἐλθοῦσι τοῖσι ἔπεσι ὁ Κροῖσος πολλόν τι μάλιστα πάντων ἥσθη, ἐλπίζων ἡμίονον οὐδαμὰ ἀντʼ ἀνδρὸς βασιλεύσειν Μήδων, οὐδʼ ὦν αὐτὸς οὐδὲ οἱ ἐξ αὐτοῦ παύσεσθαι κοτὲ τῆς ἀρχῆς. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἐφρόντιζε ἱστορέων τοὺς ἂν Ἑλλήνων δυνατωτάτους ἐόντας προσκτήσαιτο φίλους, ἱστορέων δὲ εὕρισκε Λακεδαιμονίους καὶ Ἀθηναίους προέχοντας τοὺς μὲν τοῦ Δωρικοῦ γένεος τοὺς δὲ τοῦ Ἰωνικοῦ. ταῦτα γὰρ ἦν τὰ προκεκριμένα, ἐόντα τὸ ἀρχαῖον τὸ μὲν Πελασγικὸν τὸ δὲ Ἑλληνικὸν ἔθνος. καὶ τὸ μὲν οὐδαμῇ κω ἐξεχώρησε, τὸ δὲ πολυπλάνητον κάρτα. ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ Δευκαλίωνος βασιλέος οἴκεε γῆν τὴν Φθιῶτιν, ἐπὶ δὲ Δώρου τοῦ Ἕλληνος τὴν ὑπὸ τὴν Ὄσσαν τε καὶ τὸν Ὄλυμπον χώρην, καλεομένην δὲ Ἱστιαιῶτιν· ἐκ δὲ τῆς Ἱστιαιώτιδος ὡς ἐξανέστη ὑπὸ Καδμείων, οἴκεε ἐν Πίνδῳ Μακεδνὸν καλεόμενον· ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ αὖτις ἐς τὴν Δρυοπίδα μετέβη καὶ ἐκ τῆς Δρυοπίδος οὕτω ἐς Πελοπόννησον ἐλθὸν Δωρικὸν ἐκλήθη. 1.57. ἥντινα δὲ γλῶσσαν ἵεσαν οἱ Πελασγοί, οὐκ ἔχω ἀτρεκέως εἰπεῖν. εἰ δὲ χρεόν ἐστι τεκμαιρόμενον λέγειν τοῖσι νῦν ἔτι ἐοῦσι Πελασγῶν τῶν ὑπὲρ Τυρσηνῶν Κρηστῶνα πόλιν οἰκεόντων, οἳ ὅμουροι κοτὲ ἦσαν τοῖσι νῦν Δωριεῦσι καλεομένοισι ʽοἴκεον δὲ τηνικαῦτα γῆν τὴν νῦν Θεσσαλιῶτιν καλεομένην̓, καὶ τῶν Πλακίην τε καὶ Σκυλάκην Πελασγῶν οἰκησάντων ἐν Ἑλλησπόντῳ, οἳ σύνοικοι ἐγένοντο Ἀθηναίοισι, καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα Πελασγικὰ ἐόντα πολίσματα τὸ οὔνομα μετέβαλε· εἰ τούτοισι τεκμαιρόμενον δεῖ λέγειν, ἦσαν οἱ Πελασγοὶ βάρβαρον γλῶσσαν ἱέντες. εἰ τοίνυν ἦν καὶ πᾶν τοιοῦτο τὸ Πελασγικόν, τὸ Ἀττικὸν ἔθνος ἐὸν Πελασγικὸν ἅμα τῇ μεταβολῇ τῇ ἐς Ἕλληνας καὶ τὴν γλῶσσαν μετέμαθε. καὶ γὰρ δὴ οὔτε οἱ Κρηστωνιῆται οὐδαμοῖσι τῶν νῦν σφέας περιοικεόντων εἰσὶ ὁμόγλωσσοι οὔτε οἱ Πλακιηνοί, σφίσι δὲ ὁμόγλωσσοι· δηλοῦσί τε ὅτι τὸν ἠνείκαντο γλώσσης χαρακτῆρα μεταβαίνοντες ἐς ταῦτα τὰ χωρία, τοῦτον ἔχουσι ἐν φυλακῇ.
1.71. Κροῖσος δὲ ἁμαρτὼν τοῦ χρησμοῦ ἐποιέετο στρατηίην ἐς Καππαδοκίην, ἐλπίσας καταιρήσειν Κῦρόν τε καὶ τὴν Περσέων δύναμιν. παρασκευαζομένου δὲ Κροίσου στρατεύεσθαι ἐπὶ Πέρσας, τῶν τις Λυδῶν νομιζόμενος καὶ πρόσθε εἶναι σοφός, ἀπὸ δὲ ταύτης τῆς γνώμης καὶ τὸ κάρτα οὔνομα ἐν Λυδοῖσι ἔχων, συνεβούλευσε Κροίσῳ τάδε· οὔνομά οἱ ἦν Σάνδανις. “ὦ βασιλεῦ, ἐπʼ ἄνδρας τοιούτους στρατεύεσθαι παρασκευάζεαι, οἳ σκυτίνας μὲν ἀναξυρίδας σκυτίνην δὲ τὴν ἄλλην ἐσθῆτα φορέουσι, σιτέονται δὲ οὐκ ὅσα ἐθέλουσι ἀλλʼ ὅσα ἔχουσι, χώρην ἔχοντες τρηχέαν. πρὸς δὲ οὐκ οἴνῳ διαχρέωνται ἀλλὰ ὑδροποτέουσι, οὐ σῦκα δὲ ἔχουσι τρώγειν, οὐκ ἄλλο ἀγαθὸν οὐδέν. τοῦτο μὲν δή, εἰ νικήσεις, τί σφέας ἀπαιρήσεαι, τοῖσί γε μὴ ἔστι μηδέν; τοῦτο δέ, ἢν νικηθῇς, μάθε ὅσα ἀγαθὰ ἀποβαλέεις· γευσάμενοι γὰρ τῶν ἡμετέρων ἀγαθῶν περιέξονται οὐδὲ ἀπωστοὶ ἔσονται. ἐγὼ μέν νυν θεοῖσι ἔχω χάριν, οἳ οὐκ ἐπὶ νόον ποιέουσι Πέρσῃσι στρατεύεσθαι ἐπὶ Λυδούς.” ταῦτα λέγων οὐκ ἔπειθε τὸν Κροῖσον. Πέρσῃσι γάρ, πρὶν Λυδοὺς καταστρέψασθαι, ἦν οὔτε ἁβρὸν οὔτε ἀγαθὸν οὐδέν.
1.125. ἀκούσας ταῦτα ὁ Κῦρος ἐφρόντιζε ὅτεῳ τρόπῳ σοφωτάτῳ Πέρσας ἀναπείσει ἀπίστασθαι, φροντίζων δὲ εὑρίσκεται ταῦτα καιριώτατα εἶναι· ἐποίεε δὴ ταῦτα. γράψας ἐς βυβλίον τὰ ἐβούλετο, ἁλίην τῶν Περσέων ἐποιήσατο, μετὰ δὲ ἀναπτύξας τὸ βυβλίον καὶ ἐπιλεγόμενος ἔφη Ἀστυάγεά μιν στρατηγὸν Περσέων ἀποδεικνύναι. “νῦν τε,” ἔφη λέγων, “ὦ Πέρσαι, προαγορεύω ὑμῖν παρεῖναι ἕκαστον ἔχοντα δρέπανον. Κῦρος μὲν ταῦτα προηγόρευσε. ἔστι δὲ Πέρσεων συχνὰ γένεα, καὶ τὰ μὲν αὐτῶν ὁ Κῦρος συνάλισε καὶ ἀνέπεισε ἀπίστασθαι ἀπὸ Μήδων. ἔστι δὲ τάδε, ἐξ ὧν ὧλλοι πάντες ἀρτέαται Πέρσαι, Πασαργάδαι Μαράφιοι Μάσπιοι. τούτων Πασαργάδαι εἰσὶ ἄριστοι, ἐν τοῖσι καὶ Ἀχαιμενίδαι εἰσὶ φρήτρη, ἔνθεν οἱ βασιλέες οἱ Περσεῖδαι γεγόνασι. ἄλλοι δὲ Πέρσαι εἰσὶ οἵδε, Πανθιαλαῖοι Δηρουσιαῖοι Γερμάνιοι. οὗτοι μὲν πάντες ἀροτῆρες εἰσί, οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι νομάδες, Δάοι Μάρδοι Δροπικοὶ Σαγάρτιοι.”
1.135. ξεινικὰ δὲ νόμαια Πέρσαι προσίενται ἀνδρῶν μάλιστα. καὶ γὰρ δὴ τὴν Μηδικὴν ἐσθῆτα νομίσαντες τῆς ἑωυτῶν εἶναι καλλίω φορέουσι, καὶ ἐς τοὺς πολέμους τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους θώρηκας· καὶ εὐπαθείας τε παντοδαπὰς πυνθανόμενοι ἐπιτηδεύουσι, καὶ δὴ καὶ ἀπʼ Ἑλλήνων μαθόντες παισὶ μίσγονται. γαμέουσι δὲ ἕκαστος αὐτῶν πολλὰς μὲν κουριδίας γυναῖκας, πολλῷ δʼ ἔτι πλεῦνας παλλακὰς κτῶνται.
1.138. ἅσσα δέ σφι ποιέειν οὐκ ἔξεστι, ταῦτα οὐδὲ λέγειν ἔξεστι. αἴσχιστον δὲ αὐτοῖσι τὸ ψεύδεσθαι νενόμισται, δεύτερα δὲ τὸ ὀφείλειν χρέος, πολλῶν μὲν καὶ ἄλλων εἵνεκα, μάλιστα δὲ ἀναγκαίην φασὶ εἶναι τὸν ὀφείλοντα καί τι ψεῦδος λέγειν. ὃς ἂν δὲ τῶν ἀστῶν λέπρην ἢ λεύκην ἔχῃ, ἐς πόλιν οὗτος οὐ κατέρχεται οὐδὲ συμμίσγεται τοῖσι ἄλλοισι Πέρσῃσι· φασὶ δέ μιν ἐς τὸν ἥλιον ἁμαρτόντα τι ταῦτα ἔχειν. ξεῖνον δὲ πάντα τὸν λαμβανόμενον ὑπὸ τουτέων πολλοὶ ἐξελαύνουσι ἐκ τῆς χώρης, καὶ τὰς λευκὰς περιστεράς, τὴν αὐτὴν αἰτίην ἐπιφέροντες. ἐς ποταμὸν δὲ οὔτε ἐνουρέουσι οὔτε ἐμπτύουσι, οὐ χεῖρας ἐναπονίζονται, οὐδὲ ἄλλον οὐδένα περιορῶσι, ἀλλὰ σέβονται ποταμοὺς μάλιστα.
1.152. ὡς δὲ ἀπίκοντο ἐς τὴν Σπάρτην τῶν Ἰώνων καὶ Αἰολέων οἱ ἄγγελοι ʽκατὰ γὰρ δὴ τάχος ἦν ταῦτα πρησσόμενἀ, εἵλοντο πρὸ πάντων λέγειν τὸν Φωκαέα, τῷ οὔνομα ἦν Πύθερμος. ὁ δὲ πορφύρεόν τε εἷμα περιβαλόμενος, ὡς ἂν πυνθανόμενοι πλεῖστοι συνέλθοιεν Σπαρτιητέων, καὶ καταστὰς ἔλεγε πολλὰ τιμωρέειν ἑωυτοῖσι χρηίζων. Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ οὔ κως ἐσήκουον, ἀλλʼ ἀπέδοξέ σφι μὴ τιμωρέειν Ἴωσι. οἳ μὲν δὴ ἀπαλλάσσοντο, Λακεδαιμόνιοι δὲ ἀπωσάμενοι τῶν Ἰώνων τοὺς ἀγγέλους ὅμως ἀπέστειλαν πεντηκοντέρῳ ἄνδρας, ὡς μὲν ἐμοὶ δοκέει, κατασκόπους τῶν τε Κύρου πρηγμάτων καὶ Ἰωνίης. ἀπικόμενοι δὲ οὗτοι ἐς Φώκαιαν ἔπεμπον ἐς Σάρδις σφέων αὐτῶν τὸν δοκιμώτατον, τῷ οὔνομα ἦν Λακρίνης, ἀπερέοντα Κύρῳ Λακεδαιμονίων ῥῆσιν, γῆς τῆς Ἑλλάδος μηδεμίαν πόλιν σιναμωρέειν, ὡς αὐτῶν οὐ περιοψομένων.
1.172. οἱ δὲ Καύνιοι αὐτόχθονες δοκέειν ἐμοὶ εἰσί, αὐτοὶ μέντοι ἐκ Κρήτης φασὶ εἶναι. προσκεχωρήκασι δὲ γλῶσσαν μὲν πρὸς τὸ Καρικὸν ἔθνος, ἢ οἱ Κᾶρες πρὸς τὸ Καυνικόν ʽτοῦτο γὰρ οὐκ ἔχω ἀτρεκέως διακρῖναἰ, νόμοισι δὲ χρέωνται κεχωρισμένοισι πολλὸν τῶν τε ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων καὶ Καρῶν. τοῖσι γὰρ κάλλιστον ἐστὶ κατʼ ἡλικίην τε καὶ φιλότητα εἰλαδὸν συγγίνεσθαι ἐς πόσιν, καὶ ἀνδράσι καὶ γυναιξὶ καὶ παισί. ἱδρυθέντων δέ σφι ἱρῶν ξεινικῶν, μετέπειτα ὥς σφι ἀπέδοξε, ἔδοξέ δὲ τοῖσι πατρίοισι μοῦνον, χέασθαι θεοῖσι, ἐνδύντες τὰ ὅπλα ἅπαντες Καύνιοι ἡβηδόν, τύπτοντες δόρασι τὸν ἠέρα, μέχρι οὔρων τῶν Καλυνδικῶν εἵποντο, καὶ ἔφασαν ἐκβάλλειν τοὺς ξεινικοὺς θεούς.' '
1.207. παρεὼν δὲ καὶ μεμφόμενος τὴν γνώμην ταύτην Κροῖσος ὁ Λυδὸς ἀπεδείκνυτο ἐναντίην τῇ προκειμένῃ γνώμῃ, λέγων τάδε. “ὦ βασιλεῦ, εἶπον μὲν καὶ πρότερόν τοι ὅτι ἐπεί με Ζεὺς ἔδωκέ τοι, τὸ ἂν ὁρῶ σφάλμα ἐὸν οἴκῳ τῷ σῷ κατὰ δύναμιν ἀποτρέψειν· τὰ δὲ μοι παθήματα ἐόντα ἀχάριτα μαθήματα γέγονε. εἰ μὲν ἀθάνατος δοκέεις εἶναι καὶ στρατιῆς τοιαύτης ἄρχειν, οὐδὲν ἂν εἴη πρῆγμα γνώμας ἐμὲ σοὶ ἀποφαίνεσθαι· εἰ δʼ ἔγνωκας ὅτι ἄνθρωπος καὶ σὺ εἶς καὶ ἑτέρων τοιῶνδε ἄρχεις, ἐκεῖνο πρῶτον μάθε, ὡς κύκλος τῶν ἀνθρωπηίων ἐστὶ πρηγμάτων, περιφερόμενος δὲ οὐκ ἐᾷ αἰεὶ τοὺς αὐτοὺς; εὐτυχέειν. ἤδη ὦν ἔχω γνώμην περὶ τοῦ προκειμένου πρήγματος τὰ ἔμπαλιν ἢ οὗτοι. εἰ γὰρ ἐθελήσομεν ἐσδέξασθαι τοὺς πολεμίους ἐς τὴν χώρην, ὅδε τοι ἐν αὐτῷ κίνδυνος ἔνι· ἑσσωθεὶς μὲν προσαπολλύεις πᾶσαν τὴν ἀρχήν. δῆλα γὰρ δὴ ὅτι νικῶντες Μασσαγέται οὐ τὸ ὀπίσω φεύξονται ἀλλʼ ἐπʼ ἀρχὰς τὰς σὰς ἐλῶσι. νικῶν δὲ οὐ νικᾷς τοσοῦτον ὅσον εἰ διαβὰς ἐς τὴν ἐκείνων, νικῶν Μασσαγέτας, ἕποιο φεύγουσι. τὠυτὸ γὰρ ἀντιθήσω ἐκείνῳ, ὅτι νικήσας τοὺς ἀντιουμένους ἐλᾷς ἰθὺ τῆς ἀρχῆς τῆς Τομύριος. χωρίς τε τοῦ ἀπηγημένου αἰσχρὸν καὶ οὐκ ἀνασχετὸν Κῦρόν γε τὸν Καμβύσεω γυναικὶ εἴξαντα ὑποχωρῆσαι τῆς χώρης. νῦν ὦν μοι δοκέει διαβάντας προελθεῖν ὅσον ἂν ἐκεῖνοι ὑπεξίωσι, ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ τάδε ποιεῦντας πειρᾶσθαι ἐκείνων περιγενέσθαι. ὡς γὰρ ἐγὼ πυνθάνομαι, Μασσαγέται εἰσὶ ἀγαθῶν τε Περσικῶν ἄπειροι καὶ καλῶν μεγάλων ἀπαθέες. τούτοισι ὦν τοῖσι ἀνδράσι τῶν προβάτων ἀφειδέως πολλὰ κατακόψαντας καὶ σκευάσαντας προθεῖναι ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ τῷ ἡμετέρῳ δαῖτα, πρὸς δὲ καὶ κρητῆρας ἀφειδέως οἴνου ἀκρήτου καὶ σιτία παντοῖα· ποιήσαντας δὲ ταῦτα, ὑπολιπομένους τῆς στρατιῆς τὸ φλαυρότατον, τοὺς λοιποὺς αὖτις ἐξαναχωρέειν ἐπὶ τὸν ποταμόν. ἢν γὰρ ἐγὼ γνώμης μὴ ἁμάρτω, κεῖνοι ἰδόμενοι ἀγαθὰ πολλὰ τρέψονταί τε πρὸς αὐτὰ καὶ ἡμῖν τὸ ἐνθεῦτεν λείπεται ἀπόδεξις ἔργων μεγάλων.”
2.2. οἱ δὲ Αἰγύπτιοι, πρὶν μὲν ἢ Ψαμμήτιχον σφέων βασιλεῦσαι, ἐνόμιζον ἑωυτοὺς πρώτους γενέσθαι πάντων ἀνθρώπων· ἐπειδὴ δὲ Ψαμμήτιχος βασιλεύσας ἠθέλησε εἰδέναι οἵτινες γενοίατο πρῶτοι, ἀπὸ τούτου νομίζουσι Φρύγας προτέρους γενέσθαι ἑωυτῶν, τῶν δὲ ἄλλων ἑωυτούς. Ψαμμήτιχος δὲ ὡς οὐκ ἐδύνατο πυνθανόμενος πόρον οὐδένα τούτου ἀνευρεῖν, οἳ γενοίατο πρῶτοι ἀνθρώπων, ἐπιτεχνᾶται τοιόνδε. παιδία δύο νεογνὰ ἀνθρώπων τῶν ἐπιτυχόντων δίδωσι ποιμένι τρέφειν ἐς τὰ ποίμνια τροφήν τινα τοιήνδε, ἐντειλάμενος μηδένα ἀντίον αὐτῶν μηδεμίαν φωνὴν ἱέναι, ἐν στέγῃ δὲ ἐρήμῃ ἐπʼ ἑωυτῶν κέεσθαι αὐτά, καὶ τὴν ὥρην ἐπαγινέειν σφι αἶγας, πλήσαντα δὲ γάλακτος τἆλλα διαπρήσσεσθαι· ταῦτα δὲ ἐποίεέ τε καὶ ἐνετέλλετο Ψαμμήτιχος θέλων ἀκοῦσαι τῶν παιδίων, ἀπαλλαχθέντων τῶν ἀσήμων κνυζημάτων, ἥντινα φωνὴν ῥήξουσι πρώτην· τά περ ὦν καὶ ἐγένετο. ὡς γὰρ διέτης χρόνος ἐγεγόνεε ταῦτα τῷ ποιμένι πρήσσοντι, ἀνοίγοντι τὴν θύρην καὶ ἐσιόντι τὰ παιδία ἀμφότερα προσπίπτοντα βεκὸς ἐφώνεον, ὀρέγοντα τὰς χεῖρας. τὰ μὲν δὴ πρῶτα ἀκούσας ἥσυχος ἦν ὁ ποιμήν· ὡς δὲ πολλάκις φοιτέοντι καὶ ἐπιμελομένῳ πολλὸν ἦν τοῦτο τὸ ἔπος, οὕτω δὴ σημήνας τῷ δεσπότῃ ἤγαγε τὰ παιδία κελεύσαντος ἐς ὄψιν τὴν ἐκείνου. ἀκούσας δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Ψαμμήτιχος ἐπυνθάνετο οἵτινες ἀνθρώπων βεκός τι καλέουσι, πυνθανόμενος δὲ εὕρισκε Φρύγας καλέοντας τὸν ἄρτον. οὕτω συνεχώρησαν Αἰγύπτιοι καὶ τοιούτῳ σταθμησάμενοι πρήγματι τοὺς Φρύγας πρεσβυτέρους εἶναι ἑωυτῶν. ὧδε μὲν γενέσθαι τῶν ἱρέων τοῦ Ἡφαίστου τοῦ ἐν Μέμφι ἤκουον· Ἕλληνες δὲ λέγουσι ἄλλα τε μάταια πολλὰ καὶ ὡς γυναικῶν τὰς γλώσσας ὁ Ψαμμήτιχος ἐκταμὼν τὴν δίαιταν οὕτω ἐποιήσατο τῶν παίδων παρὰ ταύτῃσι τῇσι γυναιξί.
2.5. καὶ εὖ μοι ἐδόκεον λέγειν περὶ τῆς χώρης· δῆλα γὰρ δὴ καὶ μὴ προακούσαντι ἰδόντι δέ, ὅστις γε σύνεσιν ἔχει, ὅτι Αἴγυπτος, ἐς τὴν Ἕλληνες ναυτίλλονται, ἐστὶ Αἰγυπτίοισι ἐπίκτητός τε γῆ καὶ δῶρον τοῦ ποταμοῦ, καὶ τὰ κατύπερθε ἔτι τῆς λίμνης ταύτης μέχρι τριῶν ἡμερέων πλόου, τῆς πέρι ἐκεῖνοι οὐδὲν ἔτι τοιόνδε ἔλεγον, ἔστι δὲ ἕτερον τοιόνδε. Αἰγύπτου γὰρ φύσις ἐστὶ τῆς χώρης τοιήδε. πρῶτα μὲν προσπλέων ἔτι καὶ ἡμέρης δρόμον ἀπέχων ἀπὸ γῆς, κατεὶς καταπειρητηρίην πηλόν τε ἀνοίσεις καὶ ἐν ἕνδεκα ὀργυιῇσι ἔσεαι. τοῦτο μὲν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτο δηλοῖ πρόχυσιν τῆς γῆς ἐοῦσαν.
2.11. ἔστι δὲ τῆς Ἀραβίης χώρης, Αἰγύπτου δὲ οὐ πρόσω, κόλπος θαλάσσης ἐσέχων ἐκ τῆς Ἐρυθρῆς καλεομένης θαλάσσης, μακρὸς οὕτω δή τι καὶ στεινὸς ὡς ἔρχομαι φράσων· μῆκος μὲν πλόου ἀρξαμένῳ ἐκ μυχοῦ διεκπλῶσαι ἐς τὴν εὐρέαν θάλασσαν ἡμέραι ἀναισιμοῦνται τεσσεράκοντα εἰρεσίῃ χρεωμένῳ· εὖρος δέ, τῇ εὐρύτατος ἐστὶ ὁ κόλπος, ἥμισυ ἡμέρης πλόου. ῥηχίη δʼ ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ ἄμπωτις ἀνὰ πᾶσαν ἡμέρην γίνεται. ἕτερον τοιοῦτον κόλπον καὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον δοκέω γενέσθαι κοτέ, τὸν μὲν ἐκ τῆς βορηίης θαλάσσης κόλπον ἐσέχοντα ἐπʼ Αἰθιοπίης, τὸν δὲ Ἀράβιον, τὸν ἔρχομαι λέξων, ἐκ τῆς νοτίης φέροντα ἐπὶ Συρίης, σχεδὸν μὲν ἀλλήλοισι συντετραίνοντας τοὺς μυχούς, ὀλίγον δέ τι παραλλάσσοντας τῆς χώρης. εἰ ὦν ἐθελήσει ἐκτρέψαι τὸ ῥέεθρον ὁ Νεῖλος ἐς τοῦτον τὸν Ἀράβιον κόλπον, τί μιν κωλύει ῥέοντος τούτου ἐκχωσθῆναι ἐντός γε δισμυρίων ἐτέων; ἐγὼ μὲν γὰρ ἔλπομαί γε καὶ μυρίων ἐντὸς χωσθῆναι ἄν· κοῦ γε δὴ ἐν τῷ προαναισιμωμένῳ χρόνῳ πρότερον ἢ ἐμὲ γενέσθαι οὐκ ἂν χωσθείη κόλπος καὶ πολλῷ μέζων ἔτι τούτου ὑπὸ τοσούτου τε ποταμοῦ καὶ οὕτω ἐργατικοῦ;
2.30. ἀπὸ δὲ ταύτης τῆς πόλιος πλέων ἐν ἴσῳ χρόνῳ ἄλλῳ ἥξεις ἐς τοὺς αὐτομόλους ἐν ὅσῳ περ ἐξ Ἐλεφαντίνης ἦλθες ἐς τὴν μητρόπολιν τὴν Αἰθιόπων. τοῖσι δὲ αὐτομόλοισι τούτοισι οὔνομα ἐστὶ Ἀσμάχ, δύναται δὲ τοῦτο τὸ ἔπος κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλήνων γλῶσσαν οἱ ἐξ ἀριστερῆς χειρὸς παριστάμενοι βασιλέι. ἀπέστησαν δὲ αὗται τέσσερες καὶ εἴκοσι μυριάδες Αἰγυπτίων τῶν μαχίμων ἐς τοὺς Αἰθίοπας τούτους διʼ αἰτίην τοιήνδε. ἐπὶ Ψαμμητίχου βασιλέος φυλακαὶ κατέστησαν ἔν τε Ἐλεφαντίνῃ πόλι πρὸς Αἰθιόπων καὶ ἐν Δάφνῃσι τῇσι Πηλουσίῃσι ἄλλη πρὸς Ἀραβίων τε καὶ Ἀσσυρίων, καὶ ἐν Μαρέῃ πρὸς Λιβύης ἄλλη. ἔτι δὲ ἐπʼ ἐμεῦ καὶ Περσέων κατὰ ταὐτὰ αἱ φυλακαὶ ἔχουσι ὡς καὶ ἐπὶ Ψαμμητίχου ἦσαν· καὶ γὰρ ἐν Ἐλεφαντίνῃ Πέρσαι φρουρέουσι καὶ ἐν Δάφνῃσι. τοὺς ὦν δὴ Αἰγυπτίους τρία ἔτεα φρουρήσαντας ἀπέλυε οὐδεὶς τῆς φρουρῆς· οἳ δὲ βουλευσάμενοι καὶ κοινῷ λόγῳ χρησάμενοι πάντες ἀπὸ τοῦ Ψαμμητίχου ἀποστάντες ἤισαν ἐς Αἰθιοπίην. Ψαμμήτιχος δὲ πυθόμενος ἐδίωκε· ὡς δὲ κατέλαβε, ἐδέετο πολλὰ λέγων καί σφεας θεοὺς πατρωίους ἀπολιπεῖν οὐκ ἔα καὶ τέκνα καὶ γυναῖκας. τῶν δὲ τινὰ λέγεται δέξαντα τὸ αἰδοῖον εἰπεῖν, ἔνθα ἂν τοῦτο ᾖ, ἔσεσθαι αὐτοῖσι ἐνθαῦτα καὶ τέκνα καὶ γυναῖκας. οὗτοι ἐπείτε ἐς Αἰθιοπίην ἀπίκοντο, διδοῦσι σφέας αὐτοὺς τῷ Αἰθιόπων βασιλέι, ὁ δὲ σφέας τῷδε ἀντιδωρέεται· ἦσάν οἱ διάφοροι τινὲς γεγονότες τῶν Αἰθιόπων· τούτους ἐκέλευε ἐξελόντας τὴν ἐκείνων γῆν οἰκέειν. τούτων δὲ ἐσοικισθέντων ἐς τοὺς Αἰθίοπας ἡμερώτεροι γεγόνασι Αἰθίοπες, ἤθεα μαθόντες Αἰγύπτια.
2.35. Νείλου μέν νυν πέρι τοσαῦτα εἰρήσθω· ἔρχομαι δὲ περὶ Αἰγύπτου μηκυνέων τὸν λόγον, ὅτι πλεῖστα θωμάσια ἔχει ἢ ἡ ἄλλη πᾶσα χώρη καὶ ἔργα λόγου μέζω παρέχεται πρὸς πᾶσαν χώρην τούτων εἵνεκα πλέω περὶ αὐτῆς εἰρήσεται. Αἰγύπτιοι ἅμα τῷ οὐρανῷ τῷ κατὰ σφέας ἐόντι ἑτεροίῳ καὶ τῷ ποταμῷ φύσιν ἀλλοίην παρεχομένῳ ἢ οἱ ἄλλοι ποταμοί, τὰ πολλὰ πάντα ἔμπαλιν τοῖσι ἄλλοισι ἀνθρώποισι ἐστήσαντο ἤθεά τε καὶ νόμους· ἐν τοῖσι αἱ μὲν γυναῖκες ἀγοράζουσι καὶ καπηλεύουσι, οἱ δὲ ἄνδρες κατʼ οἴκους ἐόντες ὑφαίνουσι· ὑφαίνουσι δὲ οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι ἄνω τὴν κρόκην ὠθέοντες, Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ κάτω. τὰ ἄχθεα οἱ μὲν ἄνδρες ἐπὶ τῶν κεφαλέων φορέουσι, αἱ δὲ γυναῖκες ἐπὶ τῶν ὤμων. οὐρέουσι αἱ μὲν γυναῖκες ὀρθαί, οἱ δὲ ἄνδρες κατήμενοι. εὐμαρείῃ χρέωνται ἐν τοῖσι οἴκοισι, ἐσθίουσι δὲ ἔξω ἐν τῇσι ὁδοῖσι ἐπιλέγοντες ὡς τὰ μὲν αἰσχρὰ ἀναγκαῖα δὲ ἐν ἀποκρύφῳ ἐστὶ ποιέειν χρεόν, τὰ δὲ μὴ αἰσχρὰ ἀναφανδόν. ἱρᾶται γυνὴ μὲν οὐδεμία οὔτε ἔρσενος θεοῦ οὔτε θηλέης, ἄνδρες δὲ πάντων τε καὶ πασέων. τρέφειν τοὺς τοκέας τοῖσι μὲν παισὶ οὐδεμία ἀνάγκη μὴ βουλομένοισι, τῇσι δὲ θυγατράσι πᾶσα ἀνάγκη καὶ μὴ βουλομένῃσι. 2.36. οἱ ἱρέες τῶν θεῶν τῇ μὲν ἄλλῃ κομέουσι, ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ δὲ ξυρῶνται. τοῖσι ἄλλοισι ἀνθρώποισι νόμος ἅμα κήδεϊ κεκάρθαι τὰς κεφαλὰς τοὺς μάλιστα ἱκνέεται, Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ ὑπὸ τοὺς θανάτους ἀνιεῖσι τὰς τρίχας αὔξεσθαι τάς τε ἐν τῇ κεφαλῇ καὶ τῷ γενείῳ, τέως ἐξυρημένοι. τοῖσι μὲν ἄλλοισι ἀνθρώποισι χωρὶς θηρίων ἡ δίαιτα ἀποκέκριται, Αἰγυπτίοισι δὲ ὁμοῦ θηρίοισι ἡ δίαιτα ἐστί. ἀπὸ πυρῶν καὶ κριθέων ὧλλοι ζώουσι, Αἰγυπτίων δὲ τῷ ποιευμένῳ ἀπὸ τούτων τὴν ζόην ὄνειδος μέγιστον ἐστί, ἀλλὰ ἀπὸ ὀλυρέων ποιεῦνται σιτία, τὰς ζειὰς μετεξέτεροι καλέουσι. φυρῶσι τὸ μὲν σταῖς τοῖσι ποσί, τὸν δὲ πηλὸν τῇσι χερσί, καὶ τὴν κόπρον ἀναιρέονται. τὰ αἰδοῖα ὧλλοι μὲν ἐῶσι ὡς ἐγένοντο, πλὴν ὅσοι ἀπὸ τούτων ἔμαθον, Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ περιτάμνονται. εἵματα τῶν μὲν ἀνδρῶν ἕκαστος ἔχει δύο, τῶν δὲ γυναικῶν ἓν ἑκάστη. τῶν ἱστίων τοὺς κρίκους καὶ τοὺς κάλους οἱ μὲν ἄλλοι ἔξωθεν προσδέουσι, Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ ἔσωθεν. γράμματα γράφουσι καὶ λογίζονται ψήφοισι Ἕλληνες μὲν ἀπὸ τῶν ἀριστερῶν ἐπὶ τὰ δεξιὰ φέροντες τὴν χεῖρα, Αἰγύπτιοι δὲ ἀπὸ τῶν δεξιῶν ἐπὶ τὰ ἀριστερά· καὶ ποιεῦντες ταῦτα αὐτοὶ μὲν φασὶ ἐπὶ δεξιὰ ποιέειν, Ἕλληνας δὲ ἐπʼ ἀριστερά. διφασίοισι δὲ γράμμασι χρέωνται, καὶ τὰ μὲν αὐτῶν ἱρὰ τὰ δὲ δημοτικὰ καλέεται. 2.37. θεοσεβέες δὲ περισσῶς ἐόντες μάλιστα πάντων ἀνθρώπων νόμοισι τοιοῖσιδε χρέωνται. ἐκ χαλκέων ποτηρίων πίνουσι, διασμῶντες ἀνὰ πᾶσαν ἡμέρην, οὐκ ὃ μὲν ὃ δʼ οὔ, ἀλλὰ πάντες. εἵματα δὲ λίνεα φορέουσι αἰεὶ νεόπλυτα, ἐπιτηδεύοντες τοῦτο μάλιστα, τά τε αἰδοῖα περιτάμνονται καθαρειότητος εἵνεκεν, προτιμῶντες καθαροὶ εἶναι ἢ εὐπρεπέστεροι. οἱ δὲ ἱρέες ξυρῶνται πᾶν τὸ σῶμα διὰ τρίτης ἡμέρης, ἵνα μήτε φθεὶρ μήτε ἄλλο μυσαρὸν μηδὲν ἐγγίνηταί σφι θεραπεύουσι τοὺς θεούς. ἐσθῆτα δὲ φορέουσι οἱ ἱρέες λινέην μούνην καὶ ὑποδήματα βύβλινα· ἄλλην δέ σφι ἐσθῆτα οὐκ ἔξεστι λαβεῖν οὐδὲ ὑποδήματα ἄλλα. λοῦνται δὲ δὶς τῆς ἡμέρης ἑκάστης ψυχρῷ καὶ δὶς ἑκάστης νυκτός, ἄλλας τε θρησκηίας ἐπιτελέουσι μυρίας ὡς εἰπεῖν λόγῳ. πάσχουσι δὲ καὶ ἀγαθὰ οὐκ ὀλίγα· οὔτε τι γὰρ τῶν οἰκηίων τρίβουσι οὔτε δαπανῶνται, ἀλλὰ καὶ σιτία σφι ἐστὶ ἱρὰ πεσσόμενα, καὶ κρεῶν βοέων καὶ χηνέων πλῆθός τι ἑκάστῳ γίνεται πολλὸν ἡμέρης ἑκάστης, δίδοται δέ σφι καὶ οἶνος ἀμπέλινος· ἰχθύων δὲ οὔ σφι ἔξεστι πάσασθαι. κυάμους δὲ οὔτε τι μάλα σπείρουσι Αἰγύπτιοι ἐν τῇ χώρῃ, τούς τε γινομένους οὔτε τρώγουσι οὔτε ἕψοντες πατέονται, οἱ δὲ δὴ ἱρέες οὐδὲ ὁρέοντες ἀνέχονται, νομίζοντες οὐ καθαρὸν εἶναί μιν ὄσπριον. ἱρᾶται δὲ οὐκ εἷς ἑκάστου τῶν θεῶν ἀλλὰ πολλοί, τῶν εἷς ἐστι ἀρχιερεύς· ἐπεὰν δέ τις ἀποθάνῃ, τούτου ὁ παῖς ἀντικατίσταται. 2.38. τοὺς δὲ βοῦς τοὺς ἔρσενας τοῦ Ἐπάφου εἶναι νομίζουσι, καὶ τούτου εἵνεκα δοκιμάζουσι αὐτοὺς ὧδε· τρίχα ἢν καὶ μίαν ἴδηται ἐπεοῦσαν μέλαιναν, οὐ καθαρὸν εἶναι νομίζει. δίζηται δὲ ταῦτα ἐπὶ τούτῳ τεταγμένος τῶν τις ἱρέων καὶ ὀρθοῦ ἑστεῶτος τοῦ κτήνεος καὶ ὑπτίου, καὶ τὴν γλῶσσαν ἐξειρύσας, εἰ καθαρὴ τῶν προκειμένων σημηίων, τὰ ἐγὼ ἐν ἄλλῳ λόγῳ ἐρέω· κατορᾷ δὲ καὶ τὰς τρίχας τῆς οὐρῆς εἰ κατὰ φύσιν ἔχει πεφυκυίας. ἢν δὲ τούτων πάντων ᾖ καθαρός, σημαίνεται βύβλῳ περὶ τὰ κέρεα εἱλίσσων καὶ ἔπειτα γῆν σημαντρίδα ἐπιπλάσας ἐπιβάλλει τὸν δακτύλιον, καὶ οὕτω ἀπάγουσι. ἀσήμαντον δὲ θύσαντι θάνατος ἡ ζημίη ἐπικέεται. δοκιμάζεται μέν νυν τὸ κτῆνος τρόπῳ τοιῷδε, θυσίη δέ σφι ἥδε κατέστηκε. 2.39. ἀγαγόντες τὸ σεσημασμένον κτῆνος πρὸς τὸν βωμὸν ὅκου ἂν θύωσι, πῦρ ἀνακαίουσι, ἔπειτα δὲ ἐπʼ αὐτοῦ οἶνον κατὰ τοῦ ἱρηίου ἐπισπείσαντες καὶ ἐπικαλέσαντες τὸν θεὸν σφάζουσι, σφάξαντες δὲ ἀποτάμνουσι τὴν κεφαλήν. σῶμα μὲν δὴ τοῦ κτήνεος δείρουσι, κεφαλῇ δὲ κείνῃ πολλὰ καταρησάμενοι φέρουσι, τοῖσι μὲν ἂν ᾖ ἀγορὴ καὶ Ἕλληνές σφι ἔωσι ἐπιδήμιοι ἔμποροι, οἳ δὲ φέροντες ἐς τὴν ἀγορὴν ἀπʼ ὦν ἔδοντο, τοῖσι δὲ ἂν μὴ παρέωσι Ἕλληνες, οἳ δʼ ἐκβάλλουσι ἐς τὸν ποταμόν· καταρῶνται δὲ τάδε λέγοντες τῇσι κεφαλῇσι, εἴ τι μέλλοι ἢ σφίσι τοῖσι θύουσι ἢ Αἰγύπτῳ τῇ συναπάσῃ κακὸν γενέσθαι, ἐς κεφαλὴν ταύτην τραπέσθαι. κατὰ μέν νυν τὰς κεφαλὰς τῶν θυομένων κτηνέων καὶ τὴν ἐπίσπεισιν τοῦ οἴνου πάντες Αἰγύπτιοι νόμοισι τοῖσι αὐτοῖσι χρέωνται ὁμοίως ἐς πάντα τὰ ἱρά, καὶ ἀπὸ τούτου τοῦ νόμου οὐδὲ ἄλλου οὐδενὸς ἐμψύχου κεφαλῆς γεύσεται Αἰγυπτίων οὐδείς. 2.40. ἡ δὲ δὴ ἐξαίρεσις τῶν ἱρῶν καὶ ἡ καῦσις ἄλλη περὶ ἄλλο ἱρόν σφι κατέστηκε· τὴν δʼ ὦν μεγίστην τε δαίμονα ἥγηνται εἶναι καὶ μεγίστην οἱ ὁρτὴν ἀνάγουσι, ταύτην ἔρχομαι ἐρέων ἐπεὰν ἀποδείρωσι τὸν βοῦν, κατευξάμενοι κοιλίην μὲν κείνην πᾶσαν ἐξ ὦν εἷλον, σπλάγχνά δὲ αὐτοῦ λείπουσι ἐν τῷ σώματι καὶ τὴν πιμελήν, σκέλεα δὲ ἀποτάμνουσι καὶ τὴν ὀσφὺν ἄκρην καὶ τοὺς ὤμους τε καὶ τὸν τράχηλον. ταῦτα δὲ ποιήσαντες τὸ ἄλλο σῶμα τοῦ βοὸς πιμπλᾶσι ἄρτων καθαρῶν καὶ μέλιτος καὶ ἀσταφίδος καὶ σύκων καὶ λιβανωτοῦ καὶ σμύρνης καὶ τῶν ἄλλων θυωμάτων, πλήσαντες δὲ τούτων καταγίζουσι, ἔλαιον ἄφθονον καταχέοντες· προνηστεύσαντες δὲ θύουσι, καιομένων δὲ τῶν ἱρῶν τύπτονται πάντες, ἐπεὰν δὲ ἀποτύψωνται, δαῖτα προτίθενται τὰ ἐλίποντο τῶν ἱρῶν. 2.41. τοὺς μέν νυν καθαροὺς βοῦς τοὺς ἔρσενας καὶ τοὺς μόσχους οἱ πάντες Αἰγύπτιοι θύουσι, τὰς δὲ θηλέας οὔ σφι ἔξεστι θύειν, ἀλλὰ ἱραί εἰσι τῆς Ἴσιος· τὸ γὰρ τῆς Ἴσιος ἄγαλμα ἐὸν γυναικήιον βούκερων ἐστὶ κατά περ Ἕλληνες τὴν Ἰοῦν γράφουσι, καὶ τὰς βοῦς τὰς θηλέας Αἰγύπτιοι πάντες ὁμοίως σέβονται προβάτων πάντων μάλιστα μακρῷ. τῶν εἵνεκα οὔτε ἀνὴρ Αἰγύπτιος οὔτε γυνὴ ἄνδρα Ἕλληνα φιλήσειε ἂν τῷ στόματι, οὐδὲ μαχαίρῃ ἀνδρὸς Ἕλληνος χρήσεται οὐδὲ ὀβελοῖσι οὐδὲ λέβητι, οὐδὲ κρέως καθαροῦ βοὸς διατετμημένου Ἑλληνικῇ μαχαίρῃ γεύσεται. θάπτουσι δὲ τοὺς ἀποθνήσκοντας βοῦς τρόπον τόνδε· τὰς μὲν θηλέας ἐς τὸν ποταμὸν ἀπιεῖσι, τοὺς δὲ ἔρσενας κατορύσσουσι ἕκαστοι ἐν τοῖσι προαστείοισι, τὸ κέρας τὸ ἕτερον ἢ καὶ ἀμφότερα ὑπερέχοντα σημηίου εἵνεκεν· ἐπεὰν δὲ σαπῇ καὶ προσίῃ ὁ τεταγμένος χρόνος, ἀπικνέεται ἐς ἑκάστην πόλιν βᾶρις ἐκ τῆς Προσωπίτιδος καλευμένης νήσου. ἣ δʼ ἔστι μὲν ἐν τῷ Δέλτα, περίμετρον δὲ αὐτῆς εἰσὶ σχοῖνοι ἐννέα. ἐν ταύτῃ ὦ τῇ Προσωπίτιδι νήσῳ ἔνεισι μὲν καὶ ἄλλαι πόλιες συχναί, ἐκ τῆς δὲ αἱ βάριες παραγίνονται ἀναιρησόμεναι τὰ ὀστέα τῶν βοῶν, οὔνομα τῇ πόλι Ἀτάρβηχις, ἐν δʼ αὐτῇ Ἀφροδίτης ἱρὸν ἅγιον ἵδρυται. ἐκ ταύτης τῆς πόλιος πλανῶνται πολλοὶ ἄλλοι ἐς ἄλλας πόλις, ἀνορύξαντες δὲ τὰ ὀστέα ἀπάγουσι καὶ θάπτουσι ἐς ἕνα χῶρον πάντες. κατὰ ταὐτὰ δὲ τοῖσι βουσὶ καὶ τἆλλα κτήνεα θάπτουσι ἀποθνήσκοντα· καὶ γὰρ περὶ ταῦτα οὕτω σφι νενομοθέτηται· κτείνουσι γὰρ δὴ οὐδὲ ταῦτα. 2.42. ὅσοι μὲν δὴ Διὸς Θηβαιέος ἵδρυνται ἱρὸν ἤ νομοῦ τοῦ Θηβαίου εἰσί, οὗτοι μέν νυν πάντες ὀίων ἀπεχόμενοι αἶγας θύουσι. θεοὺς γὰρ δὴ οὐ τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἅπαντες ὁμοίως Αἰγύπτιοι σέβονται, πλὴν Ἴσιός τε καὶ Ὀσίριος, τὸν δὴ Διόνυσον εἶναι λέγουσι· τούτους δὲ ὁμοίως ἅπαντες σέβονται. ὅσοι δὲ τοῦ Μένδητος ἔκτηνται ἱρὸν ἢ νομοῦ τοῦ Μενδησίου εἰσί, οὗτοι δὲ αἰγῶν ἀπεχόμενοι ὄις θύουσι. Θηβαῖοι μέν νυν καὶ ὅσοι διὰ τούτους ὀίων ἀπέχονται, διὰ τάδε λέγουσι τὸν νόμον τόνδε σφίσι τεθῆναι. Ἡρακλέα θελῆσαι πάντως ἰδέσθαι τὸν Δία, καὶ τὸν οὐκ ἐθέλειν ὀφθῆναι ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ· τέλος δέ, ἐπείτε λιπαρέειν τὸν Ἡρακλέα, τάδε τὸν Δία μηχανήσασθαι· κριὸν ἐκδείραντα προσχέσθαι τε τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποταμόντα τοῦ κριοῦ καὶ ἐνδύντα τὸ νάκος οὕτω οἱ ἑωυτὸν ἐπιδέξαι. ἀπὸ τούτου κριοπρόσωπον τοῦ Διὸς τὤγαλμα ποιεῦσι Αἰγύπτιοι, ἀπὸ δὲ Αἰγυπτίων Ἀμμώνιοι, ἐόντες Αἰγυπτίων τε καὶ Αἰθιόπων ἄποικοι καὶ φωνὴν μεταξὺ ἀμφοτέρων νομίζοντες. δοκέειν δέ μοι, καὶ τὸ οὔνομα Ἀμμώνιοι ἀπὸ τοῦδε σφίσι τὴν ἐπωνυμίην ἐποιήσαντο· Ἀμοῦν γὰρ Αἰγύπτιοι καλέουσι τὸν Δία. τοὺς δὲ κριοὺς οὐ θύουσι Θηβαῖοι, ἀλλʼ εἰσί σφι ἱροὶ διὰ τοῦτο. μιῇ δὲ ἡμέρῃ τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ, ἐν ὁρτῇ τοῦ Διός, κριὸν ἕνα κατακόψαντες καὶ ἀποδείραντες κατὰ τὠυτὸ ἐνδύουσι τὤγαλμα τοῦ Διός, καὶ ἔπειτα ἄλλο ἄγαλμα Ἡρακλέος προσάγουσι πρὸς αὐτό. ταῦτα δὲ ποιήσαντες τύπτονται οἱ περὶ τὸ ἱρὸν ἅπαντες τὸν κριὸν καὶ ἔπειτα ἐν ἱρῇ θήκῃ θάπτουσι αὐτόν. 2.43. Ἡρακλέος δὲ πέρι τόνδε τὸν λόγον ἤκουσα, ὅτι εἴη τῶν δυώδεκα θεῶν· τοῦ ἑτέρου δὲ πέρι Ἡρακλέος, τὸν Ἕλληνες οἴδασι, οὐδαμῇ Αἰγύπτου ἐδυνάσθην ἀκοῦσαι. καὶ μὴν ὅτι γε οὐ παρʼ Ἑλλήνων ἔλαβον τὸ οὔνομα Αἰγύπτιοι τοῦ Ἡρακλέος, ἀλλὰ Ἕλληνες μᾶλλον παρʼ Αἰγυπτίων καὶ Ἑλλήνων οὗτοι οἱ θέμενοι τῷ Ἀμφιτρύωνος γόνῳ τοὔνομα Ἡρακλέα, πολλά μοι καὶ ἄλλα τεκμήρια ἐστὶ τοῦτο οὕτω ἔχειν, ἐν δὲ καὶ τόδε, ὅτι τε τοῦ Ἡρακλέος τούτου οἱ γονέες ἀμφότεροι ἦσαν Ἀμφιτρύων καὶ Ἀλκμήνη γεγονότες τὸ ἀνέκαθεν ἀπʼ Αἰγύπτου, καὶ διότι Αἰγύπτιοι οὔτε Ποσειδέωνος οὔτε Διοσκούρων τὰ οὐνόματα φασὶ εἰδέναι, οὐδέ σφι θεοὶ οὗτοι ἐν τοῖσι ἄλλοισι θεοῖσι ἀποδεδέχαται. καὶ μὴν εἴ γε παρʼ Ἑλλήνων ἔλαβον οὔνομά τευ δαίμονος, τούτων οὐκ ἥκιστα ἀλλὰ μάλιστα ἔμελλον μνήμην ἕξειν, εἴ περ καὶ τότε ναυτιλίῃσι ἐχρέωντο καὶ ἦσαν Ἑλλήνων τινὲς ναυτίλοι, ὡς ἔλπομαί τε καὶ ἐμὴ γνώμη αἱρέει· ὥστε τούτων ἂν καὶ μᾶλλον τῶν θεῶν τὰ οὐνόματα ἐξεπιστέατο Αἰγύπτιοι ἢ τοῦ Ἡρακλέος. ἀλλά τις ἀρχαῖος ἐστὶ θεὸς Αἰγυπτίοισι Ἡρακλέης· ὡς δὲ αὐτοὶ λέγουσι, ἔτεα ἐστὶ ἑπτακισχίλια καὶ μύρια ἐς Ἄμασιν βασιλεύσαντα, ἐπείτε ἐκ τῶν ὀκτὼ θεῶν οἱ δυώδεκα θεοὶ ἐγένοντο τῶν Ἡρακλέα ἕνα νομίζουσι. 2.44. καὶ θέλων δὲ τούτων πέρι σαφές τι εἰδέναι ἐξ ὧν οἷόν τε ἦν, ἔπλευσα καὶ ἐς Τύρον τῆς Φοινίκης, πυνθανόμενος αὐτόθι εἶναι ἱρὸν Ἡρακλέος ἅγιον. καὶ εἶδον πλουσίως κατεσκευασμένον ἄλλοισί τε πολλοῖσι ἀναθήμασι, καὶ ἐν αὐτῷ ἦσαν στῆλαι δύο, ἣ μὲν χρυσοῦ ἀπέφθου, ἣ δὲ σμαράγδου λίθου λάμποντος τὰς νύκτας μέγαθος. ἐς λόγους δὲ ἐλθὼν τοῖσι ἱρεῦσι τοῦ θεοῦ εἰρόμην ὁκόσος χρόνος εἴη ἐξ οὗ σφι τὸ ἱρὸν ἵδρυται. εὗρον δὲ οὐδὲ τούτους τοῖσι Ἕλλησι συμφερομένους· ἔφασαν γὰρ ἅμα Τύρῳ οἰκιζομένῃ καὶ τὸ ἱρὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ἱδρυθῆναι, εἶναι δὲ ἔτεα ἀπʼ οὗ Τύρον οἰκέουσι τριηκόσια καὶ δισχίλια. εἶδον δὲ ἐν τῇ Τύρῳ καὶ ἄλλο ἱρὸν Ἡρακλέος ἐπωνυμίην ἔχοντος Θασίου εἶναι· ἀπικόμην δὲ καὶ ἐς Θάσον, ἐν τῇ εὗρον ἱρὸν Ἡρακλέος ὑπὸ Φοινίκων ἱδρυμένον, οἳ κατʼ Εὐρώπης ζήτησιν ἐκπλώσαντες Θάσον ἔκτισαν· καὶ ταῦτα καὶ πέντε γενεῇσι ἀνδρῶν πρότερα ἐστὶ ἢ τὸν Ἀμφιτρύωνος Ἡρακλέα ἐν τῇ Ἑλλάδι γενέσθαι. τὰ μέν νυν ἱστορημένα δηλοῖ σαφέως παλαιὸν θεὸν Ἡρακλέα ἐόντα, καὶ δοκέουσι δέ μοι οὗτοι ὀρθότατα Ἑλλήνων ποιέειν, οἳ διξὰ Ἡράκλεια ἱδρυσάμενοι ἔκτηνται, καὶ τῷ μὲν ὡς ἀθανάτῳ Ὀλυμπίῳ δὲ ἐπωνυμίην θύουσι, τῷ δὲ ἑτέρῳ ὡς ἥρωι ἐναγίζουσι. 2.45. λέγουσι δὲ πολλὰ καὶ ἄλλα ἀνεπισκέπτως οἱ Ἕλληνες, εὐήθης δὲ αὐτῶν καὶ ὅδε ὁ μῦθος ἐστὶ τὸν περὶ τοῦ Ἡρακλέος λέγουσι, ὡς αὐτὸν ἀπικόμενον ἐς Αἴγυπτον στέψαντες οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι ὑπὸ πομπῆς ἐξῆγον ὡς θύσοντες τῷ Διί· τὸν δὲ τέως μὲν ἡσυχίην ἔχειν, ἐπεὶ δὲ αὐτοῦ πρὸς τῷ βωμῷ κατάρχοντο, ἐς ἀλκὴν τραπόμενον πάντας σφέας καταφονεῦσαι. ἐμοὶ μέν νυν δοκέουσι ταῦτα λέγοντες τῆς Αἰγυπτίων φύσιος καὶ τῶν νόμων πάμπαν ἀπείρως ἔχειν οἱ Ἕλληνες· τοῖσι γὰρ οὐδὲ κτήνεα ὁσίη θύειν ἐστὶ χωρὶς ὑῶν καὶ ἐρσένων βοῶν καὶ μόσχων, ὅσοι ἂν καθαροὶ ἔωσι, καὶ χηνῶν, κῶς ἂν οὗτοι ἀνθρώπους θύοιεν; ἔτι δὲ ἕνα ἐόντα τὸν Ἡρακλέα καὶ ἔτι ἄνθρωπον, ὡς δὴ φασί, κῶς φύσιν ἔχει πολλὰς μυριάδας φονεῦσαι; καὶ περὶ μὲν τούτων τοσαῦτα ἡμῖν εἰποῦσι καὶ παρὰ τῶν θεῶν καὶ παρὰ τῶν ἡρώων εὐμένεια εἴη. 2.46. τὰς δὲ δὴ αἶγας καὶ τοὺς τράγους τῶνδε εἵνεκα οὐ θύουσι Αἰγυπτίων οἱ εἰρημένοι· τὸν Πᾶνα τῶν ὀκτὼ θεῶν λογίζονται εἶναι οἱ Μενδήσιοι, τοὺς δὲ ὀκτὼ θεοὺς τούτους προτέρους τῶν δυώδεκα θεῶν φασι γενέσθαι. γράφουσί τε δὴ καὶ γλύφουσι οἱ ζωγράφοι καὶ οἱ ἀγαλματοποιοὶ τοῦ Πανὸς τὤγαλμα κατά περ Ἕλληνες αἰγοπρόσωπον καὶ τραγοσκελέα, οὔτι τοιοῦτον νομίζοντες εἶναί μιν ἀλλὰ ὁμοῖον τοῖσι ἄλλοισι θεοῖσι· ὅτευ δὲ εἵνεκα τοιοῦτον γράφουσι αὐτόν, οὔ μοι ἥδιον ἐστὶ λέγειν. σέβονται δὲ πάντας τοὺς αἶγας οἱ Μενδήσιοι, καὶ μᾶλλον τοὺς ἔρσενας τῶν θηλέων, καὶ τούτων οἱ αἰπόλοι τιμὰς μέζονας ἔχουσι· ἐκ δὲ τούτων ἕνα μάλιστα, ὅστις ἐπεὰν ἀποθάνῃ, πένθος μέγα παντὶ τῷ Μενδησίῳ νομῷ τίθεται. καλέεται δὲ ὅ τε τράγος καὶ ὁ Πὰν Αἰγυπτιστὶ Μένδης. ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν τῷ νομῷ τούτῳ ἐπʼ ἐμεῦ τοῦτο τὸ τέρας· γυναικὶ τράγος ἐμίσγετο ἀναφανδόν. τοῦτο ἐς ἐπίδεξιν ἀνθρώπων ἀπίκετο. 2.47. ὗν δὲ Αἰγύπτιοι μιαρὸν ἥγηνται θηρίον εἶναι, καὶ τοῦτο μὲν ἤν τις ψαύσῃ αὐτῶν παριὼν αὐτοῖσι τοῖσι ἱματίοισι ἀπʼ ὦν ἔβαψε ἑωυτὸν βὰς ἐς τὸν ποταμόν· τοῦτο δὲ οἱ συβῶται ἐόντες Αἰγύπτιοι ἐγγενέες ἐς ἱρὸν οὐδὲν τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἐσέρχονται μοῦνοι πάντων, οὐδέ σφι ἐκδίδοσθαι οὐδεὶς θυγατέρα ἐθέλει οὐδʼ ἄγεσθαι ἐξ αὐτῶν, ἀλλʼ ἐκδίδονταί τε οἱ συβῶται καὶ ἄγονται ἐξ ἀλλήλων. τοῖσι μέν νυν ἄλλοισι θεοῖσι θύειν ὗς οὐ δικαιοῦσι Αἰγύπτιοι, Σελήνῃ δὲ καὶ Διονύσῳ μούνοισι τοῦ αὐτοῦ χρόνου, τῇ αὐτῇ πανσελήνῳ, τοὺς ὗς θύσαντες πατέονται τῶν κρεῶν. διότι δὲ τοὺς ὗς ἐν μὲν τῇσι ἄλλῃσι ὁρτῇσι ἀπεστυγήκασι ἐν δὲ ταύτῃ θύουσι, ἔστι μὲν λόγος περὶ αὐτοῦ ὑπʼ Αἰγυπτίων λεγόμενος, ἐμοὶ μέντοι ἐπισταμένῳ οὐκ εὐπρεπέστερος ἐστὶ λέγεσθαι. θυσίη δὲ ἥδε τῶν ὑῶν τῇ Σελήνῃ ποιέεται· ἐπεὰν θύσῃ, τὴν οὐρὴν ἄκρην καὶ τὸν σπλῆνα καὶ τὸν ἐπίπλοον συνθεὶς ὁμοῦ κατʼ ὦν ἐκάλυψε πάσῃ τοῦ κτήνεος τῇ πιμελῇ τῇ περὶ τὴν νηδὺν γινομένῃ, καὶ ἔπειτα καταγίζει πυρί· τὰ δὲ ἄλλα κρέα σιτέονται ἐν τῇ πανσελήνῳ ἐν τῇ ἂν τὰ ἱρὰ θύσωσι, ἐν ἄλλῃ δὲ ἡμέρῃ οὐκ ἂν ἔτι γευσαίατο. οἱ δὲ πένητες αὐτῶν ὑπʼ ἀσθενείης βίου σταιτίνας πλάσαντες ὗς καὶ ὀπτήσαντες ταύτας θύουσι. 2.48. τῷ δὲ Διονύσῳ τῆς ὁρτῆς τῇ δορπίῃ χοῖρον πρὸ τῶν θυρέων σφάξας ἕκαστος διδοῖ ἀποφέρεσθαι τὸν χοῖρον αὐτῷ τῷ ἀποδομένῳ τῶν συβωτέων. τὴν δὲ ἄλλην ἀνάγουσι ὁρτὴν τῷ Διονύσῳ οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι πλὴν χορῶν κατὰ ταὐτὰ σχεδὸν πάντα Ἕλλησι· ἀντὶ δὲ φαλλῶν ἄλλα σφι ἐστὶ ἐξευρημένα, ὅσον τε πηχυαῖα ἀγάλματα νευρόσπαστα, τὰ περιφορέουσι κατὰ κώμας γυναῖκες, νεῦον τὸ αἰδοῖον, οὐ πολλῷ τεῳ ἔλασσον ἐὸν τοῦ ἄλλου σώματος· προηγέεται δὲ αὐλός, αἳ δὲ ἕπονται ἀείδουσαι τὸν Διόνυσον. διότι δὲ μέζον τε ἔχει τὸ αἰδοῖον καὶ κινέει μοῦνον τοῦ σώματος, ἔστι λόγος περὶ αὐτοῦ ἱρὸς λεγόμενος. 2.49. ἤδη ὦν δοκέει μοι Μελάμπους ὁ Ἀμυθέωνος τῆς θυσίης ταύτης οὐκ εἶναι ἀδαὴς ἀλλʼ ἔμπειρος. Ἕλλησι γὰρ δὴ Μελάμπους ἐστὶ ὁ ἐξηγησάμενος τοῦ Διονύσου τό τε οὔνομα καὶ τὴν θυσίην καὶ τὴν πομπὴν τοῦ φαλλοῦ· ἀτρεκέως μὲν οὐ πάντα συλλαβὼν τὸν λόγον ἔφηνε, ἀλλʼ οἱ ἐπιγενόμενοι τούτῳ σοφισταὶ μεζόνως ἐξέφηναν· τὸν δʼ ὦν φαλλὸν τὸν τῷ Διονύσῳ πεμπόμενον Μελάμπους ἐστὶ ὁ κατηγησάμενος, καὶ ἀπὸ τούτου μαθόντες ποιεῦσι τὰ ποιεῦσι Ἕλληνες. ἐγὼ μέν νυν φημὶ Μελάμποδα γενόμενον ἄνδρα σοφὸν μαντικήν τε ἑωυτῷ συστῆσαι καὶ πυθόμενον ἀπʼ Αἰγύπτου ἄλλα τε πολλὰ ἐσηγήσασθαι Ἕλλησι καὶ τὰ περὶ τὸν Διόνυσον, ὀλίγα αὐτῶν παραλλάξαντα. οὐ γὰρ δὴ συμπεσεῖν γε φήσω τά τε ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ποιεύμενα τῷ θεῷ καὶ τὰ ἐν τοῖσι Ἕλλησι· ὁμότροπα γὰρ ἂν ἦν τοῖσι Ἕλλησι καὶ οὐ νεωστὶ ἐσηγμένα. οὐ μὲν οὐδὲ φήσω ὅκως Αἰγύπτιοι παρʼ Ἑλλήνων ἔλαβον ἢ τοῦτο ἢ ἄλλο κού τι νόμαιον. πυθέσθαι δέ μοι δοκέει μάλιστα Μελάμπους τὰ περὶ τὸν Διόνυσον παρὰ Κάδμου τε τοῦ Τυρίου καὶ τῶν σὺν αὐτῷ ἐκ Φοινίκης ἀπικομένων ἐς τὴν νῦν Βοιωτίην καλεομένην χώρην.
2.50. σχεδὸν δὲ καὶ πάντων τὰ οὐνόματα τῶν θεῶν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἐλήλυθε ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα. διότι μὲν γὰρ ἐκ τῶν βαρβάρων ἥκει, πυνθανόμενος οὕτω εὑρίσκω ἐόν· δοκέω δʼ ὦν μάλιστα ἀπʼ Αἰγύπτου ἀπῖχθαι. ὅτι γὰρ δὴ μὴ Ποσειδέωνος καὶ Διοσκούρων, ὡς καὶ πρότερόν μοι ταῦτα εἴρηται, καὶ Ἥρης καὶ Ἱστίης καὶ Θέμιος καὶ Χαρίτων καὶ Νηρηίδων, τῶν ἄλλων θεῶν Αἰγυπτίοισι αἰεί κοτε τὰ οὐνόματα ἐστὶ ἐν τῇ χώρῃ. λέγω δὲ τὰ λέγουσι αὐτοὶ Αἰγύπτιοι. τῶν δὲ οὔ φασι θεῶν γινώσκειν τὰ οὐνόματα, οὗτοι δέ μοι δοκέουσι ὑπὸ Πελασγῶν ὀνομασθῆναι, πλὴν Ποσειδέωνος· τοῦτον δὲ τὸν θεὸν παρὰ Λιβύων ἐπύθοντο· οὐδαμοὶ γὰρ ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς Ποσειδέωνος οὔνομα ἔκτηνται εἰ μὴ Λίβυες καὶ τιμῶσι τὸν θεὸν τοῦτον αἰεί. νομίζουσι δʼ ὦν Αἰγύπτιοι οὐδʼ ἥρωσι οὐδέν.
2.51. ταῦτα μέν νυν καὶ ἄλλα πρὸς τούτοισι, τὰ ἐγὼ φράσω, Ἕλληνες ἀπʼ Αἰγυπτίων νενομίκασι· τοῦ δὲ Ἑρμέω τὰ ἀγάλματα ὀρθὰ ἔχειν τὰ αἰδοῖα ποιεῦντες οὐκ ἀπʼ Αἰγυπτίων μεμαθήκασι, ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ Πελασγῶν πρῶτοι μὲν Ἑλλήνων ἁπάντων Ἀθηναῖοι παραλαβόντες, παρὰ δὲ τούτων ὧλλοι. Ἀθηναίοισι γὰρ ἤδη τηνικαῦτα ἐς Ἕλληνας τελέουσι Πελασγοὶ σύνοικοι ἐγένοντο ἐν τῇ χώρῃ, ὅθεν περ καὶ Ἕλληνες ἤρξαντο νομισθῆναι. ὅστις δὲ τὰ Καβείρων ὄργια μεμύηται, τὰ Σαμοθρήικες ἐπιτελέουσι παραλαβόντες παρὰ Πελασγῶν, οὗτος ὡνὴρ οἶδε τὸ λέγω· τὴν γὰρ Σαμοθρηίκην οἴκεον πρότερον Πελασγοὶ οὗτοι οἵ περ Ἀθηναίοισι σύνοικοι ἐγένοντο, καὶ παρὰ τούτων Σαμοθρήικες τὰ ὄργια παραλαμβάνουσι. ὀρθὰ ὦν ἔχειν τὰ αἰδοῖα τἀγάλματα τοῦ Ἑρμέω Ἀθηναῖοι πρῶτοι Ἑλλήνων μαθόντες παρὰ Πελασγῶν ἐποιήσαντο· οἱ δὲ Πελασγοὶ ἱρόν τινα λόγον περὶ αὐτοῦ ἔλεξαν, τὰ ἐν τοῖσι ἐν Σαμοθρηίκῃ μυστηρίοισι δεδήλωται.
2.52. ἔθυον δὲ πάντα πρότερον οἱ Πελασγοὶ θεοῖσι ἐπευχόμενοι, ὡς ἐγὼ ἐν Δωδώνῃ οἶδα ἀκούσας, ἐπωνυμίην δὲ οὐδʼ οὔνομα ἐποιεῦντο οὐδενὶ αὐτῶν· οὐ γὰρ ἀκηκόεσάν κω. θεοὺς δὲ προσωνόμασαν σφέας ἀπὸ τοῦ τοιούτου, ὅτι κόσμῳ θέντες τὰ πάντα πρήγματα καὶ πάσας νομὰς εἶχον. ἔπειτα δὲ χρόνου πολλοῦ διεξελθόντος ἐπύθοντο ἐκ τῆς Αἰγύπτου ἀπικόμενα τὰ οὐνόματα τῶν θεῶν τῶν ἄλλων, Διονύσου δὲ ὕστερον πολλῷ ἐπύθοντο. καὶ μετὰ χρόνον ἐχρηστηριάζοντο περὶ τῶν οὐνομάτων ἐν Δωδώνῃ· τὸ γὰρ δὴ μαντήιον τοῦτο νενόμισται ἀρχαιότατον τῶν ἐν Ἕλλησι χρηστηρίων εἶναι, καὶ ἦν τὸν χρόνον τοῦτον μοῦνον. ἐπεὶ ὦν ἐχρηστηριάζοντο ἐν τῇ Δωδώνῃ οἱ Πελασγοὶ εἰ ἀνέλωνται τὰ οὐνόματα τὰ ἀπὸ τῶν βαρβάρων ἥκοντα, ἀνεῖλε τὸ μαντήιον χρᾶσθαι. ἀπὸ μὲν δὴ τούτου τοῦ χρόνου ἔθυον τοῖσι οὐνόμασι τῶν θεῶν χρεώμενοι· παρὰ δὲ Πελασγῶν Ἕλληνες ἐξεδέξαντο ὕστερον.
2.53. ἔνθεν δὲ ἐγένοντο ἕκαστος τῶν θεῶν, εἴτε αἰεὶ ἦσαν πάντες, ὁκοῖοί τε τινὲς τὰ εἴδεα, οὐκ ἠπιστέατο μέχρι οὗ πρώην τε καὶ χθὲς ὡς εἰπεῖν λόγῳ. Ἡσίοδον γὰρ καὶ Ὅμηρον ἡλικίην τετρακοσίοισι ἔτεσι δοκέω μευ πρεσβυτέρους γενέσθαι καὶ οὐ πλέοσι· οὗτοι δὲ εἰσὶ οἱ ποιήσαντες θεογονίην Ἕλλησι καὶ τοῖσι θεοῖσι τὰς ἐπωνυμίας δόντες καὶ τιμάς τε καὶ τέχνας διελόντες καὶ εἴδεα αὐτῶν σημήναντες. οἱ δὲ πρότερον ποιηταὶ λεγόμενοι τούτων τῶν ἀνδρῶν γενέσθαι ὕστερον, ἔμοιγε δοκέειν, ἐγένοντο. τούτων τὰ μὲν πρῶτα αἱ Δωδωνίδες ἱρεῖαι λέγουσι, τὰ δὲ ὕστερα τὰ ἐς Ἡσίοδόν τε καὶ Ὅμηρον ἔχοντα ἐγὼ λέγω.
2.54. χρηστηρίων δὲ πέρι τοῦ τε ἐν Ἕλλησι καὶ τοῦ ἐν Λιβύῃ τόνδε Αἰγύπτιοι λόγον λέγουσι. ἔφασαν οἱ ἱρέες τοῦ Θηβαιέος Διὸς δύο γυναῖκας ἱρείας ἐκ Θηβέων ἐξαχθῆναι ὑπὸ Φοινίκων, καὶ τὴν μὲν αὐτέων πυθέσθαι ἐς Λιβύην πρηθεῖσαν τὴν δὲ ἐς τοὺς Ἕλληνας· ταύτας δὲ τὰς γυναῖκας εἶναι τὰς ἱδρυσαμένας τὰ μαντήια πρώτας ἐν τοῖσι εἰρημένοισι ἔθνεσι. εἰρομένου δέ μευ ὁκόθεν οὕτω ἀτρεκέως ἐπιστάμενοι λέγουσι, ἔφασαν πρὸς ταῦτα ζήτησιν μεγάλην ἀπὸ σφέων γενέσθαι τῶν γυναικῶν τουτέων, καὶ ἀνευρεῖν μὲν σφέας οὐ δυνατοὶ γενέσθαι, πυθέσθαι δὲ ὕστερον ταῦτα περὶ αὐτέων τά περ δὴ ἔλεγον.
2.55. ταῦτα μέν νυν τῶν ἐν Θήβῃσι ἱρέων ἤκουον, τάδε δὲ Δωδωναίων φασὶ αἱ προμάντιες· δύο πελειάδας μελαίνας ἐκ Θηβέων τῶν Αἰγυπτιέων ἀναπταμένας τὴν μὲν αὐτέων ἐς Λιβύην τὴν δὲ παρὰ σφέας ἀπικέσθαι, ἱζομένην δέ μιν ἐπὶ φηγὸν αὐδάξασθαι φωνῇ ἀνθρωπηίῃ ὡς χρεὸν εἴη μαντήιον αὐτόθι Διὸς γενέσθαι, καὶ αὐτοὺς ὑπολαβεῖν θεῖον εἶναι τὸ ἐπαγγελλόμενον αὐτοῖσι, καί σφεας ἐκ τούτου ποιῆσαι. τὴν δὲ ἐς τοὺς Λίβυας οἰχομένην πελειάδα λέγουσι Ἄμμωνος χρηστήριον κελεῦσαι τοὺς Λίβυας ποιέειν· ἔστι δὲ καὶ τοῦτο Διός. Δωδωναίων δὲ αἱ ἱρεῖαι, τῶν τῇ πρεσβυτάτῃ οὔνομα ἦν Προμένεια, τῇ δὲ μετὰ ταύτην Τιμαρέτη, τῇ δὲ νεωτάτῃ Νικάνδρη, ἔλεγον ταῦτα· συνωμολόγεον δέ σφι καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι Δωδωναῖοι οἱ περὶ τὸ ἱρόν.
2.56. ἐγὼ δʼ ἔχω περὶ αὐτῶν γνώμην τήνδε· εἰ ἀληθέως οἱ Φοίνικες ἐξήγαγον τὰς ἱρὰς γυναῖκας καὶ τὴν μὲν αὐτέων ἐς Λιβύην τὴν δὲ ἐς τὴν Ἐλλάδα ἀπέδοντο, δοκέει ἐμοί ἡ γυνὴ αὕτη τῆς νῦν Ἑλλάδος, πρότερον δὲ Πελασγίης καλευμένης τῆς αὐτῆς ταύτης, πρηθῆναι ἐς Θεσπρωτούς, ἔπειτα δουλεύουσα αὐτόθι ἱδρύσασθαι ὑπὸ φηγῷ πεφυκυίῃ ἱρὸν Διός, ὥσπερ ἦν οἰκὸς ἀμφιπολεύουσαν ἐν Θήβῃσι ἱρὸν Διός, ἔνθα ἀπίκετο, ἐνθαῦτα μνήμην αὐτοῦ ἔχειν· ἐκ δὲ τούτου χρηστήριον κατηγήσατο, ἐπείτε συνέλαβε τὴν Ἑλλάδα γλῶσσαν· φάναι δέ οἱ ἀδελφεὴν ἐν Λιβύῃ πεπρῆσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν αὐτῶν Φοινίκων ὑπʼ ὧν καὶ αὐτὴ ἐπρήθη.
2.57. πελειάδες δέ μοι δοκέουσι κληθῆναι πρὸς Δωδωναίων ἐπὶ τοῦδε αἱ γυναῖκες, διότι βάρβαροι ἦσαν, ἐδόκεον δέ σφι ὁμοίως ὄρνισι φθέγγεσθαι· μετὰ δὲ χρόνον τὴν πελειάδα ἀνθρωπηίῃ φωνῇ αὐδάξασθαι λέγουσι, ἐπείτε συνετά σφι ηὔδα ἡ γυνή· ἕως δὲ ἐβαρβάριζε, ὄρνιθος τρόπον ἐδόκεέ σφι φθέγγεσθαι, ἐπεὶ τέῳ ἂν τρόπῳ πελειάς γε ἀνθρωπηίῃ φωνῇ φθέγξαιτο; μέλαιναν δὲ λέγοντες εἶναι τὴν πελειάδα σημαίνουσι ὅτι Αἰγυπτίη ἡ γυνὴ ἦν. ἡ δὲ μαντηίη ἥ τε ἐν Θήβῃσι τῇσι Αἰγυπτίῃσι καὶ ἐν Δωδώνῃ παραπλήσιαι ἀλλήλῃσι τυγχάνουσι ἐοῦσαι. ἔστι δὲ καὶ τῶν ἱρῶν ἡ μαντικὴ ἀπʼ Αἰγύπτου ἀπιγμένη.
2.58. πανηγύρις δὲ ἄρα καὶ πομπὰς καὶ προσαγωγὰς πρῶτοι ἀνθρώπων Αἰγύπτιοι εἰσὶ οἱ ποιησάμενοι, καὶ παρὰ τούτων Ἕλληνες μεμαθήκασι. τεκμήριον δέ μοι τούτου τόδε· αἱ μὲν γὰρ φαίνονται ἐκ πολλοῦ τευ χρόνου ποιεύμεναι, αἱ δὲ Ἑλληνικαὶ νεωστὶ ἐποιήθησαν.
2.59. πανηγυρίζουσι δὲ Αἰγύπτιοι οὐκ ἅπαξ τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ, πανηγύρις δὲ συχνάς, μάλιστα μὲν καὶ προθυμότατα ἐς Βούβαστιν πόλιν τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι, δεύτερα δὲ ἐς Βούσιριν πόλιν τῇ Ἴσι· ἐν ταύτῃ γὰρ δὴ τῇ πόλι ἐστὶ μέγιστον Ἴσιος ἱρόν, ἵδρυται δὲ ἡ πόλις αὕτη τῆς Αἰγύπτου ἐν μέσῳ τῷ Δέλτα· Ἶσις δὲ ἐστὶ κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλήνων γλῶσσαν Δημήτηρ. τρίτα δὲ ἐς Σάιν πόλιν τῇ Ἀθηναίῃ πανηγυρίζουσι, τέταρτα δὲ ἐς Ἡλίου πόλιν τῷ Ἡλίω, πέμπτα δὲ ἐς Βουτοῦν πόλιν τῇ Λητοῖ, ἕκτα δὲ ἐς Πάπρημιν πόλιν τῷ Ἄρεϊ. 2.60. ἐς μέν νυν Βούβαστιν πόλιν ἐπεὰν κομίζωνται, ποιεῦσι τοιάδε. πλέουσί τε γὰρ δὴ ἅμα ἄνδρες γυναιξὶ καὶ πολλόν τι πλῆθος ἑκατέρων ἐν ἑκάστῃ βάρι· αἳ μὲν τινὲς τῶν γυναικῶν κρόταλα ἔχουσαι κροταλίζουσι, οἳ δὲ αὐλέουσι κατὰ πάντα τὸν πλόον, αἱ δὲ λοιπαὶ γυναῖκες καὶ ἄνδρες ἀείδουσι καὶ τὰς χεῖρας κροτέουσι. ἐπεὰν δὲ πλέοντες κατά τινα πόλιν ἄλλην γένωνται, ἐγχρίμψαντες τὴν βᾶριν τῇ γῇ ποιεῦσι τοιάδε· αἳ μὲν τινὲς τῶν γυναικῶν ποιεῦσι τά περ εἴρηκα, αἳ δὲ τωθάζουσι βοῶσαι τὰς ἐν τῇ πόλι ταύτῃ γυναῖκας, αἳ δὲ ὀρχέονται, αἳ δὲ ἀνασύρονται ἀνιστάμεναι. ταῦτα παρὰ πᾶσαν πόλιν παραποταμίην ποιεῦσι· ἐπεὰν δὲ ἀπίκωνται ἐς τὴν Βούβαστιν, ὁρτάζουσι μεγάλας ἀνάγοντες θυσίας, καὶ οἶνος ἀμπέλινος ἀναισιμοῦται πλέων ἐν τῇ ὁρτῇ ταύτῃ ἢ ἐν τῷ ἅπαντι ἐνιαυτῷ τῷ ἐπιλοίπῳ. συμφοιτῶσι δέ, ὅ τι ἀνὴρ καὶ γυνή ἐστι πλὴν παιδίων, καὶ ἐς ἑβδομήκοντα μυριάδας, ὡς οἱ ἐπιχώριοι λέγουσι. 2.61. ταῦτα μὲν δὴ ταύτῃ ποιέεται, ἐν δὲ Βουσίρι πόλι ὡς ἀνάγουσι τῇ Ἴσι τὴν ὁρτήν, εἴρηται προτερόν μοι· τύπτονται μὲν γὰρ δὴ μετὰ τὴν θυσίην πάντες καὶ πᾶσαι, μυριάδες κάρτα πολλαὶ ἀνθρώπων· τὸν δὲ τύπτονται, οὔ μοι ὅσιον ἐστὶ λέγειν. ὅσοι δὲ Καρῶν εἰσι ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ οἰκέοντες, οὗτοι δὲ τοσούτῳ ἔτι πλέω ποιεῦσι τούτων ὅσῳ καὶ τὰ μέτωπα κόπτονται μαχαίρῃσι, καὶ τούτῳ εἰσὶ δῆλοι ὅτι εἰσὶ ξεῖνοι καὶ οὐκ Αἰγύπτιοι. 2.62. ἐς Σάιν δὲ πόλιν ἐπεὰν συλλεχθέωσι, τῆς θυσίης ἐν τῇ νυκτὶ λύχνα καίουσι πάντες πολλὰ ὑπαίθρια περὶ τὰ δώματα κύκλῳ· τὰ δὲ λύχνα ἐστὶ ἐμβάφια ἔμπλεα ἁλὸς καὶ ἐλαίου, ἐπιπολῆς δὲ ἔπεστι αὐτὸ τὸ ἐλλύχνιον, καὶ τοῦτο καίεται παννύχιον, καὶ τῇ ὁρτῇ οὔνομα κέεται λυχνοκαΐη. οἳ δʼ ἂν μὴ ἔλθωσι τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἐς τὴν πανήγυριν ταύτην, φυλάσσοντες τὴν νύκτα τῆς θυσίης καίουσι καὶ αὐτοὶ πάντες τὰ λύχνα, καὶ οὕτω οὐκ ἐν Σάι μούνῃ καίεται ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀνὰ πᾶσαν Αἴγυπτον. ὅτευ δὲ εἵνεκα φῶς ἔλαχε καὶ τιμὴν ἡ νὺξ αὕτη, ἔστι ἱρὸς περὶ αὐτοῦ λόγος λεγόμενος. 2.63. ἐς δὲ Ἡλίου τε πόλιν καὶ Βουτοῦν θυσίας μούνας ἐπιτελέουσι φοιτέοντες. ἐν δὲ Παπρήμι θυσίας μὲν καὶ ἱρὰ κατά περ καὶ τῇ ἄλλῃ ποιεῦσι· εὖτʼ ἂν δὲ γίνηται καταφερὴς ὁ ἥλιος, ὀλίγοι μὲν τινὲς τῶν ἱρέων περὶ τὤγαλμα πεπονέαται, οἱ δὲ πολλοὶ αὐτῶν ξύλων κορύνας ἔχοντες ἑστᾶσι τοῦ ἱροῦ ἐν τῇ ἐσόδῳ, ἄλλοι τε εὐχωλὰς ἐπιτελέοντες πλεῦνες χιλίων ἀνδρῶν, ἕκαστοι ἔχοντες ξύλα καὶ οὗτοι, ἐπὶ τὰ ἕτερα ἁλέες ἑστᾶσι. τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα ἐὸν ἐν νηῷ μικρῷ ξυλίνῳ κατακεχρυσωμένῳ προεκκομίζουσι τῇ προτεραίῃ ἐς ἄλλο οἴκημα ἱρόν. οἱ μὲν δὴ ὀλίγοι οἱ περὶ τὤγαλμα λελειμμένοι ἕλκουσι τετράκυκλον ἅμαξαν ἄγουσαν τὸν νηόν τε καὶ τὸ ἐν τῷ νηῷ ἐνεὸν ἄγαλμα, οἳ δὲ οὐκ ἐῶσι ἐν τοῖσι προπυλαίοισι ἑστεῶτες ἐσιέναι, οἱ δὲ εὐχωλιμαῖοι τιμωρέοντες τῷ θεῷ παίουσι αὐτοὺς ἀλεξομένους. ἐνθαῦτα μάχη ξύλοισι καρτερὴ γίνεται κεφαλάς τε συναράσσονται, καὶ ὡς ἐγὼ δοκέω πολλοὶ καὶ ἀποθνήσκουσι ἐκ τῶν τρωμάτων· οὐ μέντοι οἵ γε Αἰγύπτιοι ἔφασαν ἀποθνήσκειν οὐδένα. τὴν δὲ πανήγυριν ταύτην ἐκ τοῦδε νομίσαι φασὶ οἱ ἐπιχώριοι· οἰκέειν ἐν τῷ ἱρῷ τούτῳ τοῦ Ἄρεος τὴν μητέρα, καὶ τὸν Ἄρεα ἀπότροφον γενόμενον ἐλθεῖν ἐξανδρωμένον ἐθέλοντα τῇ μητρὶ συμμῖξαι, καὶ τοὺς προπόλους τῆς μητρός, οἷα οὐκ ὀπωπότας αὐτὸν πρότερον, οὐ περιορᾶν παριέναι ἀλλὰ ἀπερύκειν, τὸν δὲ ἐξ ἄλλης πόλιος ἀγαγόμενον ἀνθρώπους τούς τε προπόλους τρηχέως περισπεῖν καὶ ἐσελθεῖν παρὰ τὴν μητέρα. ἀπὸ τούτου τῷ Ἄρεϊ ταύτην τὴν πληγὴν ἐν τῇ ὁρτῇ νενομικέναι φασί. 2.64. καὶ τὸ μὴ μίσγεσθαι γυναιξὶ ἐν ἱροῖσι μηδὲ ἀλούτους ἀπὸ γυναικῶν ἐς ἱρὰ ἐσιέναι οὗτοι εἰσὶ οἱ πρῶτοι θρησκεύσαντες. οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλοι σχεδὸν πάντες ἄνθρωποι, πλὴν Αἰγυπτίων καὶ Ἑλλήνων, μίσγονται ἐν ἱροῖσι καὶ ἀπὸ γυναικῶν ἀνιστάμενοι ἄλουτοι ἐσέρχονται ἐς ἱρόν, νομίζοντες ἀνθρώπους εἶναι κατά περ τὰ ἄλλα κτήνεα· καὶ γὰρ τὰ ἄλλα κτήνεα ὁρᾶν καὶ ὀρνίθων γένεα ὀχευόμενα ἔν τε τοῖσι νηοῖσι τῶν θεῶν καὶ ἐν τοῖσι τεμένεσι· εἰ ὦν εἶναι τῷ θεῷ τοῦτο μὴ φίλον, οὐκ ἂν οὐδὲ τὰ κτήνεα ποιέειν. οὗτοι μέν νυν τοιαῦτα ἐπιλέγοντες ποιεῦσι ἔμοιγε οὐκ ἀρεστά·
2.75. ἔστι δὲ χῶρος τῆς Ἀραβίης κατὰ Βουτοῦν πόλιν μάλιστά κῃ κείμενος, καὶ ἐς τοῦτο τὸ χωρίον ἦλθον πυνθανόμενος περὶ τῶν πτερωτῶν ὀφίων· ἀπικόμενος δὲ εἶδον ὀστέα ὀφίων καὶ ἀκάνθας πλήθεϊ μὲν ἀδύνατα ἀπηγήσασθαι, σωροὶ δὲ ἦσαν ἀκανθέων καὶ μεγάλοι καὶ ὑποδεέστεροι καὶ ἐλάσσονες ἔτι τούτων, πολλοὶ δὲ ἦσαν οὗτοι. ἔστι δὲ ὁ χῶρος οὗτος, ἐν τῷ αἱ ἄκανθαι κατακεχύαται, τοιόσδε τις, ἐσβολὴ ἐξ ὀρέων στεινῶν ἐς πεδίον μέγα, τὸ δὲ πεδίον τοῦτο συνάπτει τῷ Αἰγυπτίῳ πεδίῳ. λόγος δὲ ἐστὶ ἅμα τῷ ἔαρι πτερωτοὺς ὄφις ἐκ τῆς Ἀραβίης πέτεσθαι ἐπʼ Αἰγύπτου, τὰς δὲ ἴβις τὰς ὄρνιθας ἀπαντώσας ἐς τὴν ἐσβολὴν ταύτης τῆς χώρης οὐ παριέναι τοὺς ὄφις ἀλλὰ κατακτείνειν. καὶ τὴν ἶβιν διὰ τοῦτο τὸ ἔργον τετιμῆσθαι λέγουσι Ἀράβιοι μεγάλως πρὸς Αἰγυπτίων· ὁμολογέουσι δὲ καὶ Αἰγύπτιοι διὰ ταῦτα τιμᾶν τὰς ὄρνιθας ταύτας.
2.81. ἐνδεδύκασι δὲ κιθῶνας λινέους περὶ τὰ σκέλεα θυσανωτούς, τοὺς καλέουσι καλασίρις· ἐπὶ τούτοισι δὲ εἰρίνεα εἵματα λευκὰ ἐπαναβληδὸν φορέουσι. οὐ μέντοι ἔς γε τὰ ἱρὰ ἐσφέρεται εἰρίνεα οὐδὲ συγκαταθάπτεταί σφι· οὐ γὰρ ὅσιον. ὁμολογέουσι δὲ ταῦτα τοῖσι Ὀρφικοῖσι καλεομένοισι καὶ Βακχικοῖσι, ἐοῦσι δὲ Αἰγυπτίοισι καὶ Πυθαγορείοισι· οὐδὲ γὰρ τούτων τῶν ὀργίων μετέχοντα ὅσιον ἐστὶ ἐν εἰρινέοισι εἵμασι θαφθῆναι. ἔστι δὲ περὶ αὐτῶν ἱρὸς λόγος λεγόμενος. 2.82. καὶ τάδε ἄλλα Αἰγυπτίοισι ἐστὶ ἐξευρημένα, μείς τε καὶ ἡμέρη ἑκάστη θεῶν ὅτευ ἐστί, καὶ τῇ ἕκαστος ἡμέρῃ γενόμενος ὁτέοισι ἐγκυρήσει καὶ ὅκως τελευτήσει καὶ ὁκοῖός τις ἔσται. καὶ τούτοισι τῶν Ἑλλήνων οἱ ἐν ποιήσι γενόμενοι ἐχρήσαντο. τέρατά τε πλέω σφι ἀνεύρηται ἢ τοῖσι ἄλλοισι ἅπασι ἀνθρώποισι· γενομένου γὰρ τέρατος φυλάσσουσι γραφόμενοι τὠποβαῖνον, καὶ ἤν κοτε ὕστερον παραπλήσιον τούτῳ γένηται, κατὰ τὠυτὸ νομίζουσι ἀποβήσεσθαι.
2.91. ἑλληνικοῖσι δὲ νομαίοισι φεύγουσι χρᾶσθαι, τὸ δὲ σύμπαν εἰπεῖν, μηδʼ ἄλλων μηδαμὰ μηδαμῶν ἀνθρώπων νομαίοισι. οἱ μέν νυν ἄλλοι Αἰγύπτιοι οὕτω τοῦτο φυλάσσουσι, ἔστι δὲ Χέμμις πόλις μεγάλη νομοῦ τοῦ Θηβαϊκοῦ ἐγγὺς Νέης πόλιος· ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ πόλι ἐστὶ Περσέος τοῦ Δανάης ἱρὸν τετράγωνον, πέριξ δὲ αὐτοῦ φοίνικες πεφύκασι. τὰ δὲ πρόπυλα τοῦ ἱροῦ λίθινα ἐστὶ κάρτα μεγάλα· ἐπὶ δὲ αὐτοῖσι ἀνδριάντες δύο ἑστᾶσι λίθινοι μεγάλοι. ἐν δὲ τῷ περιβεβλημένῳ τούτῳ νηός τε ἔνι καὶ ἄγαλμα ἐν αὐτῷ ἐνέστηκε τοῦ Περσέος. οὗτοι οἱ Χεμμῖται λέγουσι τὸν Περσέα πολλάκις μὲν ἀνὰ τὴν γῆν φαίνεσθαί σφι πολλάκις δὲ ἔσω τοῦ ἱροῦ, σανδάλιόν τε αὐτοῦ πεφορημένον εὑρίσκεσθαι ἐὸν τὸ μέγαθος δίπηχυ, τὸ ἐπεὰν φανῇ, εὐθηνέειν ἅπασαν Αἴγυπτον. ταῦτα μὲν λέγουσι, ποιεῦσι δὲ τάδε Ἑλληνικὰ τῷ Περσέι· ἀγῶνα γυμνικὸν τιθεῖσι διὰ πάσης ἀγωνίης ἔχοντα, παρέχοντες ἄεθλα κτήνεα καὶ χλαίνας καὶ δέρματα. εἰρομένου δέ μευ ὅ τι σφι μούνοισι ἔωθε ὁ Περσεὺς ἐπιφαίνεσθαι καὶ ὅ τι κεχωρίδαται Αἰγυπτίων τῶν ἄλλων ἀγῶνα γυμνικὸν τιθέντες, ἔφασαν τὸν Περσέα ἐκ τῆς ἑωυτῶν πόλιος γεγονέναι· τὸν γὰρ Δαναὸν καὶ τὸν Λυγκέα ἐόντας Χεμμίτας ἐκπλῶσαι ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα, ἀπὸ δὲ τούτων γενεηλογέοντες κατέβαινον ἐς τὸν Περσέα. ἀπικόμενον δὲ αὐτὸν ἐς Αἴγυπτον κατʼ αἰτίην τὴν καὶ Ἕλληνες λέγουσι, οἴσοντα ἐκ Λιβύης τὴν Γοργοῦς κεφαλήν, ἔφασαν ἐλθεῖν καὶ παρὰ σφέας καὶ ἀναγνῶναι τοὺς συγγενέας πάντας· ἐκμεμαθηκότα δέ μιν ἀπικέσθαι ἐς Αἴγυπτον τὸ τῆς Χέμμιος οὔνομα, πεπυσμένον παρὰ τῆς μητρός. ἀγῶνα δέ οἱ γυμνικὸν αὐτοῦ κελεύσαντος ἐπιτελέειν.
2.102. παραμειψάμενος ὦν τούτους τοῦ ἐπὶ τούτοισι γενομένου βασιλέος, τῷ οὔνομα ἦν Σέσωστρις, τούτου μνήμην ποιήσομαι· τὸν ἔλεγον οἱ ἱρέες πρῶτον μὲν πλοίοισι μακροῖσι ὁρμηθέντα ἐκ τοῦ Ἀραβίου κόλπου τοὺς παρὰ τὴν Ἐρυθρὴν θάλασσαν κατοικημένους καταστρέφεσθαι, ἐς ὃ πλέοντά μιν πρόσω ἀπικέσθαι ἐς θάλασσαν οὐκέτι πλωτὴν ὑπὸ βραχέων. ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ ὡς ὀπίσω ἀπίκετο ἐς Αἴγυπτον, κατὰ τῶν ἱρέων τὴν φάτιν, πολλὴν στρατιὴν τῶν λαβὼν ἤλαυνε διὰ τῆς ἠπείρου, πᾶν ἔθνος τὸ ἐμποδὼν καταστρεφόμενος. ὁτέοισι μέν νυν αὐτῶν ἀλκίμοισι ἐνετύγχανε καὶ δεινῶς γλιχομένοισι περὶ τῆς ἐλευθερίης, τούτοισι μὲν στήλας ἐνίστη ἐς τὰς χώρας διὰ γραμμάτων λεγούσας τό τε ἑωυτοῦ οὔνομα καὶ τῆς πάτρης, καὶ ὡς δυνάμι τῇ ἑωυτοῦ κατεστρέψατο σφέας· ὅτεων δὲ ἀμαχητὶ καὶ εὐπετέως παρέλαβε τὰς πόλιας, τούτοισι δὲ ἐνέγραφε ἐν τῇσι στήλῃσι κατὰ ταὐτὰ καὶ τοῖσι ἀνδρηίοισι τῶν ἐθνέων γενομένοισι, καὶ δὴ καὶ αἰδοῖα γυναικὸς προσενέγραφε, δῆλα βουλόμενος ποιέειν ὡς εἴησαν ἀνάλκιδες.
2.104. φαίνονται μὲν γὰρ ἐόντες οἱ Κόλχοι Αἰγύπτιοι, νοήσας δὲ πρότερον αὐτὸς ἢ ἀκούσας ἄλλων λέγω. ὡς δέ μοι ἐν φροντίδι ἐγένετο, εἰρόμην ἀμφοτέρους, καὶ μᾶλλον οἱ Κόλχοι ἐμεμνέατο τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἢ οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι τῶν Κόλχων· νομίζειν δʼ ἔφασαν οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι τῆς Σεσώστριος στρατιῆς εἶναι τοὺς Κόλχους. αὐτὸς δὲ εἴκασα τῇδε, καὶ ὅτι μελάγχροες εἰσὶ καὶ οὐλότριχες. καὶ τοῦτο μὲν ἐς οὐδὲν ἀνήκει· εἰσὶ γὰρ καὶ ἕτεροι τοιοῦτοι· ἀλλὰ τοῖσιδε καὶ μᾶλλον, ὅτι μοῦνοι πάντων ἀνθρώπων Κόλχοι καὶ Αἰγύπτιοι καὶ Αἰθίοπες περιτάμνονται ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς τὰ αἰδοῖα. Φοίνικες δὲ καὶ Σύροι οἱ ἐν τῇ Παλαιστίνῃ καὶ αὐτοὶ ὁμολογέουσι παρʼ Αἰγυπτίων μεμαθηκέναι, Σύριοι δὲ οἱ περὶ Θερμώδοντα καὶ Παρθένιον ποταμὸν καὶ Μάκρωνες οἱ τούτοισι ἀστυγείτονες ἐόντες ἀπὸ Κόλχων φασὶ νεωστὶ μεμαθηκέναι. οὗτοι γὰρ εἰσὶ οἱ περιταμνόμενοι ἀνθρώπων μοῦνοι, καὶ οὗτοι Αἰγυπτίοισι φαίνονται ποιεῦντες κατὰ ταὐτά. αὐτῶν δὲ Αἰγυπτίων καὶ Αἰθιόπων οὐκ ἔχω εἰπεῖν ὁκότεροι παρὰ τῶν ἑτέρων ἐξέμαθον· ἀρχαῖον γὰρ δή τι φαίνεται ἐόν. ὡς δὲ ἐπιμισγόμενοι Αἰγύπτῳ ἐξέμαθον, μέγα μοι καὶ τόδε τεκμήριον γίνεται· Φοινίκων ὁκόσοι τῇ Ἑλλάδι ἐπιμίσγονται, οὐκέτι Αἰγυπτίους μιμέονται κατὰ τὰ αἰδοῖα. ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐπιγινομένων οὐ περιτάμνουσι τὰ αἰδοῖα.
2.119. ἀπικόμενος δὲ ὁ Μενέλεως ἐς τὴν Αἴγυπτον καὶ ἀναπλώσας ἐς τὴν Μέμφιν, εἴπας τὴν ἀληθείην τῶν πρηγμάτων, καὶ ξεινίων ἤντησε μεγάλων καὶ Ἑλένην ἀπαθέα κακῶν ἀπέλαβε, πρὸς δὲ καὶ τὰ ἑωυτοῦ χρήματα πάντα. τυχὼν μέντοι τούτων ἐγένετο Μενέλεως ἀνὴρ ἄδικος ἐς Αἰγυπτίους. ἀποπλέειν γὰρ ὁρμημένον αὐτὸν ἶσχον ἄπλοιαι· ἐπειδὴ δὲ τοῦτο ἐπὶ πολλὸν τοιοῦτον ἦν, ἐπιτεχνᾶται πρῆγμα οὐκ ὅσιον· λαβὼν γὰρ δύο παιδία ἀνδρῶν ἐπιχωρίων ἔντομα σφέα ἐποίησε. μετὰ δὲ ὡς ἐπάιστος ἐγένετο τοῦτο ἐργασμένος, μισηθείς τε καὶ διωκόμενος οἴχετο φεύγων τῇσι νηυσὶ ἐπὶ Λιβύης· τὸ ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ ὅκου ἔτι ἐτράπετο οὐκ εἶχον εἰπεῖν Αἰγύπτιοι. τούτων δὲ τὰ μὲν ἱστορίῃσι ἔφασαν ἐπίστασθαι, τὰ δὲ παρʼ ἑωυτοῖσι γενόμενα ἀτρεκέως ἐπιστάμενοι λέγειν.
2.137. τοῦτον μὲν τοσαῦτα ἀποδέξασθαι. μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον βασιλεῦσαι ἄνδρα τυφλὸν ἐξ Ἀνύσιος πόλιος, τῷ οὔνομα Ἄνυσιν εἶναι. ἐπὶ τούτου βασιλεύοντος ἐλάσαι ἐπʼ Αἴγυπτον χειρὶ πολλῇ Αἰθίοπάς τε καὶ Σαβακῶν τὸν Αἰθιόπων βασιλέα. τὸν μὲν δὴ τυφλὸν τοῦτον οἴχεσθαι φεύγοντα ἐς τὰ ἕλεα, τὸν δὲ Αἰθίοπα βασιλεύειν Αἰγύπτου ἐπʼ ἔτεα πεντήκοντα, ἐν τοῖσι αὐτὸν τάδε ἀποδέξασθαι· ὅκως τῶν τις Αἰγυπτίων ἁμάρτοι τι, κτείνειν μὲν αὐτῶν οὐδένα ἐθέλειν, τὸν δὲ κατὰ μέγαθος τοῦ ἀδικήματος ἑκάστῳ δικάζειν ἐπιτάσσοντα χώματα χοῦν πρὸς τῇ ἑωυτῶν πόλι, ὅθεν ἕκαστος ἦν τῶν ἀδικεόντων. καὶ οὕτω ἔτι αἱ πόλιες ἐγένοντο ὑψηλότεραι· τὸ μὲν γὰρ πρῶτον ἐχώσθησαν ὑπὸ τῶν τὰς διώρυχας ὀρυξάντων ἐπὶ Σεσώστριος βασιλέος, δεύτερα δὲ ἐπὶ τοῦ Αἰθίοπος καὶ κάρτα ὑψηλαὶ ἐγένοντο. ὑψηλέων δὲ καὶ ἑτερέων γενομενέων ἐν τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ πολίων, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκέει, μάλιστα ἡ ἐν Βουβάστιπόλις ἐξεχώσθη, ἐν τῇ καὶ ἱρόν ἐστι Βουβάστιος ἀξιαπηγητότατον· μέζω μὲν γὰρ ἄλλα καὶ πολυδαπανώτερα ἐστὶ ἱρά, ἡδονὴ δὲ ἰδέσθαι οὐδὲν τούτου μᾶλλον. ἡ δὲ Βούβαστις κατὰ Ἑλλάδα γλῶσσαν ἐστὶ Ἄρτεμις.
2.139. τέλος δὲ τῆς ἀπαλλαγῆς τοῦ Αἰθίοπος ὧδε ἔλεγον γενέσθαι· ὄψιν ἐν τῷ ὕπνῳ τοιήνδε ἰδόντα αὐτὸν οἴχεσθαι φεύγοντα· ἐδόκέε οἱ ἄνδρα ἐπιστάντα συμβουλεύειν τοὺς ἱρέας τοὺς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ συλλέξαντα πάντας μέσους διαταμεῖν. ἰδόντα δὲ τὴν ὄψιν ταύτην λέγειν αὐτὸν ὡς πρόφασίν οἱ δοκέοι ταύτην τοὺς θεοὺς προδεικνύναι, ἵνα ἀσεβήσας περὶ τὰ ἱρὰ κακόν τι πρὸς θεῶν ἢ πρὸς ἀνθρώπων λάβοι· οὔκων ποιήσειν ταῦτα, ἀλλὰ γάρ οἱ ἐξεληλυθέναι τὸν χρόνον, ὁκόσον κεχρῆσθαι ἄρξαντα Αἰγύπτου ἐκχωρήσειν. ἐν γὰρ τῇ Αἰθιοπίῃ ἐόντι αὐτῷ τὰ μαντήια, τοῖσι χρέωνται Αἰθίοπες, ἀνεῖλε ὡς δέοι αὐτὸν Αἰγύπτου βασιλεῦσαι ἔτεα πεντήκοντα. ὡς ὦν ὁ χρόνος οὗτος ἐξήιε καὶ αὐτὸν ἡ ὄψις τοῦ ἐνυπνίου ἐπετάρασσε, ἑκὼν ἀπαλλάσσετο ἐκ τῆς Αἰγύπτου ὁ Σαβακῶς.
2.143. πρότερον δὲ Ἑκαταίῳ τῷ λογοποιῷ ἐν Θήβῃσι γενεηλογήσαντί τε ἑωυτὸν καὶ ἀναδήσαντι τὴν πατριὴν ἐς ἑκκαιδέκατον θεὸν ἐποίησαν οἱ ἱρέες τοῦ Διὸς οἷόν τι καὶ ἐμοὶ οὐ γενεηλογήσαντι ἐμεωυτόν· ἐσαγαγόντες ἐς τὸ μέγαρον ἔσω ἐὸν μέγα ἐξηρίθμεον δεικνύντες κολοσσοὺς ξυλίνους τοσούτους ὅσους περ εἶπον· ἀρχιερεὺς γὰρ ἕκαστος αὐτόθι ἱστᾷ ἐπὶ τῆς ἑωυτοῦ ζόης εἰκόνα ἑωυτοῦ· ἀριθμέοντες ὦν καὶ δεικνύντες οἱ ἱρέες ἐμοὶ ἀπεδείκνυσαν παῖδα πατρὸς ἑωυτῶν ἕκαστον ἐόντα, ἐκ τοῦ ἄγχιστα ἀποθανόντος τῆς εἰκόνος διεξιόντες διὰ πασέων, ἕως οὗ ἀπέδεξαν ἁπάσας αὐτάς. Ἑκαταίῳ δὲ γενεηλογήσαντι ἑωυτὸν καὶ ἀναδήσαντι ἐς ἑκκαιδέκατον θεὸν ἀντεγενεηλόγησαν ἐπὶ τῇ ἀριθμήσι, οὐ δεκόμενοι παρʼ αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ θεοῦ γενέσθαι ἄνθρωπον· ἀντεγενεηλόγησαν δὲ ὧδε, φάμενοι ἕκαστον τῶν κολοσσῶν πίρωμιν ἐκ πιρώμιος γεγονέναι, ἐς ὃ τοὺς πέντε καὶ τεσσεράκοντα καὶ τριηκοσίους ἀπέδεξαν κολοσσούς πίρωμιν ἐπονομαζόμενον 1,καὶ οὔτε ἐς θεὸν οὔτε ἐς ἥρωα ἀνέδησαν αὐτούς. πίρωμις δὲ ἐστὶ κατὰ Ἑλλάδα γλῶσσαν καλὸς κἀγαθός.
2.152. τὸν δὲ Ψαμμήτιχον τοῦτον πρότερον φεύγοντα τὸν Αἰθίοπα Σαβακῶν, ὅς οἱ τὸν πατέρα Νεκῶν ἀπέκτεινε, τοῦτον φεύγοντα τότε ἐς Συρίην, ὡς ἀπαλλάχθη ἐκ τῆς ὄψιος τοῦ ὀνείρου ὁ Αἰθίοψ, κατήγαγον Αἰγυπτίων οὗτοι οἳ ἐκ νομοῦ τοῦ Σαΐτεω εἰσί. μετὰ δὲ βασιλεύοντα τὸ δεύτερον πρὸς τῶν ἕνδεκα βασιλέων καταλαμβάνει μιν διὰ τὴν κυνέην φεύγειν ἐς τὰ ἕλεα. ἐπιστάμενος ὦν ὡς περιυβρισμένος εἴη πρὸς αὐτῶν, ἐπενόεε τίσασθαι τοὺς διώξαντας. πέμψαντι δέ οἱ ἐς Βουτοῦν πόλιν ἐς τὸ χρηστήριον τῆς Λητοῦς, ἔνθα δὴ Αἰγυπτίοισι ἐστὶ μαντήιον ἀψευδέστατον, ἦλθε χρησμὸς ὡς τίσις ἥξει ἀπὸ θαλάσσης χαλκέων ἀνδρῶν ἐπιφανέντων. καὶ τῷ μὲν δὴ ἀπιστίη μεγάλη ὑπεκέχυτο χαλκέους οἱ ἄνδρας ἥξειν ἐπικούρους. χρόνου δὲ οὐ πολλοῦ διελθόντος ἀναγκαίη κατέλαβε Ἴωνάς τε καὶ Κᾶρας ἄνδρας κατὰ ληίην ἐκπλώσαντας ἀπενειχθῆναι ἐς Αἴγυπτον, ἐκβάντας δὲ ἐς γῆν καὶ ὁπλισθέντας χαλκῷ ἀγγέλλει τῶν τις Αἰγυπτίων ἐς τὰ ἕλεα ἀπικόμενος τῷ Ψαμμητίχῳ, ὡς οὐκ ἰδὼν πρότερον χαλκῷ ἄνδρας ὁπλισθέντας, ὡς χάλκεοι ἄνδρες ἀπιγμένοι ἀπὸ θαλάσσης λεηλατεῦσι τὸ πεδίον. ὁ δὲ μαθὼν τὸ χρηστήριον ἐπιτελεύμενον φίλα τε τοῖσι Ἴωσι καὶ Καρσὶ ποιέεται καί σφεας μεγάλα ὑπισχνεύμενος πείθει μετʼ ἑωυτοῦ γενέσθαι. ὡς δὲ ἔπεισε, οὕτω ἅμα τοῖσι τὰ ἑωυτοῦ βουλομένοισι Αἰγυπτίοισι καὶ τοῖσι ἐπικούροισι καταιρέει τοὺς βασιλέας. 2.153. κρατήσας δὲ Αἰγύπτου πάσης ὁ Ψαμμήτιχος ἐποίησε τῷ Ἡφαίστῳ προπύλαια ἐν Μέμφι τὰ πρὸς νότον ἄνεμον τετραμμένα, αὐλήν τε τῷ Ἄπι, ἐν τῇ τρέφεται ἐπεὰν φανῇ ὁ Ἆπις, οἰκοδόμησε ἐναντίον τῶν προπυλαίων, πᾶσάν τε περίστυλον ἐοῦσαν καὶ τύπων πλέην· ἀντὶ δὲ κιόνων ὑπεστᾶσι κολοσσοὶ δυωδεκαπήχεες τῇ αὐλῇ. ὁ δὲ Ἆπις κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλήνων γλῶσσαν ἐστὶ Ἔπαφος. 2.154. τοῖσι δὲ Ἴωσι καὶ τοῖσι Καρσὶ τοῖσι συγκατεργασαμένοισι αὐτῷ ὁ Ψαμμήτιχος δίδωσι χώρους ἐνοικῆσαι ἀντίους ἀλλήλων, τοῦ Νείλου τὸ μέσον ἔχοντος, τοῖσι οὐνόματα ἐτέθη Στρατόπεδα· τούτους τε δή σφι τοὺς χώρους δίδωσι καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τὰ ὑπέσχετο πάντα ἀπέδωκε. καὶ δὴ καὶ παῖδας παρέβαλε αὐτοῖσι Αἰγυπτίους τὴν Ἑλλάδα γλῶσσαν ἐκδιδάσκεσθαι. ἀπὸ δὲ τούτων ἐκμαθόντων τὴν γλῶσσαν οἱ νῦν ἑρμηνέες ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ γεγόνασι. οἱ δὲ Ἴωνές τε καὶ οἱ Κᾶρες τούτους τοὺς χώρους οἴκησαν χρόνον ἐπὶ πολλόν· εἰσὶ δὲ οὗτοι οἱ χῶροι πρὸς θαλάσσης ὀλίγον ἔνερθε Βουβάστιος πόλιος, ἐπὶ τῷ Πηλουσίῳ καλεομένῳ στόματι τοῦ Νείλου. τούτους μὲν δὴ χρόνῳ ὕστερον βασιλεὺς Ἄμασις ἐξαναστήσας ἐνθεῦτεν κατοίκισε ἐς Μέμφιν, φυλακὴν ἑωυτοῦ ποιεύμενος πρὸς Αἰγυπτίων. τούτων δὲ οἰκισθέντων ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ, οἱ Ἕλληνες οὕτω ἐπιμισγόμενοι τούτοισι τὰ περὶ Αἴγυπτον γινόμενα ἀπὸ Ψαμμητίχου βασιλέος ἀρξάμενοι πάντα καὶ τὰ ὕστερον ἐπιστάμεθα ἀτρεκέως· πρῶτοι γὰρ οὗτοι ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ἀλλόγλωσσοι κατοικίσθησαν. ἐξ ὧν δὲ ἐξανέστησαν χώρων, ἐν τούτοισι δὲ οἵ τε ὁλκοὶ τῶν νεῶν καὶ τὰ ἐρείπια τῶν οἰκημάτων τὸ μέχρι ἐμεῦ ἦσαν.
2.158. Ψαμμητίχου δὲ Νεκῶς παῖς ἐγένετο καὶ ἐβασίλευσε Αἰγύπτου, ὃς τῇ διώρυχι ἐπεχείρησε πρῶτος τῇ ἐς τὴν Ἐρυθρὴν θάλασσαν φερούσῃ, τὴν Δαρεῖος ὁ Πέρσης δεύτερα διώρυξε· τῆς μῆκος ἐστὶ πλόος ἡμέραι τέσσερες, εὖρος δὲ ὠρύχθη ὥστε τριήρεας δύο πλέειν ὁμοῦ ἐλαστρευμένας. ἦκται δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ Νείλου τὸ ὕδωρ ἐς αὐτήν· ἦκται δὲ κατύπερθε ὀλίγον Βουβάστιος πόλιος παρὰ Πάτουμον τὴν Ἀραβίην πόλιν, ἐσέχει δὲ ἐς τὴν Ἐρυθρὴν θάλασσαν. ὀρώρυκται δὲ πρῶτον μὲν τοῦ πεδίου τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου τὰ πρὸς Ἀραβίην ἔχοντα· ἔχεται δὲ κατύπερθε τοῦ πεδίου τὸ κατὰ Μέμφιν τεῖνον ὄρος, ἐν τῷ αἱ λιθοτομίαι ἔνεισι· τοῦ ὦν δὴ ὄρεος τούτου παρὰ τὴν ὑπώρεαν ἦκται ἡ διῶρυξ ἀπʼ ἑσπέρης μακρὴ πρὸς τὴν ἠῶ, καὶ ἔπειτα τείνει ἐς διασφάγας, φέρουσα ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄρεος πρὸς μεσαμβρίην τε καὶ νότον ἄνεμον ἐς τὸν κόλπον τὸν Ἀράβιον. τῇ δὲ ἐλάχιστον ἐστὶ καὶ συντομώτατον ἐκ τῆς βορηίης θαλάσσης ὑπερβῆναι ἐς τὴν νοτίην καὶ Ἐρυθρὴν τὴν αὐτὴν ταύτην καλεομένην, ἀπὸ τοῦ Κασίου ὄρεος τοῦ οὐρίζοντος Αἴγυπτόν τε καὶ Συρίην, ἀπὸ τούτου εἰσὶ στάδιοι ἀπαρτὶ χίλιοι ἐς τὸν Ἀράβιον κόλπον. τοῦτο μὲν τὸ συντομώτατον, ἡ δὲ διῶρυξ πολλῷ μακροτέρη, ὅσῳ σκολιωτέρη ἐστί· τὴν ἐπὶ Νεκῶ βασιλέος ὀρύσσοντες Αἰγυπτίων ἀπώλοντο δυώδεκα μυριάδες. Νεκῶς μέν νυν μεταξὺ ὀρύσσων ἐπαύσατο μαντηίου ἐμποδίου γενομένου τοιοῦδε, τῷ βαρβάρῳ αὐτὸν προεργάζεσθαι. βαρβάρους δὲ πάντας οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι καλέουσι τοὺς μὴ σφίσι ὁμογλώσσους.
2.169. ἐπείτε δὲ συνιόντες ὅ τε Ἀπρίης ἄγων τοὺς ἐπικούρους καὶ ὁ Ἄμασις πάντας Αἰγυπτίους ἀπίκοντο ἐς Μώμεμφιν πόλιν, συνέβαλον· καὶ ἐμαχέσαντο μὲν εὖ οἱ ξεῖνοι, πλήθεϊ δὲ πολλῷ ἐλάσσονες ἐόντες κατὰ τοῦτο ἑσσώθησαν. Ἀπρίεω δὲ λέγεται εἶναι ἥδε διάνοια, μηδʼ ἂν θεόν μιν μηδένα δύνασθαι παῦσαι τῆς βασιληίης· οὕτω ἀσφαλέως ἑωυτῷ ἱδρῦσθαι ἐδόκεε. καὶ δὴ τότε συμβαλὼν ἑσσώθη καὶ ζωγρηθεὶς ἀπήχθη ἐς Σάιν πόλιν, ἐς τὰ ἑωυτοῦ οἰκία πρότερον ἐόντα, τότε δὲ Ἀμάσιος ἤδη βασιληία. ἐνθαῦτα δὲ τέως μὲν ἐτρέφετο ἐν τοῖσι βασιληίοισι, καί μιν Ἄμασις εὖ περιεῖπε· τέλος δὲ μεμφομένων Αἰγυπτίων ὡς οὐ ποιέοι δίκαια τρέφων τὸν σφίσι τε καὶ ἑωυτῷ ἔχθιστον, οὕτω δὴ παραδιδοῖ τὸν Ἀπρίην τοῖσι Αἰγυπτίοισι. οἳ δέ μιν ἀπέπνιξαν καὶ ἔπειτα ἔθαψαν ἐν τῇσι πατρωίῃσι ταφῇσι· αἳ δὲ εἰσὶ ἐν τῷ ἱρῷ τῆς Ἀθηναίης, ἀγχοτάτω τοῦ μεγάρου, ἐσιόντι ἀριστερῆς χειρός. ἔθαψαν δὲ Σαῗται πάντας τοὺς ἐκ νομοῦ τούτου γενομένους βασιλέας ἔσω ἐν τῷ ἱρῷ. καὶ γὰρ τὸ τοῦ Ἀμάσιος σῆμα ἑκαστέρω μὲν ἐστὶ τοῦ μεγάρου ἢ τὸ τοῦ Ἀπρίεω καὶ τῶν τούτου προπατόρων, ἔστι μέντοι καὶ τοῦτο ἐν τῇ αὐλῇ τοῦ ἱροῦ, παστὰς λιθίνη μεγάλη καὶ ἠσκημένη στύλοισί τε φοίνικας τὰ δένδρεα μεμιμημένοισι καὶ τῇ ἄλλῃ δαπάνῃ· ἔσω δὲ ἐν τῇ παστάδι διξὰ θυρώματα ἕστηκε, ἐν δὲ τοῖσι θυρώμασι ἡ θήκη ἐστί.
2.171. ἐν δὲ τῇ λίμνῃ ταύτῃ τὰ δείκηλα τῶν παθέων αὐτοῦ νυκτὸς ποιεῦσι, τὰ καλέουσι μυστήρια Αἰγύπτιοι. περὶ μέν νυν τούτων εἰδότι μοι ἐπὶ πλέον ὡς ἕκαστα αὐτῶν ἔχει, εὔστομα κείσθω. καὶ τῆς Δήμητρος τελετῆς πέρι, τὴν οἱ Ἕλληνες θεσμοφόρια καλέουσι, καὶ ταύτης μοι πέρι εὔστομα κείσθω, πλὴν ὅσον αὐτῆς ὁσίη ἐστὶ λέγειν· αἱ Δαναοῦ θυγατέρες ἦσαν αἱ τὴν τελετὴν ταύτην ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἐξαγαγοῦσαι καὶ διδάξασαι τὰς Πελασγιώτιδας γυναῖκας· μετὰ δὲ ἐξαναστάσης πάσης Πελοποννήσου 1 ὑπὸ Δωριέων ἐξαπώλετο ἡ τελετή, οἱ δὲ ὑπολειφθέντες Πελοποννησίων καὶ οὐκ ἐξαναστάντες Ἀρκάδες διέσωζον αὐτὴν μοῦνοι.
2.173. τοιούτῳ μὲν τρόπῳ προσηγάγετο τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους ὥστε δικαιοῦν δουλεύειν, ἐχρᾶτο δὲ καταστάσι πρηγμάτων τοιῇδε· τὸ μὲν ὄρθριον μέχρι ὅτευ πληθούσης ἀγορῆς προθύμως ἔπρησσε τὰ προσφερόμενα πρήγματα, τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ τούτου ἔπινέ τε καὶ κατέσκωπτε τοὺς συμπότας καὶ ἦν μάταιός τε καὶ παιγνιήμων. ἀχθεσθέντες δὲ τούτοισι οἱ φίλοι αὐτοῦ ἐνουθέτεον αὐτὸν τοιάδε λέγοντες. “ὦ βασιλεῦ, οὐκ ὀρθῶς, σεωυτοῦ προέστηκας, ἐς τὸ ἄγαν φαῦλον προάγων σεωυτόν. σὲ γὰρ ἐχρῆν ἐν θρόνῳ σεμνῷ σεμνὸν θωκέοντα διʼ ἡμέρης πρήσσειν τὰ πρήγματα, καὶ οὕτω Αἰγύπτιοί τʼ ἂν ἠπιστέατο ὡς ὑπʼ ἀνδρὸς μεγάλου ἄρχονται, καὶ ἄμεινον σὺ ἂν ἤκουες· νῦν δὲ ποιέεις οὐδαμῶς βασιλικά.” ὃ δʼ ἀμείβετο τοῖσιδε αὐτούς. “τὰ τόξα οἱ ἐκτημένοι, ἐπεὰν μὲν δέωνται χρᾶσθαι, ἐντανύουσι· εἰ γὰρ δὴ τὸν πάντα χρόνον ἐντεταμένα εἴη, ἐκραγείη ἄν, ὥστε ἐς τὸ δέον οὐκ ἂν ἔχοιεν αὐτοῖσι χρᾶσθαι. οὕτω δὲ καὶ ἀνθρώπου κατάστασις· εἰ ἐθέλοι κατεσπουδάσθαι αἰεὶ μηδὲ ἐς παιγνίην τὸ μέρος ἑωυτὸν ἀνιέναι, λάθοι ἂν ἤτοι μανεὶς ἢ ὅ γε ἀπόπληκτος γενόμενος· τὰ ἐγὼ ἐπιστάμενος μέρος ἑκατέρῳ νέμω.” ταῦτα μὲν τοὺς φίλους ἀμείψατο.
2.178. φιλέλλην δὲ γενόμενος ὁ Ἄμασις ἄλλα τε ἐς Ἑλλήνων μετεξετέρους ἀπεδέξατο, καὶ δὴ καὶ τοῖσι ἀπικνευμένοισι ἐς Αἴγυπτον ἔδωκε Ναύκρατιν πόλιν ἐνοικῆσαι· τοῖσι δὲ μὴ βουλομένοισι αὐτῶν οἰκέειν, αὐτοῦ δὲ ναυτιλλομένοισι ἔδωκε χώρους ἐνιδρύσασθαι βωμοὺς καὶ τεμένεα θεοῖσι. τὸ μέν νυν μέγιστον αὐτῶν τέμενος, καὶ ὀνομαστότατον ἐὸν καὶ χρησιμώτατον, καλεύμενον δὲ Ἑλλήνιον, αἵδε αἱ πόλιες εἰσὶ αἱ ἱδρυμέναι κοινῇ, Ἱώνων μὲν Χίος καὶ Τέως καὶ Φώκαια καὶ Κλαζομεναί, Δωριέων δὲ Ῥόδος καὶ Κνίδος καὶ Ἁλικαρνησσὸς καὶ Φάσηλις, Αἰολέων δὲ ἡ Μυτιληναίων μούνη. τουτέων μὲν ἐστὶ τοῦτο τὸ τέμενος, καὶ προστάτας τοῦ ἐμπορίου αὗται αἱ πόλιες εἰσὶ αἱ παρέχουσαι· ὅσαι δὲ ἄλλαι πόλιες μεταποιεῦνται, οὐδέν σφι μετεὸν μεταποιεῦνται. χωρὶς δὲ Αἰγινῆται ἐπὶ ἑωυτῶν ἱδρύσαντο τέμενος Διός, καὶ ἄλλο Σάμιοι Ἥρης καὶ Μιλήσιοι Ἀπόλλωνος.
3.17. μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ὁ Καμβύσης ἐβουλεύσατο τριφασίας στρατηίας, ἐπί τε Καρχηδονίους καὶ ἐπὶ Ἀμμωνίους καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς μακροβίους Αἰθίοπας, οἰκημένους δὲ Λιβύης ἐπὶ τῇ νοτίῃ θαλάσσῃ· βουλευομένῳ δέ οἱ ἔδοξε ἐπὶ μὲν Καρχηδονίους τὸν ναυτικὸν στρατὸν ἀποστέλλειν, ἐπὶ δὲ Ἀμμωνίους τοῦ πεζοῦ ἀποκρίναντα, ἐπὶ δὲ τοὺς Αἰθίοπας κατόπτας πρῶτον, ὀψομένους τε τὴν ἐν τούτοισι τοῖσι Αἰθίοψι λεγομένην εἶναι ἡλίου τράπεζαν εἰ ἔστι ἀληθέως, καὶ πρὸς ταύτῃ τὰ ἄλλα κατοψομένους, δῶρα δὲ τῷ λόγῳ φέροντας τῷ βασιλέι αὐτῶν. 3.18. ἡ δὲ τράπεζα τοῦ ἡλίου τοιήδε τις λέγεται εἶναι, λειμὼν ἐστὶ ἐν τῷ προαστείῳ ἐπίπλεος κρεῶν ἑφθῶν πάντων τῶν τετραπόδων, ἐς τὸν τὰς μὲν νύκτας ἐπιτηδεύοντας τιθέναι τὰ κρέα τοὺς ἐν τέλεϊ ἑκάστοτε ἐόντας τῶν ἀστῶν, τὰς δὲ ἡμέρας δαίνυσθαι προσιόντα τὸν βουλόμενον. φάναι δὲ τοὺς ἐπιχωρίους ταῦτα τὴν γῆν αὐτὴν ἀναδιδόναι ἑκάστοτε. 3.19. ἡ μὲν δὴ τράπεζα τοῦ ἡλίου καλεομένη λέγεται εἶναι τοιήδε. Καμβύσῃ δὲ ὡς ἔδοξε πέμπειν τοὺς κατασκόπους, αὐτίκα μετεπέμπετο ἐξ Ἐλεφαντίνης πόλιος τῶν Ἰχθυοφάγων ἀνδρῶν τοὺς ἐπισταμένους τὴν Αἰθιοπίδα γλῶσσαν. ἐν ᾧ δὲ τούτους μετήισαν, ἐν τούτῳ ἐκέλευε ἐπὶ τὴν Καρχηδόνα πλέειν τὸν ναυτικὸν στρατόν. Φοίνικες δὲ οὐκ ἔφασαν ποιήσειν ταῦτα· ὁρκίοισι γὰρ μεγάλοισι ἐνδεδέσθαι, καὶ οὐκ ἂν ποιέειν ὅσια ἐπὶ τοὺς παῖδας τοὺς ἑωυτῶν στρατευόμενοι. Φοινίκων δὲ οὐ βουλομένων οἱ λοιποὶ οὐκ ἀξιόμαχοι ἐγίνοντο. Καρχηδόνιοι μέν νυν οὕτω δουλοσύνην διέφυγον πρὸς Περσέων· Καμβύσης γὰρ βίην οὐκ ἐδικαίου προσφέρειν Φοίνιξι, ὅτι σφέας τε αὐτοὺς ἐδεδώκεσαν Πέρσῃσι καὶ πᾶς ἐκ Φοινίκων ἤρτητο ὁ ναυτικὸς στρατός. δόντες δὲ καὶ Κύπριοι σφέας αὐτοὺς Πέρσῃσι ἐστρατεύοντο ἐπʼ Αἴγυπτον. 3.20. ἐπείτε δὲ τῷ Καμβύσῃ ἐκ τῆς Ἐλεφαντίνης ἀπίκοντο οἱ Ἰχθυοφάγοι, ἔπεμπε αὐτοὺς ἐς τοὺς Αἰθίοπας ἐντειλάμενος τὰ λέγειν χρῆν καὶ δῶρα φέροντας πορφύρεόν τε εἷμα καὶ χρύσεον στρεπτὸν περιαυχένιον καὶ ψέλια καὶ μύρου ἀλάβαστρον καὶ φοινικηίου οἴνου κάδον. οἱ δὲ Αἰθίοπες οὗτοι, ἐς τοὺς ἀπέπεμπε ὁ Καμβύσης, λέγονται εἶναι μέγιστοι καὶ κάλλιστοι ἀνθρώπων πάντων. νόμοισι δὲ καὶ ἄλλοισι χρᾶσθαι αὐτοὺς κεχωρισμένοισι τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων καὶ δὴ καὶ κατὰ τὴν βασιληίην τοιῷδε· τὸν ἂν τῶν ἀστῶν κρίνωσι μέγιστόν τε εἶναι καὶ κατὰ τὸ μέγαθος ἔχειν τὴν ἰσχύν, τοῦτον ἀξιοῦσι βασιλεύειν. 3.21. ἐς τούτους δὴ ὦν τοὺς ἄνδρας ὡς ἀπίκοντο οἱ Ἰχθυοφάγοι, διδόντες τὰ δῶρα τῷ, βασιλέι αὐτῶν ἔλεγον τάδε. “βασιλεὺς ὁ Περσέων Καμβύσης, βουλόμενος φίλος καὶ ξεῖνός τοι γενέσθαι, ἡμέας τε ἀπέπεμψε ἐς λόγους τοι ἐλθεῖν κελεύων, καὶ δῶρα ταῦτά τοι διδοῖ τοῖσι καὶ αὐτὸς μάλιστα ἥδεται χρεώμενος.” ὁ δὲ Αἰθίοψ μαθὼν ὅτι κατόπται ἥκοιεν, λέγει πρὸς αὐτοὺς τοιάδε. “οὔτε ὁ Περσέων βασιλεὺς δῶρα ὑμέας ἔπεμψε φέροντας προτιμῶν πολλοῦ ἐμοὶ ξεῖνος γενέσθαι, οὔτε ὑμεῖς λέγετε ἀληθέα ʽἥκετε γὰρ κατόπται τῆς ἐμῆς ἀρχῆσ̓, οὔτε ἐκεῖνος ἀνήρ δίκαιος. εἰ γὰρ ἦν δίκαιος, οὔτʼ ἂν ἐπεθύμησε χώρης ἄλλης ἢ τῆς ἑωυτοῦ, οὔτʼ ἂν ἐς δουλοσύνην ἀνθρώπους ἦγε ὑπʼ ὧν μηδὲν ἠδίκηται. νῦν δὲ αὐτῷ τόξον τόδε διδόντες τάδε ἔπεα λέγετε.” “βασιλεὺς ὁ Αἰθιόπων συμβουλεύει τῷ Περσέων βασιλέι, ἐπεὰν οὕτω εὐπετέως ἕλκωσι τὰ τόξα Πέρσαι ἐόντα μεγάθεϊ τοσαῦτα, τότε ἐπʼ Αἰθίοπας τοὺς μακροβίους πλήθεϊ ὑπερβαλλόμενον στρατεύεσθαι· μέχρι δὲ τούτου θεοῖσι εἰδέναι χάριν, οἳ οὐκ ἐπὶ νόον τρέπουσι Αἰθιόπων παισὶ γῆν ἄλλην προσκτᾶσθαι τῇ ἑωυτῶν.” 3.22. ταῦτα δὲ εἴπας καὶ ἀνεὶς τὸ τόξον παρέδωκε τοῖσι ἥκουσι. λαβὼν δὲ τὸ εἷμα τὸ πορφύρεον εἰρώτα ὅ τι εἴη καὶ ὅκως πεποιημένον· εἰπόντων δὲ τῶν Ἰχθυοφάγων τὴν ἀληθείην περὶ τῆς πορφύρης καὶ τῆς βαφῆς, δολεροὺς μὲν τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἔφη εἶναι, δολερὰ δὲ αὐτῶν τὰ εἵματα. δεύτερα δὲ τὸν χρυσὸν εἰρώτα τὸν στρεπτὸν τὸν περιαυχένιον καὶ τὰ ψέλια· ἐξηγεομένων δὲ τῶν Ἰχθυοφάγων τὸν κόσμον αὐτοῦ, γελάσας ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ νομίσας εἶναι σφέα πέδας εἶπε ὡς παρʼ ἑωυτοῖσι εἰσὶ ῥωμαλεώτεραι τουτέων πέδαι. τρίτον δὲ εἰρώτα τὸ μύρον· εἰπόντων δὲ τῆς ποιήσιος πέρι καὶ ἀλείψιος, τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον τὸν καὶ περὶ τοῦ εἵματος εἶπε. ὡς δὲ ἐς τὸν οἶνον ἀπίκετο καὶ ἐπύθετο αὐτοῦ τὴν ποίησιν, ὑπερησθεὶς τῷ πόματι ἐπείρετο ὅ τι τε σιτέεται ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ χρόνον ὁκόσον μακρότατον ἀνὴρ Πέρσης ζώει. οἳ δὲ σιτέεσθαι μὲν τὸν ἄρτον εἶπον, ἐξηγησάμενοι τῶν πυρῶν τὴν φύσιν, ὀγδώκοντα δὲ ἔτεα ζόης πλήρωμα ἀνδρὶ μακρότατον προκεῖσθαι. πρὸς ταῦτα ὁ Αἰθίοψ ἔφη οὐδὲν θωμάζειν εἰ σιτεόμενοι κόπρον ἔτεα ὀλίγα ζώουσι· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἂν τοσαῦτα δύνασθαι ζώειν σφέας, εἰ μὴ τῷ πόματι ἀνέφερον, φράζων τοῖσι Ἰχθυοφάγοισι τὸν οἶνον· τούτῳ γὰρ ἑωυτοὺς ὑπὸ Περσέων ἑσσοῦσθαι. 3.23. ἀντειρομένων δὲ τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Ἰχθυοφάγων τῆς ζόης καὶ διαίτης πέρι, ἔτεα μὲν ἐς εἴκοσι καὶ ἑκατὸν τοὺς πολλοὺς αὐτῶν ἀπικνέεσθαι, ὑπερβάλλειν δὲ τινὰς καὶ ταῦτα, σίτησιν δὲ εἶναι κρέα τε ἑφθὰ καὶ πόμα γάλα. θῶμα δὲ ποιευμένων τῶν κατασκόπων περὶ τῶν ἐτέων, ἐπὶ κρήνην σφι ἡγήσασθαι, ἀπʼ ἧς λουόμενοι λιπαρώτεροι ἐγίνοντο, κατά περ εἰ ἐλαίου εἴη· ὄζειν δὲ ἀπʼ αὐτῆς ὡς εἰ ἴων. ἀσθενὲς δὲ τὸ ὕδωρ τῆς κρήνης ταύτης οὕτω δή τι ἔλεγον εἶναι οἱ κατάσκοποι ὥστε μηδὲν οἷόν τʼ εἶναι ἐπʼ αὐτοῦ ἐπιπλέειν, μήτε ξύλον μήτε τῶν ὅσα ξύλου ἐστὶ ἐλαφρότερα, ἀλλὰ πάντα σφέα χωρέειν ἐς βυσσόν. τὸ δὲ ὕδωρ τοῦτο εἴ σφι ἐστὶ ἀληθέως οἷόν τι λέγεται, διὰ τοῦτο ἂν εἶεν, τούτῳ τὰ πάντα χρεώμενοι, μακρόβιοι. ἀπὸ τῆς κρήνης δὲ ἀπαλλασσομένων, ἀγαγεῖν σφεας ἐς δεσμωτήριον ἀνδρῶν, ἔνθα τοὺς πάντας ἐν πέδῃσι χρυσέῃσι δεδέσθαι. ἔστι δὲ ἐν τούτοισι τοῖσι Αἰθίοψι πάντων ὁ χαλκὸς σπανιώτατον καὶ τιμιώτατον. θεησάμενοι δὲ καὶ τὸ δεσμωτήριον, ἐθεήσαντο καὶ τὴν τοῦ ἡλίου λεγομένην τράπεζαν. 3.24. μετὰ δὲ ταύτην τελευταίας ἐθεήσαντο τὰς θήκας αὐτῶν, αἳ λέγονται σκευάζεσθαι ἐξ ὑέλου τρόπῳ τοιῷδε· ἐπεὰν τὸν νεκρὸν ἰσχνήνωσι, εἴτε δὴ κατά περ Αἰγύπτιοι εἴτε ἄλλως κως, γυψώσαντες ἅπαντα αὐτὸν γραφῇ κοσμέουσι, ἐξομοιεῦντες τὸ εἶδος ἐς τὸ δυνατόν, ἔπειτα δέ οἱ περιιστᾶσι στήλην ἐξ ὑέλου πεποιημένην κοίλην· ἣ δέ σφι πολλὴ καὶ εὐεργὸς ὀρύσσεται. ἐν μέσῃ δὲ τῇ στήλῃ ἐνεὼν διαφαίνεται ὁ νέκυς, οὔτε ὀδμὴν οὐδεμίαν ἄχαριν παρεχόμενος οὔτε ἄλλο ἀεικὲς οὐδέν, καὶ ἔχει πάντα φανερὰ ὁμοίως αὐτῷ τῷ νέκυϊ. ἐνιαυτὸν μὲν δὴ ἔχουσι τὴν στήλην ἐν τοῖσι οἰκίοισι οἱ μάλιστα προσήκοντες, πάντων ἀπαρχόμενοι καὶ θυσίας οἱ προσάγοντες· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἐκκομίσαντες ἱστᾶσι περὶ τὴν πόλιν. 3.25. θεησάμενοι δὲ τὰ πάντα οἱ κατάσκοποι ἀπαλλάσσοντο ὀπίσω. ἀπαγγειλάντων δὲ ταῦτα τούτων, αὐτίκα ὁ Καμβύσης ὀργὴν ποιησάμενος ἐστρατεύετο ἐπὶ τοὺς Αἰθίοπας, οὔτε παρασκευὴν σίτου οὐδεμίαν παραγγείλας, οὔτε λόγον ἑωυτῷ δοὺς ὅτι ἐς τὰ ἔσχατα γῆς ἔμελλε στρατεύεσθαι· οἷα δὲ ἐμμανής τε ἐὼν καὶ οὐ φρενήρης, ὡς ἤκουε τῶν Ἰχθυοφάγων, ἐστρατεύετο, Ἑλλήνων μὲν τοὺς παρεόντας αὐτοῦ τάξας ὑπομένειν, τὸν δὲ πεζὸν πάντα ἅμα ἀγόμενος. ἐπείτε δὲ στρατευόμενος ἐγένετο ἐν Θήβῃσι, ἀπέκρινε τοῦ στρατοῦ ὡς πέντε μυριάδας, καὶ τούτοισι μὲν ἐνετέλλετο Ἀμμωνίους ἐξανδραποδισαμένους τὸ χρηστήριον τὸ τοῦ Διὸς ἐμπρῆσαι, αὐτὸς δὲ τὸν λοιπὸν ἄγων στρατὸν ἤιε ἐπὶ τοὺς Αἰθίοπας. πρὶν δὲ τῆς ὁδοῦ τὸ πέμπτον μέρος διεληλυθέναι τὴν στρατιήν, αὐτίκα πάντα αὐτοὺς τὰ εἶχον σιτίων ἐχόμενα ἐπελελοίπεε, μετὰ δὲ τὰ σιτία καὶ τὰ ὑποζύγια ἐπέλιπε κατεσθιόμενα. εἰ μέν νυν μαθὼν ταῦτα ὁ Καμβύσης ἐγνωσιμάχεε καὶ ἀπῆγε ὀπίσω τὸν στρατόν, ἐπὶ τῇ ἀρχῆθεν γενομένῃ ἁμαρτάδι ἦν ἂν ἀνὴρ σοφός· νῦν δὲ οὐδένα λόγον ποιεύμενος ἤιε αἰεὶ ἐς τὸ πρόσω. οἱ δὲ στρατιῶται ἕως μέν τι εἶχον ἐκ τῆς γῆς λαμβάνειν, ποιηφαγέοντες διέζωον, ἐπεὶ δὲ ἐς τὴν ψάμμον ἀπίκοντο, δεινὸν ἔργον αὐτῶν τινες ἐργάσαντο· ἐκ δεκάδος γὰρ ἕνα σφέων αὐτῶν ἀποκληρώσαντες κατέφαγον. πυθόμενος δὲ ταῦτα ὁ Καμβύσης, δείσας τὴν ἀλληλοφαγίην, ἀπεὶς τὸν ἐπʼ Αἰθίοπας στόλον ὀπίσω ἐπορεύετο καὶ ἀπικνέεται ἐς Θήβας πολλοὺς ἀπολέσας τοῦ στρατοῦ· ἐκ Θηβέων δὲ καταβὰς ἐς Μέμφιν τοὺς Ἕλληνας ἀπῆκε ἀποπλέειν.
3.38. πανταχῇ ὦν μοι δῆλα ἐστὶ ὅτι ἐμάνη μεγάλως ὁ Καμβύσης· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἱροῖσί τε καὶ νομαίοισι ἐπεχείρησε καταγελᾶν. εἰ γάρ τις προθείη πᾶσι ἀνθρώποισι ἐκλέξασθαι κελεύων νόμους τοὺς καλλίστους ἐκ τῶν πάντων νόμων, διασκεψάμενοι ἂν ἑλοίατο ἕκαστοι τοὺς ἑωυτῶν· οὕτω νομίζουσι πολλόν τι καλλίστους τοὺς ἑωυτῶν νόμους ἕκαστοι εἶναι. οὔκων οἰκός ἐστι ἄλλον γε ἢ μαινόμενον ἄνδρα γέλωτα τὰ τοιαῦτα τίθεσθαι· ὡς δὲ οὕτω νενομίκασι τὰ περὶ τοὺς νόμους πάντες ἄνθρωποι, πολλοῖσί τε καὶ ἄλλοισι τεκμηρίοισι πάρεστι σταθμώσασθαι, ἐν δὲ δὴ καὶ τῷδε. Δαρεῖος ἐπὶ τῆς ἑωυτοῦ ἀρχῆς καλέσας Ἑλλήνων τοὺς παρεόντας εἴρετο ἐπὶ κόσῳ ἂν χρήματι βουλοίατο τοὺς πατέρας ἀποθνήσκοντας κατασιτέεσθαι· οἳ δὲ ἐπʼ οὐδενὶ ἔφασαν ἔρδειν ἂν τοῦτο. Δαρεῖος δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα καλέσας Ἰνδῶν τοὺς καλεομένους Καλλατίας, οἳ τοὺς γονέας κατεσθίουσι, εἴρετο, παρεόντων τῶν Ἑλλήνων καὶ διʼ ἑρμηνέος μανθανόντων τὰ λεγόμενα, ἐπὶ τίνι χρήματι δεξαίατʼ ἂν τελευτῶντας τοὺς πατέρας κατακαίειν πυρί· οἳ δὲ ἀμβώσαντες μέγα εὐφημέειν μιν ἐκέλευον. οὕτω μέν νυν ταῦτα νενόμισται, καὶ ὀρθῶς μοι δοκέει Πίνδαρος ποιῆσαι νόμον πάντων βασιλέα φήσας εἶναι.
3.72. λέγει πρὸς ταῦτα Ὀτάνης, ἐπειδὴ ὥρα σπερχόμενον Δαρεῖον, “ἐπείτε ἡμέας συνταχύνειν ἀναγκάζεις καὶ ὑπερβάλλεσθαι οὐκ ἐᾷς, ἴθι ἐξηγέο αὐτὸς ὅτεῳ τρόπῳ πάριμεν ἐς τὰ βασιλήια καὶ ἐπιχειρήσομεν αὐτοῖσι. φυλακὰς γὰρ δὴ διεστεώσας οἶδάς κου καὶ αὐτός, εἰ μὴ ἰδών, ἀλλʼ ἀκούσας· τὰς τέῳ τρόπῳ περήσομεν;” ἀμείβεται Δαρεῖος τοῖσιδε. “Ὀτάνη, ἦ πολλά ἐστι τὰ λόγῳ μὲν οὐκ οἷά τε δηλῶσαι, ἔργῳ δέ· ἄλλα δʼ ἐστὶ τὰ λόγῳ μὲν οἷά τε, ἔργον δὲ οὐδὲν ἀπʼ αὐτῶν λαμπρὸν γίνεται. ὑμεῖς δὲ ἴστε φυλακὰς τὰς κατεστεώσας ἐούσας οὐδὲν χαλεπὰς παρελθεῖν. τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ ἡμέων ἐόντων τοιῶνδε οὐδεὶς ὅστις οὐ παρήσει, τὰ μέν κου καταιδεόμενος ἡμέας, τὰ δέ κου καὶ δειμαίνων· τοῦτο δὲ ἔχω αὐτὸς σκῆψιν εὐπρεπεστάτην τῇ πάριμεν, φὰς ἄρτι τε ἥκειν ἐκ Περσέων καὶ βούλεσθαί τι ἔπος παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς σημῆναι τῷ βασιλέι. ἔνθα γάρ τι δεῖ ψεῦδος λέγεσθαι, λεγέσθω. τοῦ γὰρ αὐτοῦ γλιχόμεθα οἵ τε ψευδόμενοι καὶ οἱ τῇ ἀληθείῃ διαχρεώμενοι. οἳ μέν γε ψεύδονται τότε ἐπεάν τι μέλλωσι τοῖσι ψεύδεσι πείσαντες κερδήσεσθαι, οἳ δʼ ἀληθίζονται ἵνα τῇ ἀληθείῃ ἐπισπάσωνται κέρδος καί τι μᾶλλόν σφι ἐπιτράπηται. οὕτω οὐ ταὐτὰ ἀσκέοντες τὠυτοῦ περιεχόμεθα. εἰ δὲ μηδὲν κερδήσεσθαι μέλλοιεν, ὁμοίως ἂν ὅ τε ἀληθιζόμενος ψευδὴς εἴη καὶ ὁ ψευδόμενος ἀληθής. ὃς ἂν μέν νυν τῶν πυλουρῶν ἑκὼν παριῇ, αὐτῷ οἱ ἄμεινον ἐς χρόνον ἔσται· ὃς δʼ ἂν ἀντιβαίνειν πειρᾶται, δεικνύσθω ἐνθαῦτα ἐὼν πολέμιος, καὶ ἔπειτα ὠσάμενοι ἔσω ἔργου ἐχώμεθα.”
3.98. τὸν δὲ χρυσὸν τοῦτον τὸν πολλὸν οἱ Ἰνδοί, ἀπʼ οὗ τὸ ψῆγμα τῷ βασιλέι τὸ εἰρημένον κομίζουσι, τρόπῳ τοιῷδε κτῶνται. ἔστι τῆς Ἰνδικῆς χώρης τὸ πρὸς ἥλιον ἀνίσχοντα ψάμμος· τῶν γὰρ ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν, τῶν καὶ πέρι ἀτρεκές τι λέγεται, πρῶτοι πρὸς ἠῶ καὶ ἡλίου ἀνατολὰς οἰκέουσι ἀνθρώπων τῶν ἐν τῇ Ἀσίῃ Ἰνδοί· Ἰνδῶν γὰρ τὸ πρὸς τὴν ἠῶ ἐρημίη ἐστὶ διὰ τὴν ψάμμον. ἔστι δὲ πολλὰ ἔθνεα Ἰνδῶν καὶ οὐκ ὁμόφωνα σφίσι, καὶ οἳ μὲν αὐτῶν νομάδες εἰσὶ οἳ δὲ οὔ, οἳ δὲ ἐν τοῖσι ἕλεσι οἰκέουσι τοῦ ποταμοῦ καὶ ἰχθύας σιτέονται ὠμούς, τοὺς αἱρέουσι ἐκ πλοίων καλαμίνων ὁρμώμενοι· καλάμου δὲ ἓν γόνυ πλοῖον ἕκαστον ποιέεται. οὗτοι μὲν δὴ τῶν Ἰνδῶν φορέουσι ἐσθῆτα φλοΐνην· ἐπεὰν ἐκ τοῦ ποταμοῦ φλοῦν ἀμήσωσι καὶ κόψωσι, τὸ ἐνθεῦτεν φορμοῦ τρόπον καταπλέξαντες ὡς θώρηκα ἐνδύνουσι. 3.99. ἄλλοι δὲ τῶν Ἰνδῶν πρὸς ἠῶ οἰκέοντες τούτων νομάδες εἰσὶ κρεῶν ἐδεσταὶ ὠμῶν, καλέονται δὲ Παδαῖοι, νομαίοισι δὲ τοιοῖσιδε λέγονται χρᾶσθαι· ὃς ἂν κάμῃ τῶν ἀστῶν, ἤν τε γυνὴ ἤν τε ἀνήρ, τὸν μὲν ἄνδρα ἄνδρες οἱ μάλιστά οἱ ὁμιλέοντες κτείνουσι, φάμενοι αὐτὸν τηκόμενον τῇ νούσῳ τὰ κρέα σφίσι διαφθείρεσθαι· ὁ δὲ ἄπαρνος ἐστὶ μὴ μὲν νοσέειν, οἱ δὲ οὐ συγγινωσκόμενοι ἀποκτείναντες κατευωχέονται. ἣ δὲ ἂν γυνὴ κάμῃ, ὡσαύτως αἱ ἐπιχρεώμεναι μάλιστα γυναῖκες ταὐτὰ τοῖσι ἀνδράσι ποιεῦσι. τὸν γὰρ δὴ ἐς γῆρας ἀπικόμενον θύσαντες κατευωχέονται· ἐς δὲ τούτου λόγον οὐ πολλοί τινες αὐτῶν ἀπικνέονται· πρὸ γὰρ τοῦ τὸν ἐς νοῦσον πίπτοντα πάντα κτείνουσι. 3.100. ἑτέρων δὲ ἐστὶ Ἰνδῶν ὅδε ἄλλος τρόπος· οὔτε κτείνουσι οὐδὲν ἔμψυχον οὔτε τι σπείρουσι οὔτε οἰκίας νομίζουσι ἐκτῆσθαι ποιηφαγέουσί τε· καὶ αὐτοῖσι ἐστὶ ὅσον κέγχρος τὸ μέγαθος ἐν κάλυκι, αὐτόματον ἐκ τῆς γῆς γινόμενον, τὸ συλλέγοντες αὐτῇ τῇ κάλυκι ἕψουσί τε καὶ σιτέονται. ὃς δʼ ἂν ἐς νοῦσον αὐτῶν πέσῃ, ἐλθὼν ἐς τὴν ἔρημον κεῖται· φροντίζει δὲ οὐδεὶς οὔτε ἀποθανόντος οὔτε κάμνοντος. 3.101. μίξις δὲ τούτων τῶν Ἰνδῶν τῶν κατέλεξα πάντων ἐμφανής ἐστι κατά περ τῶν προβάτων, καὶ τὸ χρῶμα φορέουσι ὅμοιον πάντες καὶ παραπλήσιον Αἰθίοψι. ἡ γονὴ δὲ αὐτῶν, τὴν ἀπίενται ἐς τὰς γυναῖκας, οὐ κατά περ τῶν ἄλλων ἀνθρώπων ἐστὶ λευκή, ἀλλὰ μέλαινα κατά περ τὸ χρῶμα. τοιαύτην δὲ καὶ Αἰθίοπες ἀπίενται θορήν. οὗτοι μὲν τῶν Ἰνδῶν ἑκαστέρω τῶν Περσέων οἰκέουσι καὶ πρὸς νότου ἀνέμου, καὶ Δαρείου βασιλέος οὐδαμὰ ὑπήκουσαν. 3.102. ἄλλοι δὲ τῶν Ἰνδῶν Κασπατύρῳ τε πόλι καὶ τῇ Πακτυϊκῇ χώρῃ εἰσὶ πρόσουροι, πρὸς ἄρκτου τε καὶ βορέω ἀνέμου κατοικημένοι τῶν ἄλλων Ἰνδῶν, οἳ Βακτρίοισι παραπλησίην ἔχουσι δίαιταν. οὗτοι καὶ μαχιμώτατοι εἰσὶ Ἰνδῶν καὶ οἱ ἐπὶ τὸν χρυσὸν στελλόμενοι εἰσὶ οὗτοι· κατὰ γὰρ τοῦτο ἐστὶ ἐρημίη διὰ τὴν ψάμμον. ἐν δὴ ὦν τῇ ἐρημίῃ ταύτῃ καὶ τῇ ψάμμῳ γίνονται μύρμηκες μεγάθεα ἔχοντες κυνῶν μὲν ἐλάσσονα ἀλωπέκων δὲ μέζονα· εἰσὶ γὰρ αὐτῶν καὶ παρὰ βασιλέι τῷ Περσέων ἐνθεῦτεν θηρευθέντες. οὗτοι ὦν οἱ μύρμηκες ποιεύμενοι οἴκησιν ὑπὸ γῆν ἀναφορέουσι τὴν ψάμμον κατά περ οἱ ἐν τοῖσι Ἕλλησι μύρμηκες κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον, εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ τὸ εἶδος ὁμοιότατοι· ἡ δὲ ψάμμος ἡ ἀναφερομένη ἐστὶ χρυσῖτις. ἐπὶ δὴ ταύτην τὴν ψάμμον στέλλονται ἐς τὴν ἔρημον οἱ Ἰνδοί, ζευξάμενος ἕκαστος καμήλους τρεῖς, σειρηφόρον μὲν ἑκατέρωθεν ἔρσενα παρέλκειν, θήλεαν δὲ ἐς μέσον· ἐπὶ ταύτην δὴ αὐτὸς ἀναβαίνει, ἐπιτηδεύσας ὅκως ἀπὸ τέκνων ὡς νεωτάτων ἀποσπάσας ζεύξει. αἱ γάρ σφι κάμηλοι ἵππων οὐκ ἥσσονες ἐς ταχυτῆτα εἰσί, χωρὶς δὲ ἄχθεα δυνατώτεραι πολλὸν φέρειν. 3.103. τὸ μὲν δὴ εἶδος ὁκοῖόν τι ἔχει ἡ κάμηλος, ἐπισταμένοισι τοῖσι Ἕλλησι οὐ συγγράφω· τὸ δὲ μὴ ἐπιστέαται αὐτῆς, τοῦτο φράσω· κάμηλος ἐν τοῖσι ὀπισθίοισι σκέλεσι ἔχει τέσσερας μηροὺς καὶ γούνατα τέσσερα, τά τε αἰδοῖα διὰ τῶν ὀπισθίων σκελέων πρὸς τὴν οὐρὴν τετραμμένα. 3.104. οἱ δὲ δὴ Ἰνδοὶ τρόπῳ τοιούτῳ καὶ ζεύξι τοιαύτῃ χρεώμενοι ἐλαύνουσι ἐπὶ τὸν χρυσὸν λελογισμένως ὅκως καυμάτων τῶν θερμοτάτων ἐόντων ἔσονται ἐν τῇ ἁρπαγῇ· ὑπὸ γὰρ τοῦ καύματος οἱ μύρμηκες ἀφανέες γίνονται ὑπὸ γῆν. θερμότατος δὲ ἐστὶ ὁ ἥλιος τούτοισι τοῖσι ἀνθρώποισι τὸ ἑωθινόν, οὐ κατά περ τοῖσι ἄλλοισι μεσαμβρίης, ἀλλʼ ὑπερτείλας μέχρι οὗ ἀγορῆς διαλύσιος. τοῦτον δὲ τὸν χρόνον καίει πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἢ τῇ μεσαμβρίῃ τὴν Ἑλλάδα, οὕτω ὥστʼ ἐν ὕδατι λόγος αὐτούς ἐστι βρέχεσθαι τηνικαῦτα. μεσοῦσα δὲ ἡ ἡμέρη σχεδὸν παραπλησίως καίει τούς τε ἄλλους ἀνθρώπους καὶ τοὺς Ἰνδούς. ἀποκλινομένης δὲ τῆς μεσαμβρίης γίνεταί σφι ὁ ἥλιος κατά περ τοῖσι ἄλλοισι ὁ ἑωθινός, καὶ τὸ ἀπὸ τούτου ἀπιὼν ἐπὶ μᾶλλον ψύχει, ἐς ὃ ἐπὶ δυσμῇσι ἐὼν καὶ τὸ κάρτα ψύχει. 3.105. ἐπεὰν δὲ ἔλθωσι ἐς τὸν χῶρον οἱ Ἰνδοὶ ἔχοντες θυλάκια, ἐμπλήσαντες ταῦτα τῆς ψάμμου τὴν ταχίστην ἐλαύνουσι ὀπίσω· αὐτίκα γὰρ οἱ μύρμηκες ὀδμῇ, ὡς δὴ λέγεται ὑπὸ Περσέων, μαθόντες διώκουσι. εἶναι δὲ ταχυτῆτα οὐδενὶ ἑτέρῳ ὅμοιον, οὕτω ὥστε, εἰ μὴ προλαμβάνειν τοὺς Ἰνδοὺς τῆς ὁδοῦ ἐν ᾧ τοὺς μύρμηκας συλλέγεσθαι, οὐδένα ἂν σφέων ἀποσώζεσθαι. τοὺς μέν νυν ἔρσενας τῶν καμήλων, εἶναι γὰρ ἥσσονας θέειν τῶν θηλέων, παραλύεσθαι ἐπελκομένους, οὐκ ὁμοῦ ἀμφοτέρους· τὰς δὲ θηλέας ἀναμιμνησκομένας τῶν ἔλιπον τέκνων ἐνδιδόναι μαλακὸν οὐδέν. τὸν μὲν δὴ πλέω τοῦ χρυσοῦ οὕτω οἱ Ἰνδοὶ κτῶνται, ὡς Πέρσαι φασί· ἄλλος δὲ σπανιώτερος ἐστι ἐν τῇ χώρῃ ὀρυσσόμενος. 3.106. αἱ δʼ ἐσχατιαί κως τῆς οἰκεομένης τὰ κάλλιστα ἔλαχον, κατά περ ἡ Ἑλλὰς τὰς ὥρας πολλόν τι κάλλιστα κεκρημένας ἔλαχε. τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ πρὸς τὴν ἠῶ ἐσχάτη τῶν οἰκεομενέων ἡ Ἰνδική ἐστι, ὥσπερ ὀλίγῳ πρότερον εἴρηκα· ἐν ταύτῃ τοῦτο μὲν τὰ ἔμψυχα, τετράποδά τε καὶ τὰ πετεινά, πολλῷ μέζω ἢ ἐν τοῖσι ἄλλοισι χωρίοισι ἐστί, πάρεξ τῶν ἵππων ʽοὗτοι δὲ ἑσσοῦνται ὑπὸ τῶν Μηδικῶν, Νησαίων δὲ καλευμένων ἵππων̓, τοῦτο δὲ χρυσὸς ἄπλετος αὐτόθι ἐστί, ὃ μὲν ὀρυσσόμενος, ὁ δὲ καταφορεύμενος ὑπὸ ποταμῶν, ὁ δὲ ὥσπερ ἐσήμηνα ἁρπαζόμενος. τὰ δὲ δένδρεα τὰ ἄγρια αὐτόθι φέρει καρπὸν εἴρια καλλονῇ τε προφέροντα καὶ ἀρετῇ τῶν ἀπὸ τῶν ὀίων· καὶ ἐσθῆτι Ἰνδοὶ ἀπὸ τούτων τῶν δενδρέων χρέωνται.
3.113. τοσαῦτα μὲν θυωμάτων πέρι εἰρήσθω, ἀπόζει δὲ τῆς χώρης τῆς Ἀραβίης θεσπέσιον ὡς ἡδύ. δύο δὲ γένεα ὀίων σφι ἐστὶ θώματος ἄξια, τὰ οὐδαμόθι ἑτέρωθι ἐστί. τὸ μὲν αὐτῶν ἕτερον ἔχει τὰς οὐρὰς μακράς, τριῶν πηχέων οὐκ ἐλάσσονας, τὰς εἴ τις ἐπείη σφι ἐπέλκειν, ἕλκεα ἂν ἔχοιεν ἀνατριβομενέων πρὸς τῇ γῇ τῶν οὐρέων· νῦν δʼ ἅπας τις τῶν ποιμένων ἐπίσταται ξυλουργέειν ἐς τοσοῦτο· ἁμαξίδας γὰρ ποιεῦντες ὑποδέουσι αὐτὰς τῇσι οὐρῇσι, ἑνὸς ἑκάστου κτήνεος τὴν οὐρὴν ἐπὶ ἁμαξίδα ἑκάστην καταδέοντες. τὸ δὲ ἕτερον γένος τῶν ὀίων τὰς οὐρὰς πλατέας φορέουσι καὶ ἐπὶ πῆχυν πλάτος. 3.114. ἀποκλινομένης δὲ μεσαμβρίης παρήκει πρὸς δύνοντα ἥλιον ἡ Αἰθιοπίη χώρη ἐσχάτη τῶν οἰκεομενέων· αὕτη δὲ χρυσόν τε φέρει πολλὸν καὶ ἐλέφαντας ἀμφιλαφέας καὶ δένδρεα πάντα ἄγρια καὶ ἔβενον καὶ ἄνδρας μεγίστους καὶ καλλίστους καὶ μακροβιωτάτους.
4.5. ὣς δὲ Σκύθαι λέγουσι, νεώτατον πάντων ἐθνέων εἶναι τὸ σφέτερον, τοῦτο δὲ γενέσθαι ὧδε. ἄνδρα γενέσθαι πρῶτον ἐν τῇ γῆ ταύτῃ ἐούσῃ ἐρήμῳ τῳ οὔνομα εἶναι Ταργιτάον· τοῦ δὲ Ταργιτάου τούτου τοὺς τοκέας λέγουσι εἶναι, ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐ πιστὰ λέγοντες, λέγουσι δʼ ὦν, Δία τε καὶ Βορυσθένεος τοῦ ποταμοῦ θυγατέρα. γένεος μὲν τοιούτου δὴ τινος γενέσθαι τὸν Ταργιτάον, τούτου δὲ γενέσθαι παῖδας τρεῖς, Λιπόξαϊν καὶ Ἀρπόξαϊν καὶ νεώτατον Κολάξαιν. ἐπὶ τούτων ἀρχόντων ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ φερομένα χρύσεα ποιήματα, ἄροτρόν τε καὶ ζυγόν καὶ σάγαριν καὶ φιάλην, πεσεῖν ἐς τὴν Σκυθικήν· καὶ τῶν ἰδόντα πρῶτον τὸν πρεσβύτατον ἆσσον ἰέναι βουλόμενον αὐτὰ λαβεῖν, τὸν δὲ χρυσόν ἐπιόντος καίεσθαι. ἀπαλλαχθέντος δὲ τούτου προσιέναι τὸν δεύτερον, καὶ τὸν αὖτις ταὐτὰ ποιέειν. τοὺς μὲν δὴ καιόμενον τὸν χρυσὸν ἀπώσασθαι, τρίτῳ δὲ τῷ νεωτάτῳ ἐπελθόντι κατασβῆναι, καὶ μιν ἐκεῖνον κομίσαι ἐς ἑωυτοῦ· καὶ τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους ἀδελφεοὺς πρὸς ταῦτα συγγνόντας τὴν βασιληίην πᾶσαν παραδοῦναι τῷ νεωτάτῳ. 4.6. ἀπὸ μὲν δὴ Λιποξάιος γεγονέναι τούτους τῶν Σκυθέων οἳ Αὐχάται γένος καλέονται, ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ μέσου Ἀρποξάιος οἳ Κατίαροί τε καὶ Τράσπιες καλέονται, ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ νεωτάτου αὐτῶν τοῦ βασιλέος οἳ καλέονται Παραλάται· σύμπασι δὲ εἶναι οὔνομα Σκολότους, τοῦ βασιλέος ἐπωνυμίην. Σκύθας δὲ Ἕλληνες ὠνόμασαν. 4.7. γεγονέναι μέν νυν σφέας ὧδε λέγουσι οἱ Σκύθαι, ἔτεα δὲ σφίσι ἐπείτε γεγόνασι τὰ σύμπαντα λέγουσι εἶναι ἀπὸ τοῦ πρώτου βασιλέος Ταργιτάου ἐς τὴν Δαρείου διάβασιν τὴν ἐπὶ σφέας χιλίων οὐ πλέω ἀλλὰ τοσαῦτα. τὸν δὲ χρυσόν τοῦτον τὸν ἱρὸν φυλάσσουσι οἱ βασιλέες ἐς τὰ μάλιστα, καὶ θυσίῃσι μεγάλῃσι ἱλασκόμενοι μετέρχονται ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος. ὃς δʼ ἂν ἔχων τὸν χρυσὸν τὸν ἱρὸν ἐν τῇ ὁρτῇ ὑπαίθριος κατακοιμηθῇ, οὗτος λέγεται ὑπὸ Σκυθέων οὐ διενιαυτίζειν. δίδοσθαι δέ οἱ διὰ τοῦτο ὅσα ἂν ἵππω ἐν ἡμέρῃ μιῇ περιελάσῃ αὐτὸς. τῆς δὲ χώρης ἐούσης μεγάλης τριφασίας τὰς βασιληίας τοῖσι παισὶ τοῖσι ἑωυτοῦ καταστήσασθαι Κολάξαιν, καὶ τουτέων μίαν ποιῆσαι μεγίστην, ἐν τῇ τὸν χρυσὸν φυλάσσεσθαι. τὰ δὲ κατύπερθε πρὸς βορέην λέγουσι ἄνεμον τῶν ὑπεροίκων τῆς χώρης οὐκ οἷὰ τε εἶναι ἔτι προσωτέρω οὔτε ὁρᾶν οὔτε διεξιέναι ὑπὸ πτερῶν κεχυμένων· πτερῶν γὰρ καὶ τήν γῆν καὶ τὸν ἠέρα εἶναι πλέον, καὶ ταῦτα εἶναι τὰ ἀποκληίοντα τὴν ὄψιν. 4.8. Σκύθαι μὲν ὧδε ὕπερ σφέων τε αὐτῶν καὶ τῆς χώρης τῆς κατύπερθε λέγουσι, Ἑλλήνων δὲ οἱ τὸν Πόντον οἰκέοντες ὧδε. Ἡρακλέα ἐλαύνοντα τὰς Γηρυόνεω βοῦς ἀπικέσθαι ἐς γῆν ταύτην ἐοῦσαν ἐρήμην, ἥντινα νῦν Σκύθαι νέμονται. Γηρυόνεα δὲ οἰκέειν ἔξω τοῦ Πόντου, κατοικημένον τὴν Ἕλληνές λέγουσι Ἐρύθειαν νῆσον τὴν πρὸς Γαδείροισι τοῖσι ἔξω Ἡρακλέων στηλέων ἐπὶ τῷ Ὠκεανῷ. τὸν δὲ Ὠκεανὸν λόγῳ μὲν λέγουσι ἀπὸ ἡλίου ἀνατολέων ἀρξάμενον γῆν περὶ πᾶσαν ῥέειν, ἔργῳ δὲ οὐκ ἀποδεικνῦσι. ἐνθεῦτεν τόν Ἡρακλέα ἀπικέσθαι ἐς τὴν νῦν Σκυθίην χώρην καλεομένην, καὶ καταλαβεῖν γὰρ αὐτὸν χειμῶνα τε καὶ κρυμὸν, ἐπειρυσάμενον τὴν λεοντέην κατυπνῶσαι, τὰς δὲ οἱ ἵππους τὰς 1 ὑπὸ τοῦ ἅρματος νεμομένας ἐν τούτῳ τῳ χρόνῳ ἀφανισθῆναι θείη τύχῃ. 4.9. ὥς δʼ ἐγερθῆναι τὸν Ἡρακλέα, δίζησθαι, πάντα δὲ τῆς χώρης ἐπεξελθόντα τέλος ἀπικέσθαι ἐς τὴν Ὑλαίην καλεομένην γῆν· ἐνθαῦτα δὲ αὐτὸν εὑρεῖν ἐν ἄντρῳ μιξοπάρθενον τινά, ἔχιδναν διφυέα, τῆς τὰ μὲν ἄνω ἀπὸ τῶν γλουτῶν εἶναι γυναικός, τὰ δὲ ἔνερθε ὄφιος. ἰδόντα δὲ καὶ θωμάσαντα ἐπειρέσθαι μιν εἴ κου ἴδοι ἵππους πλανωμένας· τὴν δὲ φάναι ἑωυτήν ἔχειν καὶ οὐκ ἀποδώσειν ἐκείνῳ πρὶν ἢ οἱ μιχθῇ· τό δὲ Ἡρακλέα μιχθῆναι ἐπὶ τῷ μισθῷ τούτῳ. κείνην τε δὴ ὑπερβάλλεσθαι τὴν ἀπόδοσιν τῶν ἵππων, βουλομένην ὡς πλεῖστον χρόνον συνεῖναι τῷ Ἡρακλεῖ, καὶ τὸν κομισάμενον ἐθέλειν ἀπαλλάσσεσθαι· τέλος δὲ ἀποδιδοῦσαν αὐτὴν εἰπεῖν Ἵππους μὲν δὴ ταύτας ἀπικομένας ἐνθάδε ἔσωσα τοὶ ἐγώ, σῶστρά τε σὺ παρέσχες· ἐγὼ γὰρ ἐκ σεῦ τρεῖς παῖδας ἔχω. τούτους, ἐπεὰν γένωνται τρόφιες, ὃ τι χρὴ ποιέειν, ἐξηγέο σύ, εἴτε αὐτοῦ κατοικίζω ʽχώρης γὰρ τῆσδε ἔχω τὸ κράτος αὕτἠ εἴτε ἀποπέμπω παρὰ σέ. τὴν μὲν δὴ ταῦτα ἐπειρωτᾶν, τὸν δὲ λέγουσι πρὸς ταῦτα εἰπεῖν “ἐπεὰν ἀνδρωθέντας ἴδῃ τοὺς παῖδας, τάδε ποιεῦσα οὐκ ἂν ἁμαρτάνοις· τὸν μὲν ἂν ὁρᾷς αὐτῶν τόδε τὸ τόξον ὧδε διατεινόμενον καὶ τῳ ζωστῆρι τῷδε κατὰ τάδε ζωννύμενον, τοῦτον μὲν τῆσδε τῆς χώρης οἰκήτορα ποιεῦ· ὃς δʼ ἂν τούτων τῶν ἔργων τῶν ἐντέλλομαι λείπηται, ἔκπεμπε ἐκ τῆς χώρης. καὶ ταῦτα ποιεῦσα αὐτή τε εὐφρανέαι καὶ τὰ ἐντεταλμένα ποιήσεις.” 4.10. τὸν μὲν δὴ εἰρύσαντα τῶν τόξων τὸ ἕτερον ʽδύο γὰρ δὴ φορέειν τέως Ἡρακλέἀ καὶ τὸν ζωστῆρα προδέξαντα, παραδοῦναι τὸ τόξον τε καὶ τὸν ζωστῆρα ἔχοντα ἐπʼ ἄκρης τῆς συμβολῆς φιάλην χρυσέην, δόντα δὲ ἀπαλλάσσεσθαι. τὴν δʼ, ἐπεὶ οἱ γενομένους τοὺς παῖδας ἀνδρωθῆναι, τοῦτο μὲν σφι οὐνόματα θέσθαι, τῷ μὲν Ἀγάθυρσον αὐτῶν, τῷ δʼ ἑπομένῳ Γελωνόν, Σκύθην δὲ τῷ νεωτάτῳ, τοῦτο δὲ τῆς ἐπιστολῆς μεμνημένην αὐτὴν ποιῆσαι τά ἐντεταλμένα. καὶ δὴ δύο μὲν οἱ τῶν παίδων, τόν τε Ἀγάθυρσον καὶ τὸν Γελωνόν, οὐκ οἵους τε γενομένους ἐξικέσθαι πρὸς τὸν προκείμενον ἄεθλον, οἴχεσθαι ἐκ τῆς χώρης ἐκβληθέντας ὑπὸ τῆς γειναμένης, τὸν δὲ νεώτατον αὐτῶν Σκύθην ἐπιτελέσαντα καταμεῖναι ἐν τῇ χωρῇ. καὶ ἀπὸ μὲν Σκύθεω τοῦ Ἡρακλέος γενέσθαι τοὺς αἰεὶ βασιλέας γινομένους Σκυθέων, ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς φιάλης ἔτι καὶ ἐς τόδε φιάλας ἐκ τῶν ζωστήρων φορέειν Σκύθας· τὸ δὴ μοῦνον μηχανήσασθαι τὴν μητέρα Σκύθῃ. 1 ταῦτα δὲ Ἑλλήνων οἱ τὸν Πόντον οἰκέοντες λέγουσι. 4.11. ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἄλλος λόγος ἔχων ὧδε, τῷ μάλιστα λεγομένῳ αὐτός πρόσκειμαι, Σκύθας τοὺς νομάδας οἰκέοντας ἐν τῇ Ἀσίῃ, πολέμῳ πιεσθέντας ὑπὸ Μασσαγετέων, οἴχεσθαι διαβάντας ποταμὸν Ἀράξην ἐπὶ γῆν τὴν Κιμμερίην ʽτὴν γὰρ νῦν νέμονται Σκύθαι, αὕτη λέγεται τὸ παλαιὸν εἶναι Κιμμερίων̓, τοὺς δὲ Κιμμερίους ἐπιόντων Σκυθέων βουλεύεσθαι ὡς στρατοῦ ἐπιόντος μεγάλου, καὶ δὴ τὰς γνώμας σφέων κεχωρισμένας, ἐντόνους μὲν ἀμφοτέρας, ἀμείνω δὲ τὴν τῶν βασιλέων· τὴν μὲν γὰρ δὴ τοῦ δήμου φέρειν γνώμην ὡς ἀπαλλάσσεσθαι πρῆγμα εἴη μηδὲ πρὸ σποδοῦ μένοντας κινδυνεύειν, τὴν δὲ τῶν βασιλέων διαμάχεσθαι περὶ τῆς χώρης τοῖσι ἐπιοῦσι. οὔκων δὴ ἐθέλειν πείθεσθαι οὔτε τοῖσι βασιλεῦσι τὸν δῆμον οὔτε τῷ δήμῳ τοὺς βασιλέας· τοὺς μὲν δὴ ἀπαλλάσσεσθαι βουλεύεσθαι ἀμαχητὶ τὴν χωρῆν παραδόντας τοῖσι ἐπιοῦσι· τοῖσι δὲ βασιλεῦσι δόξαι ἐν τῇ ἑωυτῶν κεῖσθαι ἀποθανόντας μηδὲ συμφεύγειν τῷ δήμῳ, λογισαμένους ὅσα τε ἀγαθὰ πεπόνθασι καὶ ὅσα φεύγοντας ἐκ τῆς πατρίδος κακὰ ἐπίδοξα καταλαμβάνειν. ὡς δὲ δόξαι σφι ταῦτα, διαστάντας καὶ ἀριθμὸν ἴσους γενομένους μάχεσθαι πρὸς ἀλλήλους. καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἀποθανόντας πάντας ὑπʼ ἑωυτῶν θάψαι τὸν δῆμον τῶν Κιμμερίων παρὰ ποταμὸν Τύρην ʽκαί σφεων ἔτι δῆλος ἐστὶ ὁ τάφοσ̓, θάψαντας δὲ οὕτω τὴν ἔξοδον ἐκ τῆς χώρης ποιέεσθαι· Σκύθας δὲ ἐπελθόντας λαβεῖν τὴν χώρην ἐρήμην. 4.12. καὶ νῦν ἔστι μὲν ἐν τῇ Σκυθικῇ Κιμμέρια τείχεα, ἔστι δὲ πορθμήια Κιμμέρια, ἔστι δὲ καὶ χωρῇ οὔνομα Κιμμερίη, ἔστι δὲ Βόσπορος Κιμμέριος καλεόμενος· φαίνονται δὲ οἱ Κιμμέριοι φεύγοντες ἐς τὴν Ἀσίην τοὺς Σκύθας καὶ τὴν χερσόνησον κτίσαντες, ἐν τῇ νῦν Σινώπη πόλις Ἑλλὰς οἴκισται. φανεροὶ δὲ εἰσὶ καὶ οἱ Σκύθαι διώξαντες αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐσβαλόντες ἐς γῆν τὴν Μηδικὴν, ἁμαρτόντες τῆς ὁδοῦ· οἱ μὲν γὰρ Κιμμέριοι αἰεὶ τὴν παρὰ θάλασσαν ἔφευγον, οἱ δὲ Σκύθαι ἐν δεξιῇ τὸν Καύκασον ἔχοντες ἐδίωκον ἐς οὗ ἐσέβαλον ἐς γῆν τὴν Μηδικήν, ἐς μεσόγαιαν τῆς ὁδοῦ τραφθέντες. οὗτος δὲ ἄλλος ξυνὸς Ἑλλήνων τε καὶ βαρβάρων λεγόμενος λόγος εἴρηται. 4.13. ἔφη δὲ Ἀριστέης ὁ Καϋστροβίου ἀνὴρ Προκοννήσιος ποιέων ἔπεα, ἀπικέσθαι ἐς Ἰσσηδόνας φοιβόλαμπτος γενόμενος, Ἰσσηδόνων δὲ ὑπεροικέειν Ἀριμασποὺς ἄνδρας μουνοφθάλμους ὕπερ δὲ τούτων τοὺς χρυσοφύλακας γρῦπας, τούτων δὲ τοὺς Ὑπερβορέους κατήκοντας ἐπὶ θάλασσαν. τούτους ὦν πάντας πλὴν Ὑπερβορέων, ἀρξάντων Ἀριμασπῶν, αἰεὶ τοῖσι πλησιοχώροισι ἐπιτίθεσθαι, καὶ ὑπὸ μὲν Ἀριμασπῶν ἐξωθέεσθαι ἐκ τῆς χώρης Ἰσσηδόνας, ὑπὸ δὲ Ἰσσηδόνων Σκύθας, Κιμμερίους δὲ οἰκέοντας ἐπὶ τῇ νοτίῃ θαλάσσῃ ὑπὸ Σκυθέων πιεζομένους ἐκλείπειν τὴν χώρην. οὕτω οὐδὲ οὗτος συμφέρεται περὶ τῆς χώρης ταύτης Σκύθῃσι. 4.14. καὶ ὅθεν μὲν ἦν Ἀριστέης ὁ ταῦτα εἴπας, εἴρηκα, τὸν δὲ περὶ αὐτοῦ ἤκουον λόγον ἐν Προκοννήσῳ καί Κυζίκῳ, λέξω. Ἀριστέην γὰρ λέγουσι, ἐόντα τῶν ἀστῶν οὐδενὸς γένος ὑποδεέστερον, ἐσελθόντα ἐς κναφήιον ἐν Προκοννήσῳ ἀποθανεῖν, καὶ τόν κναφέα κατακληίσαντα τὸ ἐργαστήριον οἴχεσθαι ἀγγελέοντα τοῖσι προσήκουσι τῷ νεκρῷ. ἐσκεδασμένου δὲ ἤδη τοῦ λόγου ἀνὰ τὴν πόλιν ὡς τεθνεώς εἴη ὁ Ἀριστέης, ἐς ἀμφισβασίας τοῖσι λέγουσι ἀπικνέεσθαι ἄνδρα Κυζικηνὸν ἥκοντα ἐξ Ἀρτάκης πόλιος, φάντα συντυχεῖν τε οἱ ἰόντι ἐπὶ Κυζίκου καὶ ἐς λόγους ἀπικέσθαι. καὶ τοῦτον μὲν ἐντεταμένως ἀμφισβατέειν, τοὺς δὲ προσήκοντας τῷ νεκρῷ ἐπὶ τὸ κναφήιον παρεῖναι ἔχοντας τὰ πρόσφορα ὡς ἀναιρησομένους· ἀνοιχθέντος δὲ τοῦ οἰκήματος οὔτε τεθνεῶτα οὔτε ζῶντα φαίνεσθαι Ἀριστέην. μετὰ δὲ ἑβδόμῳ ἔτει φανέντα αὐτὸν ἐς Προκόννησον ποιῆσαι τὰ ἔπεα ταῦτα τὰ νῦν ὑπʼ Ἑλλήνων Ἀριμάσπεα καλέεται, ποιήσαντα δὲ ἀφανισθῆναι τὸ δεύτερον. 4.15. ταῦτα μὲν αἱ πόλιες αὗται λέγουσι, τάδε δὲ οἶδα Μεταποντίνοισι τοῖσι ἐν Ἰταλίῃ συγκυρήσαντα μετὰ τὴν ἀφάνισιν τὴν δευτέρην Ἀριστέω ἔτεσι τεσσεράκοντα καὶ διηκοσίοισι, ὡς ἐγὼ συμβαλλόμενος ἐν Προκοννήσῳ τε καὶ Μεταποντίῳ εὕρισκον. Μεταποντῖνοι φασὶ αὐτὸν Ἀριστέην φανέντα σφι ἐς τὴν χώρην κελεῦσαι βωμὸν Ἀπόλλωνος ἱδρύσασθαι καὶ Ἀριστέω τοῦ Προκοννησίου ἐπωνυμίην ἔχοντα ἀνδριάντα πὰρʼ αὐτὸν ἱστάναι· φάναι γὰρ σφι τὸν Ἀπόλλωνα Ἰταλιωτέων μούνοισι δὴ ἀπικέσθαι ἐς τὴν χώρην, καὶ αὐτὸς οἱ ἕπεσθαι ὁ νῦν ἐὼν Ἀριστέης· τότε δὲ, ὅτε εἵπετο τῷ θεῷ, εἶναι κόραξ. καὶ τὸν μὲν εἰπόντα ταῦτα ἀφανισθῆναι, σφέας δὲ Μεταποντῖνοι λέγουσι ἐς Δελφοὺς πέμψαντας τὸν θεὸν ἐπειρωτᾶν ὃ τι τὸ φάσμα τοῦ ἀνθρώπου εἴη. τὴν δὲ Πυθίην σφέας κελεύειν πείθεσθαι τῷ φάσματι, πειθομένοισι δὲ ἄμεινον συνοίσεσθαι. καὶ σφέας δεξαμένους ταῦτα ποιῆσαι ἐπιτελέα. καὶ νῦν ἔστηκε ἀνδριὰς ἐπωνυμίην ἔχων Ἀριστέω παρʼ αὐτῷ τῷ ἀγάλματι τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος, πέριξ δὲ αὐτὸν δάφναι ἑστᾶσι· τὸ δὲ ἄγαλμα ἐν τῇ ἀγορῇ ἵδρυται. Ἀριστέω μέν νυν πέρι τοσαῦτα εἰρήσθω. 4.16. τῆς δὲ γῆς, τῆς πέρι ὅδε ὁ λόγος ὅρμηται λέγεσθαι, οὐδεὶς οἶδε ἀτρεκέως ὃ τι τὸ κατύπερθε ἐστί· οὐδενὸς γὰρ δὴ αὐτόπτεω εἰδέναι φαμένου δύναμαι πυθέσθαι· οὐδὲ γὰρ οὐδὲ Ἀριστέης, τοῦ περ ὀλίγῳ πρότερον τούτων μνήμην ἐποιεύμην, οὐδὲ οὗτος προσωτέρω Ἰσσηδόνων ἐν αὐτοῖσι τοῖσι ἔπεσι ποιέων ἔφησε ἀπικέσθαι, ἀλλὰ τὰ κατύπερθε ἔλεγε ἀκοῇ, φασʼ Ἰσσηδόνας εἶναι τοὺς ταῦτα λέγοντας. ἀλλʼ ὅσον μὲν ἡμεῖς ἀτρεκέως ἐπὶ μακρότατον οἷοι τε ἐγενόμεθα ἀκοῇ ἐξικέσθαι, πᾶν εἰρήσεται. 4.17. ἀπὸ τοῦ Βορυσθενειτέων ἐμπορίου ʽτοῦτο γὰρ τῶν παραθαλασσίων μεσαίτατον ἐστὶ πάσης τῆς Σκυθίησ̓, ἀπὸ τούτου πρῶτοι Καλλιππίδαι νέμονται ἐόντες Ἕλληνές Σκύθαι, ὕπερ δὲ τούτων ἄλλο ἔθνος οἳ Ἀλαζόνες καλέονται. οὗτοι δὲ καὶ οἱ Καλλιππίδαι τὰ μὲν ἄλλα κατὰ ταὐτὰ Σκύθῃσι ἐπασκέουσι, σῖτον δὲ καὶ σπείρουσι καὶ σιτέονται, καὶ κρόμμυα καὶ σκόροδα καὶ φακούς καὶ κέγχρους. ὕπερ δὲ Ἀλαζόνων οἰκέουσι Σκύθαι ἀροτῆρες, οἳ οὐκ ἐπὶ σιτήσι σπείρουσι τὸν σῖτον ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ πρήσι. τούτων δὲ κατύπερθε οἰκέουσι Νευροί. Νευρῶν δὲ τὸ πρὸς βορέην ἄνεμον ἔρημον ἀνθρώπων, ὅσον ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν. 4.18. ταῦτα μὲν παρὰ τὸν Ὕπανιν ποταμὸν ἐστι ἔθνεα πρὸς ἑσπέρης τοῦ Βορυσθένεος· ἀτὰρ διαβάντι τὸν Βορυσθένεα ἀπὸ θαλάσσης πρῶτον μὲν ᾗ Ὑλαίη, ἀπὸ δὲ ταύτης ἄνω ἰόντι οἰκέουσι Σκύθαι γεωργοί, τοὺς Ἕλληνές οἱ οἰκέοντες ἐπὶ τῷ Ὑπάνι ποταμῷ καλέουσι Βορυσθενεΐτας, σφέας δὲ αὐτοὺς Ὀλβιοπολίτας. οὗτοι ὦν οἱ γεωργοὶ Σκύθαι νέμονται τὸ μὲν πρὸς τὴν ἠῶ ἐπὶ τρεῖς ἡμέρας ὁδοῦ, κατήκοντες ἐπὶ ποταμὸν τῷ οὔνομα κεῖται Παντικάπης, τὸ δὲ πρὸς βορέην ἄνεμον πλόον ἀνὰ τὸν Βορυσθένεα ἡμερέων ἕνδεκα. ἤδη δὲ κατύπερθε τούτων ᾗ ἔρημος ἐστὶ ἐπὶ πολλὸν. μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἔρημον Ἀνδροφάγοι οἰκέουσι, ἔθνος ἐὸν ἴδιον καὶ οὐδαμῶς Σκυθικόν. τὸ δὲ τούτων κατύπερθε ἔρημον ἤδη ἀληθέως καὶ ἔθνος ἀνθρώπων οὐδέν, ὅσον ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν. 4.19. τὸ δὲ πρὸς τὴν ἠῶ τῶν γεωργῶν τούτων Σκυθέων, διαβάντι τὸν Παντικάπην ποταμόν, νομάδες ἤδη Σκύθαι νέμονται, οὔτε τι σπείροντες οὐδέν οὔτε ἀροῦντες· ψιλή δέ δενδρέων ἡ πᾶσα αὕτη πλήν τῆς Ὑλαίης. οἱ δὲ νομάδες οὗτοι τὸ πρὸς τὴν ἠῶ ἡμερέων τεσσέρων καὶ δέκα ὁδὸν νέμονται χώρην κατατείνουσαν ἐπὶ ποταμὸν Γέρρον. 4.20. πέρην δὲ τοῦ Γέρρου ταῦτα δὴ τὰ καλεύμενα βασιλήια ἐστὶ καὶ Σκύθαι οἱ ἄριστοί τε καὶ πλεῖστοι καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους νομίζοντες Σκύθας δούλους σφετέρους εἶναι· κατήκουσι δὲ οὗτοι τὸ μὲν πρὸς μεσαμβρίην ἐς τὴν Ταυρικήν, τὸ δὲ πρὸς ἠῶ ἐπί τε τάφρον, τὴν δὴ οἱ ἐκ τῶν τυφλῶν γενόμενοι ὤρυξαν, καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς λίμνης τῆς Μαιήτιδος τὸ ἐμπόριον τὸ καλέεται Κρημνοί· τὰ δὲ αὐτῶν κατήκουσι ἐπὶ ποταμὸν Τάναϊν. τὰ δὲ κατύπερθε πρὸς βορέην ἄνεμον τῶν βασιληίων Σκυθέων οἰκέουσι Μελάγχλαινοι, ἄλλο ἔθνος καὶ οὐ Σκυθικὸν. Μελαγχλαίνων δὲ τὸ κατύπερθε λίμναι καὶ ἔρημος ἐστὶ ἀνθρώπων, κατʼ ὅσον ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν. 4.21. Τάναϊν δὲ ποταμὸν διαβάντι οὐκέτι Σκυθική, ἀλλʼ ἡ μὲν πρώτη τῶν λαξίων Σαυροματέων ἐστί, οἳ ἐκ τοῦ μυχοῦ ἀρξάμενοι τῆς Μαιήτιδος λίμνης νέμονται τὸ πρὸς βορέην ἄνεμον ἡμερέων πεντεκαίδεκα ὁδόν, πᾶσαν ἐοῦσαν ψιλὴν καὶ ἀγρίων καὶ ἡμέρων δενδρέων· ὑπεροικέουσι δὲ τούτων δευτέρην λάξιν ἔχοντες Βουδῖνοι, γῆν νεμόμενοι πᾶσαν δασέαν ὕλη παντοίῃ. 4.22. Βουδίνων δὲ κατύπερθε πρὸς βορέην ἐστὶ πρώτη μὲν ἔρημος ἐπʼ ἡμερέων ἑπτὰ ὁδόν, μετὰ δὲ τὴν ἔρημον ἀποκλίνοντι μᾶλλον πρὸς ἀπηλιώτην ἄνεμον νέμονται Θυσσαγέται, ἔθνος πολλὸν καὶ ἴδιον· ζῶσι δὲ ἀπὸ θήρης. συνεχέες δὲ τούτοισι ἐν τοῖσι αὐτοῖσι τόποισι κατοικημένοι εἰσὶ τοῖσι οὔνομα κεῖται Ἰύρκαι, καὶ οὗτοι ἀπὸ θήρης ζῶντες τρόπῳ τοιῷδε· λοχᾷ ἐπὶ δένδρεον ἀναβάς, τὰ δὲ ἐστὶ πυκνὰ ἀνὰ πᾶσαν τὴν χώρην· ἵππος δὲ ἑκάστῳ δεδιδαγμένος ἐπὶ γαστέρα κεῖσθαι ταπεινότητος εἵνεκα ἕτοιμος ἐστὶ καὶ κύων· ἐπεὰν δὲ ἀπίδῃ τὸ θηρίον ἀπὸ τοῦ δενδρέου, τοξεύσας ἐπιβὰς ἐπὶ τὸν ἵππον διώκει, καὶ ὁ κύων ἔχεται, ὑπὲρ δὲ τούτων τὸ πρὸς τὴν ἠῶ ἀποκλίνοντι οἰκέουσι Σκύθαι ἄλλοι, ἀπὸ τῶν βασιληίων Σκυθέων ἀποστάντες καὶ οὕτω ἀπικόμενοι ἐς τοῦτον τὸν χῶρον. 4.23. μέχρι μὲν δὴ τῆς τούτων τῶν Σκυθέων χώρης ἐστὶ ἡ καταλεχθεῖσα πᾶσα πεδιάς τε γῆ καὶ βαθύγαιος, τὸ δʼ ἀπὸ τούτου λιθώδης τʼ ἐστὶ καὶ τρηχέα. διεξελθόντι δὲ καὶ τῆς τρηχέης χώρης πολλὸν οἰκέουσι ὑπώρεαν ὀρέων ὑψηλῶν ἄνθρωποι λεγόμενοι εἶναι πάντες φαλακροὶ ἐκ γενετῆς γινόμενοι, καὶ ἔρσενες καὶ θήλεαι ὁμοίως, καὶ σιμοὶ καὶ γένεια ἔχοντες μεγάλα, φωνὴν δὲ ἰδίην ἱέντες, ἐσθῆτι δὲ χρεώμενοι Σκυθικῇ, ζῶντες δὲ ἀπὸ δενδρέων. ποντικὸν μὲν οὔνομα τῷ δενδρέῳ ἀπʼ οὗ ζῶσι, μέγαθος δὲ κατὰ συκέην μάλιστά κῃ. καρπὸν δὲ φορέει κυάμῳ ἴσον, πυρῆνα δὲ ἔχει. τοῦτο ἐπεὰν γένηται πέπον, σακκέουσι ἱματίοισι, ἀπορρέει δὲ ἀπʼ αὐτοῦ παχὺ καὶ μέλαν· οὔνομα δὲ τῷ ἀπορρέοντι ἐστὶ ἄσχυ· τοῦτο καὶ λείχουσι καὶ γάλακτι συμμίσγοντες πίνουσι, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς παχύτητος αὐτοῦ τῆς τρυγὸς παλάθας συντιθεῖσι καὶ ταύτας σιτέονται. πρόβατα γάρ σφι οὐ πολλά ἐστι. οὐ γάρ τι σπουδαῖαι αἱ νομαὶ αὐτόθι εἰσί. ὑπὸ δενδρέῳ δὲ ἕκαστος κατοίκηται, τὸν μὲν χειμῶνα ἐπεὰν τὸ δένδρεον περικαλύψῃ πίλῳ στεγνῷ λευκῷ, τὸ δὲ θέρος ἄνευ πίλου. τούτους οὐδεὶς ἀδικέει ἀνθρώπων· ἱροὶ γὰρ λέγονται εἶναι· οὐδέ τι ἀρήιον ὅπλον ἐκτέαται. καὶ τοῦτο μὲν τοῖσι περιοικέουσι οὗτοι εἰσὶ οἱ τὰς διαφορὰς διαιρέοντες, τοῦτο δὲ ὃς ἂν φεύγων καταφύγῃ ἐς τούτους, ὑπʼ οὐδενὸς ἀδικέεται· οὔνομα δέ σφι ἐστὶ Ἀργιππαῖοι. 4.24. μέχρι μέν νυν τῶν φαλακρῶν τούτων πολλὴ περιφανείη τῆς χώρης ἐστὶ καὶ τῶν ἔμπροσθε ἐθνέων· καὶ γὰρ Σκυθέων τινὲς ἀπικνέονται ἐς αὐτούς, τῶν οὐ χαλεπόν ἐστι πυθέσθαι καὶ Ἑλλήνων τῶν ἐκ Βορυσθένεος τε ἐμπορίου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Ποντικῶν ἐμπορίων· Σκυθέων δὲ οἳ ἂν ἔλθωσι ἐς αὐτούς, διʼ ἑπτὰ ἑρμηνέων καὶ διʼ ἑπτὰ γλωσσέων διαπρήσσονται. 4.25. μέχρι μὲν δὴ τούτων γινώσκεται, τὸ δὲ τῶν φαλακρῶν κατύπερθε οὐδεὶς ἀτρεκέως οἶδε φράσαι. ὄρεα γὰρ ὑψηλὰ ἀποτάμνει ἄβατα καὶ οὐδείς σφεα ὑπερβαίνει. οἱ δὲ φαλακροὶ οὗτοι λέγουσι, ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐ πιστὰ λέγοντες, οἰκέειν τὰ ὄρεα αἰγίποδας ἄνδρας, ὑπερβάντι δὲ τούτους ἀνθρώπους ἄλλους οἳ τὴν ἑξάμηνον κατεύδουσι. τοῦτο δὲ οὐκ ἐνδέκομαι τὴν ἀρχήν, ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν πρὸς ἠῶ τῶν φαλακρῶν γινώσκεται ἀτρεκέως ὑπὸ Ἰσσηδόνων οἰκεόμενον, τὸ μέντοι κατύπερθε πρὸς βορέην ἄνεμον οὐ γινώσκεται οὔτε τῶν φαλακρῶν οὔτε τῶν Ἰσσηδόνων, εἰ μὴ ὅσα αὐτῶν τούτων λεγόντων. 4.26. νόμοισι δὲ Ἰσσηδόνες τοῖσιδε λέγονται χρᾶσθαι. ἐπεὰν ἀνδρὶ ἀποθάνῃ πατήρ, οἱ προσήκοντες πάντες προσάγουσι πρόβατα, καὶ ἔπειτα ταῦτα θύσαντες καὶ καταταμόντες τὰ κρέα κατατάμνουσι καὶ τὸν τοῦ δεκομένου τεθνεῶτα γονέα, ἀναμίξαντες δὲ πάντα τὰ κρέα δαῖτα προτίθενται· τὴν δὲ κεφαλὴν αὐτοῦ ψιλώσαντες καὶ ἐκκαθήραντες καταχρυσοῦσι καὶ ἔπειτα ἅτε ἀγάλματι χρέωνται, θυσίας μεγάλας ἐπετείους ἐπιτελέοντες. παῖς δὲ πατρὶ τοῦτο ποιέει, κατά περ Ἕλληνες τὰ γενέσια. ἄλλως δὲ δίκαιοι καὶ οὗτοι λέγονται εἶναι, ἰσοκρατέες δὲ ὁμοίως αἱ γυναῖκες τοῖσι ἀνδράσι. 4.27. γινώσκονται μὲν δὴ καὶ οὗτοι, τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ τούτων τὸ κατύπερθε Ἰσσηδόνες εἰσὶ οἱ λέγοντες μουνοφθάλμους ἀνθρώπους καὶ χρυσοφύλακας γρῦπας εἶναι· παρὰ δὲ τούτων Σκύθαι παραλαβόντες λέγουσι, παρὰ δὲ Σκυθέων ἡμεῖς οἱ ἄλλοι νενομίκαμεν καὶ ὀνομάζομεν αὐτοὺς σκυθιστὶ Ἀριμασπούς· ἄριμα γὰρ ἓν καλέουσι Σκύθαι, σποῦ δὲ ὀφθαλμόν. 4.28. δυσχείμερος δὲ αὕτη ἡ καταλεχθεῖσα πᾶσα χώρη οὕτω δή τι ἐστί, ἔνθα τοὺς μὲν ὀκτὼ τῶν μηνῶν ἀφόρητος οἷος γίνεται κρυμός, ἐν τοῖσι ὕδωρ ἐκχέας πηλὸν οὐ ποιήσεις, πῦρ δὲ ἀνακαίων ποιήσεις πηλόν· 1 ἡ δὲ θάλασσα πήγνυται καὶ ὁ Βόσπορος πᾶς ὁ Κιμμέριος, καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ κρυστάλλου οἱ ἐντὸς τάφρου Σκύθαι κατοικημένοι στρατεύονται καὶ τὰς ἁμάξας ἐπελαύνουσι πέρην ἐς τοὺς Σίνδους. οὕτω μὲν δὴ τοὺς ὀκτὼ μῆνας διατελέει χειμὼν ἐών, τοὺς δʼ ἐπιλοίπους τέσσερας ψύχεα αὐτόθι ἐστί. κεχώρισται δὲ οὗτος ὁ χειμὼν τοὺς τρόπους πᾶσι τοῖσι ἐν ἄλλοισι χωρίοισι γινομένοισι χειμῶσι, ἐν τῷ τὴν μὲν ὡραίην οὐκ ὕει λόγου ἄξιον οὐδέν, τὸ δὲ θέρος ὕων οὐκ ἀνιεῖ· βρονταί τε ἦμος τῇ ἄλλῃ γίνονται, τηνικαῦτα μὲν οὐ γίνονται, θέρεος δὲ ἀμφιλαφέες· ἢν δὲ χειμῶνος βροντὴ γένηται, ὡς τέρας νενόμισται θωμάζεσθαι. ὣς δὲ καὶ ἢν σεισμὸς γένηται ἤν τε θέρεος ἤν τε χειμῶνος ἐν τῇ Σκυθικῇ, τέρας νενόμισται. ἵπποι δὲ ἀνεχόμενοι φέρουσι τὸν χειμῶνα τοῦτον, ἡμίονοι δὲ οὐδὲ ὄνοι οὐκ ἀνέχονται ἀρχήν· τῇ δὲ ἄλλῃ ἵπποι μὲν ἐν κρυμῷ ἑστεῶτες ἀποσφακελίζουσι, ὄνοι δὲ καὶ ἡμίονοι ἀνέχονται. 4.29. δοκέει δέ μοι καὶ τὸ γένος τῶν βοῶν τὸ κόλον διὰ ταῦτα οὐ φύειν κέρεα αὐτόθι· μαρτυρέει δέ μοι τῇ γνώμῃ καὶ Ὁμήρου ἔπος ἐν Ὀδυσσείῃ ἔχον ὧδε, καὶ Λιβύην, ὅθι τʼ ἄρνες ἄφαρ κεραοὶ τελέθουσι, Hom. Od. 4.85 ὀρθῶς εἰρημένον, ἐν τοῖσι θερμοῖσι ταχὺ παραγίνεσθαι τὰ κέρεα, ἐν δὲ τοῖσι ἰσχυροῖσι ψύχεσι ἢ οὐ φύειν κέρεα τὰ κτήνεα ἀρχὴν ἡ φύοντα φύειν μόγις. 4.30. ἐνθαῦτα μέν νυν διὰ τὰ ψύχεα γίνεται ταῦτα. θωμάζω δέ ʽπροσθήκας γὰρ δή μοι ὁ λόγος ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐδίζητὀ ὅτι ἐν τῇ Ἠλείῃ πάσῃ χώρῃ οὐ δυνέαται γίνεσθαι ἡμίονοι, οὔτε ψυχροῦ τοῦ χώρου ἐόντος οὔτε ἄλλου φανεροῦ αἰτίου οὐδενός. φασὶ δὲ αὐτοὶ Ἠλεῖοι ἐκ κατάρης τευ οὐ γίνεσθαι σφίσι ἡμιόνους, ἀλλʼ ἐπεὰν προσίῃ ἡ ὥρη κυΐσκεσθαι τὰς ἵππους, ἐξελαύνουσι ἐς τοὺς πλησιοχώρους αὐτάς, καὶ ἔπειτά σφι ἐν τῇ τῶν πέλας ἐπιεῖσι τοὺς ὄνους, ἐς οὗ ἂν σχῶσι αἱ ἵπποι ἐν γαστρί· ἔπειτα δὲ ἀπελαύνουσι. 4.31. περὶ δὲ τῶν πτερῶν τῶν Σκύθαι λέγουσι ἀνάπλεον εἶναι τὸν ἠέρα, καὶ τούτων εἵνεκα οὐκ οἷοί τε εἶναι οὔτε ἰδεῖν τὸ πρόσω τῆς ἠπείρου οὔτε διεξιέναι, τήνδε ἔχω περὶ αὐτῶν γνώμην· τὰ κατύπερθε ταύτης τῆς χώρης αἰεὶ νίφεται, ἐλάσσονι δὲ τοῦ θέρεος ἢ τοῦ χειμῶνος, ὥσπερ καὶ οἰκός. ἤδη ὦν ὅστις ἀγχόθεν χιόνα ἁδρὴν πίπτουσαν εἶδε οἶδε τὸ λέγω· ἔοικε γὰρ ἡ χιὼν πτεροῖσι καὶ διὰ τὸν χειμῶνα τοῦτον ἐόντα τοιοῦτον ἀνοίκητα τὰ πρὸς βορέην ἐστὶ τῆς ἠπείρου ταύτης. τὰ ὦν πτερὰ εἰκάζοντας τὴν χιόνα τοὺς Σκύθας τε καὶ τοὺς περιοίκους δοκέω λέγειν. ταῦτα μέν νυν τὰ λέγεται μακρότατα εἴρηται. 4.32. Ὑπερβορέων δὲ πέρι ἀνθρώπων οὔτε τι Σκύθαι λέγουσι οὐδὲν οὔτε τινὲς ἄλλοι τῶν ταύτῃ οἰκημένων, εἰ μὴ ἄρα Ἰσσηδόνες. ὡς δὲ ἐγὼ δοκέω, οὐδʼ οὗτοι λέγουσι οὐδέν· ἔλεγον γὰρ ἂν καὶ Σκύθαι, ὡς περὶ τῶν μουνοφθάλμων λέγουσι. ἀλλʼ Ἡσιόδῳ μὲν ἐστὶ περὶ Ὑπερβορέων εἰρημένα, ἔστι δὲ καὶ Ὁμήρῳ ἐν Ἐπιγόνοισι, εἰ δὴ τῷ ἐόντι γε Ὅμηρος ταῦτα τὰ ἔπεα ἐποίησε. 4.33. πολλῷ δέ τι πλεῖστα περὶ αὐτῶν Δήλιοι λέγουσι, φάμενοι ἱρὰ ἐνδεδεμένα ἐν καλάμῃ πυρῶν ἐξ Ὑπερβορέων φερόμενα ἀπικνέεσθαι ἐς Σκύθας, ἀπὸ δὲ Σκυθέων ἤδη δεκομένους αἰεὶ τοὺς πλησιοχώρους ἑκάστους κομίζειν αὐτὰ τὸ πρὸς ἑσπέρης ἑκαστάτω ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀδρίην, ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ πρὸς μεσαμβρίην προπεμπόμενα πρώτους Δωδωναίους Ἑλλήνων δέκεσθαι, ἀπὸ δὲ τούτων καταβαίνειν ἐπὶ τὸν Μηλιέα κόλπον καὶ διαπορεύεσθαι ἐς Εὔβοιαν, πόλιν τε ἐς πόλιν πέμπειν μέχρι Καρύστου, τὸ δʼ ἀπὸ ταύτης ἐκλιπεῖν Ἄνδρον· Καρυστίους γὰρ εἶναι τοὺς κομίζοντας ἐς Τῆνον, Τηνίους δὲ ἐς Δῆλον. ἀπικνέεσθαι μέν νυν οὕτω ταῦτα τὰ ἱρὰ λέγουσι ἐς Δῆλον· πρῶτον δὲ τοὺς Ὑπερβορέους πέμψαι φερούσας τὰ ἱρὰ δὺο κόρας, τὰς ὀνομάζουσι Δήλιοι εἶναι Ὑπερόχην τε καὶ Λαοδίκην· ἅμα δὲ αὐτῇσι ἀσφαλείης εἵνεκεν πέμψαι τοὺς Ὑπερβορέους τῶν ἀστῶν ἄνδρας πέντε πομπούς, τούτους οἳ νῦν Περφερέες καλέονται τιμὰς μεγάλας ἐν Δήλῳ ἔχοντες. ἐπεὶ δὲ τοῖσι Ὑπερβορέοισι τοὺς ἀποπεμφθέντας ὀπίσω οὐκ ἀπονοστέειν, δεινὰ ποιευμένους εἰ σφέας αἰεὶ καταλάμψεται ἀποστέλλοντας μὴ ἀποδέκεσθαι, οὕτω δὴ φέροντας ἐς τοὺς οὔρους τὰ ἱρὰ ἐνδεδεμένα ἐν πυρῶν καλάμῃ τοὺς πλησιοχώρους ἐπισκήπτειν κελεύοντας προπέμπειν σφέα ἀπὸ ἑωυτῶν ἐς ἄλλο ἔθνος. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν οὕτω προπεμπόμενα ἀπικνέεσθαι λέγουσι ἐς Δῆλον. οἶδα δὲ αὐτὸς τούτοισι τοῖσι ἱροῖσι τόδε ποιεύμενον προσφερές, τὰς Θρηικίας καὶ τὰς Παιονίδας γυναῖκας, ἐπεὰν θύωσι τῇ Ἀρτέμιδι τῇ βασιλείῃ, οὐκ ἄνευ πυρῶν καλάμης ἐχούσας τὰ ἱρά. 4.34. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν δὴ ταύτας οἶδα ποιεύσας· τῇσι δὲ παρθένοισι ταύτῃσι τῇσι ἐξ Ὑπερβορέων τελευτησάσῃσι ἐν Δήλῳ κείρονται καὶ αἱ κόραι καὶ οἱ παῖδες οἱ Δηλίων· αἱ μὲν πρὸ γάμου πλόκαμον ἀποταμνόμεναι καὶ περὶ ἄτρακτον εἱλίξασαι ἐπὶ τὸ σῆμα τιθεῖσι ʽτὸ δὲ σῆμα ἐστὶ ἔσω ἐς τὸ Ἀρτεμίσιον ἐσιόντι ἀριστερῆς χειρός, ἐπιπέφυκε δέ οἱ ἐλαίἠ, ὅσοι δὲ παῖδες τῶν Δηλίων, περὶ χλόην τινὰ εἱλίξαντες τῶν τριχῶν τιθεῖσι καὶ οὗτοι ἐπὶ τὸ σῆμα. 4.35. αὗται μὲν δὴ ταύτην τιμὴν ἔχουσι πρὸς τῶν Δήλου οἰκητόρων. φασὶ δὲ οἱ αὐτοὶ οὗτοι καὶ τὴν Ἄργην τε καὶ τὴν Ὦπιν ἐούσας παρθένους ἐξ Ὑπερβορέων κατὰ τοὺς αὐτοὺς τούτους ἀνθρώπους πορευομένας ἀπικέσθαι ἐς Δῆλον ἔτι πρότερον Ὑπερόχης τε καὶ Λαοδίκης. ταύτας μέν νυν τῇ Εἰλειθυίῃ ἀποφερούσας ἀντὶ τοῦ ὠκυτόκου τὸν ἐτάξαντο φόρον ἀπικέσθαι, τὴν δὲ Ἄργην τε καὶ τὴν Ὦπιν ἅμα αὐτοῖσι θεοῖσι ἀπικέσθαι λέγουσι καὶ σφι τιμὰς ἄλλας δεδόσθαι πρὸς σφέων· καὶ γὰρ ἀγείρειν σφι τὰς γυναῖκας ἐπονομαζούσας τὰ οὐνόματα ἐν τῷ ὕμνῳ τόν σφι Ὠλὴν ἀνὴρ Λύκιος ἐποίησε, παρὰ δὲ σφέων μαθόντας νησιώτας τε καὶ Ἴωνας ὑμνέειν Ὦπίν τε καὶ Ἄργην ὀνομάζοντάς τε καὶ ἀγείροντας ʽοὗτος δὲ ὁ Ὠλὴν καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους τοὺς παλαιοὺς ὕμνους ἐποίησε ἐκ Λυκίης ἐλθὼν τοὺς ἀειδομένους ἐν Δήλᾠ, καὶ τῶν μηρίων καταγιζομένων ἐπὶ τῷ βωμῷ τὴν σποδὸν ταύτην ἐπὶ τὴν θήκην τῆς Ὤπιός τε καὶ Ἄργης ἀναισιμοῦσθαι ἐπιβαλλομένην. ἡ δὲ θήκη αὐτέων ἐστὶ ὄπισθε τοῦ Ἀρτεμισίου, πρὸς ἠῶ τετραμμένη, ἀγχοτάτω τοῦ Κηίων ἱστιητορίου. 4.36. καὶ ταῦτα μὲν Ὑπερβορέων πέρι εἰρήσθω· τὸν γὰρ περὶ Ἀβάριος λόγον τοῦ λεγομένου εἶναι Ὑπερβορέου οὐ λέγω, ὡς 1 τὸν ὀιστὸν περιέφερε κατὰ πᾶσαν γῆν οὐδὲν σιτεόμενος. εἰ δὲ εἰσὶ ὑπερβόρεοι τινὲς ἄνθρωποι, εἰσὶ καὶ ὑπερνότιοι ἄλλοι. γελῶ δὲ ὁρέων γῆς περιόδους γράψαντας πολλοὺς ἤδη καὶ οὐδένα νοονεχόντως ἐξηγησάμενον· οἳ Ὠκεανόν τε ῥέοντα γράφουσι πέριξ τὴν γῆν ἐοῦσαν κυκλοτερέα ὡς ἀπὸ τόρνου, καὶ τὴν Ἀσίην τῇ Εὐρώπῃ ποιεύντων ἴσην. ἐν ὀλίγοισι γὰρ ἐγὼ δηλώσω μέγαθός τε ἑκάστης αὐτέων καὶ οἵη τις ἐστὶ ἐς γραφὴν ἑκάστη. 4.37. Πέρσαι οἰκέουσι κατήκοντες ἐπὶ τὴν νοτίην θάλασσαν τὴν, Ἐρυθρὴν καλεομένην, τούτων δὲ ὑπεροικέουσι πρὸς βορέην ἄνεμον Μῆδοι, Μήδων δὲ Σάσπειρες, Σασπείρων δὲ Κόλχοι κατήκοντες ἐπὶ τὴν βορηίην θάλασσαν, ἐς τὴν Φᾶσις ποταμὸς ἐκδιδοῖ. ταῦτα τέσσερα ἔθνεα οἰκέει ἐκ θαλάσσης ἐς θάλασσαν. 4.38. ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ τὸ πρὸς ἑσπέρης ἀκταὶ διφάσιαι ἀπʼ αὐτῆς κατατείνουσι ἐς θάλασσαν, τὰς ἐγὼ ἀπηγήσομαι· ἔνθεν μὲν ἡ ἀκτὴ ἡ ἑτέρη τὰ πρὸς βορέην ἀπὸ Φάσιος ἀρξαμένη παρατέταται ἐς θάλασσαν παρά τε τὸν Πόντον καὶ τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον μέχρι Σιγείου τοῦ Τρωικοῦ· τὰ δὲ πρὸς νότου ἡ αὐτὴ αὕτη ἀκτὴ ἀπὸ τοῦ Μυριανδικοῦ κόλπου τοῦ πρὸς Φοινίκῃ κειμένου τείνει τὰ ἐς θάλασσαν μέχρι Τριοπίου ἄκρης. οἰκέει δὲ ἐν τῇ ἀκτῇ ταύτῃ ἔθνεα ἀνθρώπων τριήκοντα. 4.39. αὕτη μέν νυν ἡ ἑτέρη τῶν ἀκτέων, ἡ δὲ δὴ ἑτέρη ἀπὸ Περσέων ἀρξαμένη παρατέταται ἐς τὴν Ἐρυθρὴν θάλασσαν, ἥ τε Περσικὴ καὶ ἀπὸ ταύτης ἐκδεκομένη ἡ Ἀσσυρίη καὶ ἀπὸ Ἀσσυρίης ἡ Ἀραβίη· λήγει δὲ αὕτη, οὐ λήγουσα εἰ μὴ νόμῳ, ἐς τὸν κόλπον τὸν Ἀράβιον, ἐς τὸν Δαρεῖος ἐκ τοῦ Νείλου διώρυχα ἐσήγαγε. μέχρι μέν νυν Φοινίκης ἀπὸ Περσέων χῶρος πλατὺς καὶ πολλός ἐστι· τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ Φοινίκης παρήκει διὰ τῆσδε τῆς θαλάσσης ἡ ἀκτὴ αὕτη παρά τε Συρίην τὴν Παλαιστίνην καὶ Αἴγυπτον, ἐς τὴν τελευτᾷ· ἐν τῇ ἔθνεα ἐστὶ τρία μοῦνα. 4.40. ταῦτα μὲν ἀπὸ Περσέων τὰ πρὸς ἑσπέρην τῆς Ἀσίης ἔχοντα ἐστί· τὰ δὲ κατύπερθε Περσέων καὶ Μήδων καὶ Σασπείρων καὶ Κόλχων, τὰ πρὸς ἠῶ τε καὶ ἥλιον ἀνατέλλοντα, ἔνθεν μὲν ἡ Ἐρυθρὴ παρήκει θάλασσα, πρὸς βορέω δὲ ἡ Κασπίη τε θάλασσα καὶ ὁ Ἀράξης ποταμός, ῥέων πρὸς ἥλιον ἀνίσχοντα. μέχρι δὲ τῆς Ἰνδικῆς οἰκέεται Ἀσίη· τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ ταύτης ἔρημος ἤδη τὸ πρὸς τὴν ἠῶ, οὐδὲ ἔχει οὐδεὶς φράσαι οἷον δή τι ἐστί. 4.41. τοιαύτη μὲν καὶ τοσαύτη ἡ Ἀσίη ἐστί, ἡ δὲ Λιβύη ἐν τῇ ἀκτῇ τῇ ἑτέρῃ ἐστί· ἀπὸ γὰρ Αἰγύπτου Λιβύη ἤδη ἐκδέκεται. κατὰ μέν νυν Αἴγυπτον ἡ ἀκτὴ αὕτη στεινή ἐστι· ἀπὸ γὰρ τῆσδε τῆς θαλάσσης ἐς τὴν Ἐρυθρὴν θάλασσαν δέκα μυριάδες εἰσὶ ὀργυιέων, αὗται δʼ ἂν εἶεν χίλιοι στάδιοι· τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ στεινοῦ τούτου κάρτα πλατέα τυγχάνει ἐοῦσα ἡ ἀκτὴ ἥτις Λιβύη κέκληται. 4.42. θωμάζω ὦν τῶν διουρισάντων καὶ διελόντων Λιβύην τε καὶ Ἀσίην καὶ Εὐρώπην· οὐ γὰρ σμικρὰ τὰ διαφέροντα αὐτέων ἐστί· μήκεϊ μὲν γὰρ παρʼ ἀμφοτέρας παρήκει ἡ Εὐρώπη, εὔρεος δὲ πέρι οὐδὲ συμβάλλειν ἀξίη φαίνεταί μοι εἶναι. Λιβύη μὲν γὰρ δηλοῖ ἑωυτὴν 1 ἐοῦσα περίρρυτος, πλὴν ὅσον αὐτῆς πρὸς τὴν Ἀσίην οὐρίζει, Νεκῶ τοῦ Αἰγυπτίων βασιλέος πρώτου τῶν ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν καταδέξαντος· ὃς ἐπείτε τὴν διώρυχα ἐπαύσατο ὀρύσσων τὴν ἐκ τοῦ Νείλου διέχουσαν ἐς τὸν Ἀράβιον κόλπον, ἀπέπεμψε Φοίνικας ἄνδρας πλοίοισι, ἐντειλάμενος ἐς τὸ ὀπίσω διʼ Ἡρακλέων στηλέων ἐκπλέειν ἕως ἐς τὴν βορηίην θάλασσαν καὶ οὕτω ἐς Αἴγυπτον ἀπικνέεσθαι. ὁρμηθέντες ὦν οἱ Φοίνικες ἐκ τῆς Ἐρυθρῆς θαλάσσης ἔπλεον τὴν νοτίην θάλασσαν· ὅκως δὲ γίνοιτο φθινόπωρον προσσχόντες ἂν σπείρεσκον τὴν γῆν, ἵνα ἑκάστοτε τῆς Λιβύης πλέοντες γινοίατο, καὶ μένεσκον τὸν ἄμητον· θερίσαντες δʼ ἂν τὸν σῖτον ἔπλεον, ὥστε δύο ἐτέων διεξελθόντων τρίτῳ ἔτεϊ κάμψαντες Ἡρακλέας στήλας ἀπίκοντο ἐς Αἴγυπτον. καὶ ἔλεγον ἐμοὶ μὲν οὐ πιστά, ἄλλῳ δὲ δή τεῳ, ὡς περιπλώοντες τὴν Λιβύην τὸν ἥλιον ἔσχον ἐς τὰ δεξιά. 4.43. οὕτω μὲν αὕτη ἐγνώσθη τὸ πρῶτον, μετὰ δὲ Καρχηδόνιοι εἰσὶ οἱ λέγοντες· ἐπεὶ Σατάσπης γε ὁ Τεάσπιος ἀνὴρ Ἀχαιμενίδης οὐ περιέπλωσε Λιβύην, ἐπʼ αὐτὸ τοῦτο πεμφθείς, ἀλλὰ δείσας τό τε μῆκος τοῦ πλόου καὶ τὴν ἐρημίην ἀπῆλθε ὀπίσω, οὐδʼ ἐπετέλεσε τὸν ἐπέταξε οἱ ἡ μήτηρ ἄεθλον. θυγατέρα γὰρ Ζωπύρου τοῦ Μεγαβύζου ἐβιήσατο παρθένον· ἔπειτα μέλλοντος αὐτοῦ διὰ ταύτην τὴν αἰτίην ἀνασκολοπιεῖσθαι ὑπὸ Ξέρξεω βασιλέος, ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ Σατάσπεος ἐοῦσα Δαρείου ἀδελφεὴ παραιτήσατο, φᾶσά οἱ αὐτὴ μέζω ζημίην ἐπιθήσειν ἤ περ ἐκεῖνον· Λιβύην γάρ οἱ ἀνάγκην ἔσεσθαι περιπλώειν, ἐς ὃ ἂν ἀπίκηται περιπλέων αὐτὴν ἐς τὸν Ἀράβιον κόλπον. συγχωρήσαντος δὲ Ξέρξεω ἐπὶ τούτοισι, ὁ Σατάσπης ἀπικόμενος ἐς Αἴγυπτον καὶ λαβὼν νέα τε καὶ ναύτας παρὰ τούτων ἔπλεε ἐπὶ Ἡρακλέας στήλας· διεκπλώσας δὲ καὶ κάμψας τὸ ἀκρωτήριον τῆς Λιβύης τῷ οὔνομα Σολόεις ἐστί, ἔπλεε πρὸς μεσαμβρίην· περήσας δὲ θάλασσαν πολλὴν ἐν πολλοῖσι μησί, ἐπείτε τοῦ πλεῦνος αἰεὶ ἔδεε, ἀποστρέψας ὀπίσω ἀπέπλεε ἐς Αἴγυπτον. ἐκ δὲ ταύτης ἀπικόμενος παρὰ βασιλέα Ξέρξεα ἔλεγε φὰς τὰ προσωτάτω ἀνθρώπους μικροὺς παραπλέειν ἐσθῆτι φοινικηίῃ διαχρεωμένους, οἳ ὅκως σφεῖς καταγοίατο τῇ νηὶ φεύγεσκον πρὸς τὰ ὄρεα λείποντες τὰς πόλιας· αὐτοὶ δὲ ἀδικέειν οὐδὲν ἐσιόντες, βρωτὰ δὲ μοῦνα ἐξ αὐτέων λαμβάνειν. τοῦ δὲ μὴ περιπλῶσαι Λιβύην παντελέως αἴτιον τόδε ἔλεγε, τὸ πλοῖον τὸ πρόσω οὐ δυνατὸν ἔτι εἶναι προβαίνειν ἀλλʼ ἐνίσχεσθαι. Ξέρξης δὲ οὔ οἱ συγγινώσκων λέγειν ἀληθέα οὐκ ἐπιτελέσαντά τε τὸν προκείμενον ἄεθλον ἀνεσκολόπισε, τὴν ἀρχαίην δίκην ἐπιτιμῶν. τούτου δὲ τοῦ Σατάσπεος εὐνοῦχος ἀπέδρη ἐς Σάμον, ἐπείτε ἐπύθετο τάχιστα τὸν δεσπότεα τετελευτηκότα, ἔχων χρήματα μεγάλα, τὰ Σάμιος ἀνὴρ κατέσχε, τοῦ ἐπιστάμενος τὸ οὔνομα ἑκὼν ἐπιλήθομαι. 4.44. τῆς δὲ Ἀσίης τὰ πολλὰ ὑπὸ Δαρείου ἐξευρέθη, ὃς βουλόμενος Ἰνδὸν ποταμόν, ὃς κροκοδείλους δεύτερος οὗτος ποταμῶν πάντων παρέχεται, τοῦτον τὸν ποταμὸν εἰδέναι τῇ ἐς θάλασσαν ἐκδιδοῖ, πέμπει πλοίοισι ἄλλους τε τοῖσι ἐπίστευε τὴν ἀληθείην ἐρέειν καὶ δὴ καὶ Σκύλακα ἄνδρα Καρυανδέα. οἳ δὲ ὁρμηθέντες ἐκ Κασπατύρου τε πόλιος καὶ τῆς Πακτυικῆς γῆς ἔπλεον κατὰ ποταμὸν πρὸς ἠῶ τε καὶ ἡλίου ἀνατολὰς ἐς θάλασσαν, διὰ θαλάσσης δὲ πρὸς ἑσπέρην πλέοντες τριηκοστῷ μηνὶ ἀπικνέονται ἐς τοῦτον τὸν χῶρον ὅθεν ὁ Αἰγυπτίων βασιλεὺς τοὺς Φοίνικας τοὺς πρότερον εἶπα ἀπέστειλε περιπλώειν Λιβύην. μετὰ δὲ τούτους περιπλώσαντας Ἰνδούς τε κατεστρέψατο Δαρεῖος καὶ τῇ θαλάσσῃ ταύτῃ ἐχρᾶτο. οὕτω καὶ τῆς Ἀσίης, πλὴν τὰ πρὸς ἥλιον ἀνίσχοντα, τὰ ἄλλα ἀνεύρηται ὃμοια παρεχομένη τῇ Λιβύῃ. 4.45. ἡ δὲ Εὐρώπη πρὸς οὐδαμῶν φανερή ἐστι γινωσκομένη, οὔτε τὰ πρὸς ἥλιον ἀνατέλλοντα οὔτε τὰ πρὸς βορέην, εἰ περίρρυτος ἐστί· μήκεϊ δὲ γινώσκεται παρʼ ἀμφοτέρας παρήκουσα. οὐδʼ ἔχω συμβαλέσθαι ἐπʼ ὅτευ μιῇ ἐούσῃ γῇ οὐνόματα τριφάσια κέεται ἐπωνυμίας ἔχοντα γυναικῶν, καὶ οὐρίσματα αὐτῇ Νεῖλός τε ὁ Αἰγύπτιος ποταμὸς ἐτέθη καὶ Φᾶσις ὁ Κόλχος ʽοἳ δὲ Τάναιν ποταμὸν τὸν Μαιήτην καὶ πορθμήια τὰ Κιμμέρια λέγουσἰ, οὐδὲ τῶν διουρισάντων τὰ οὐνόματα πυθέσθαι, καὶ ὅθεν ἔθεντο τὰς ἐπωνυμίας. ἤδη γὰρ Λιβύη μὲν ἐπὶ Λιβύης λέγεται ὑπὸ τῶν πολλῶν Ἑλλήνων ἔχειν τὸ οὔνομα γυναικὸς αὐτόχθονος, ἡ δὲ Ἀσίη ἐπὶ τῆς Προμηθέος γυναικὸς τὴν ἐπωνυμίην. καὶ τούτου μὲν μεταλαμβάνονται τοῦ οὐνόματος Λυδοί, φάμενοι ἐπὶ Ἀσίεω τοῦ Κότυος τοῦ Μάνεω κεκλῆσθαι τὴν Ἀσίην, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐπὶ τῆς Προμηθέος Ἀσίης. ἀπʼ ὅτευ καὶ τὴν ἐν Σάρδισι φυλὴν κεκλῆσθαι Ἀσιάδα. ἡ δὲ δὴ Εὐρώπη οὔτε εἰ περίρρυτος ἐστὶ γινώσκεται πρὸς οὐδαμῶν ἀνθρώπων, οὔτε ὁκόθεν τὸ οὔνομα ἔλαβε τοῦτο, οὔτε ὅστις οἱ ἦν ὁ θέμενος φαίνεται, εἰ μὴ ἀπὸ τῆς Τυρίης φήσομεν Εὐρώπης λαβεῖν τὸ οὔνομα τὴν χώρην· πρότερον δὲ ἦν ἄρα ἀνώνυμος ὥσπερ αἱ ἕτεραι. ἀλλʼ αὕτη γε ἐκ τῆς Ἀσίης τε φαίνεται ἐοῦσα καὶ οὐκ ἀπικομένη ἐς τὴν γῆν ταύτην ἥτις νῦν ὑπὸ Ἑλλήνων Εὐρώπη καλέεται, ἀλλʼ ὅσον ἐκ Φοινίκης ἐς Κρήτην, ἐκ Κρήτης δὲ ἐς Λυκίην. ταῦτα μέν νυν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον εἰρήσθω· τοῖσι γὰρ νομιζομένοισι αὐτῶν χρησόμεθα. 4.46. ὁ δὲ Πόντος ὁ Εὔξεινος, ἐπʼ ὃν ἐστρατεύετο ὁ Δαρεῖος, χωρέων πασέων παρέχεται ἔξω τοῦ Σκυθικοῦ ἔθνεα ἀμαθέστατα. οὔτε γὰρ ἔθνος τῶν ἐντὸς τοῦ Πόντου οὐδὲν ἔχομεν προβαλέσθαι σοφίης πέρι οὔτε ἄνδρα λόγιον οἴδαμεν γενόμενον, πάρεξ τοῦ Σκυθικοῦ ἔθνεος καὶ Ἀναχάρσιος. τῷ δὲ Σκυθικῶ γένει ἓν μὲν τὸ μέγιστον τῶν ἀνθρωπηίων πρηγμάτων σοφώτατα πάντων ἐξεύρηται τῶν ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν, τὰ μέντοι ἄλλα οὐκ ἄγαμαι· τὸ δὲ μέγιστον οὕτω σφι ἀνεύρηται ὥστε ἀποφυγεῖν τε μηδένα ἐπελθόντα ἐπὶ σφέας, μὴ βουλομένους τε ἐξευρεθῆναι καταλαβεῖν μὴ οἷον τε εἶναι. τοῖσι γὰρ μήτε ἄστεα μήτε τείχεα ἡ ἐκτισμένα, ἀλλὰ φερέοικοι ἐόντες πάντες ἔωσι ἱπποτοξόται, ζῶντες μὴ ἀπʼ ἀρότου ἀλλʼ ἀπὸ κτηνέων, οἰκήματα τε σφι ᾖ ἐπὶ ζευγέων, κῶς οὐκ ἂν εἴησαν οὗτοι ἄμαχοί τε καὶ ἄποροι προσμίσγειν; 4.47. ἐξεύρηται δέ σφι ταῦτα τῆς τε γῆς ἐούσης ἐπιτηδέης καὶ τῶν ποταμῶν ἐόντων σφι συμμάχων. ἥ τε γὰρ γῆ ἐοῦσα πεδιὰς αὕτη ποιώδης τε καὶ εὔυδρος ἐστί, ποταμοί τε διʼ αὐτῆς ῥέουσι οὐ πολλῷ τεῳ ἀριθμὸν ἐλάσσονες τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ διωρύχων. ὅσοι δὲ ὀνομαστοί τε εἰσὶ αὐτῶν καὶ προσπλωτοὶ ἀπὸ θαλάσσης, τούτους ὀνομανέω 1 Ἴστρος μὲν πεντάστομος, μετὰ δὲ Τύρης τε καὶ Ὕπανις καὶ Βορυσθένης καὶ Παντικάπης καὶ Ὑπάκυρις καὶ Γέρρος καὶ Τάναϊς. ῥέουσι δὲ οἵδε κατὰ τάδε. 4.48. Ἴστρος μέν, ἐὼν μέγιστος ποταμῶν πάντων τῶν ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν, ἴσος αἰεὶ αὐτὸς ἑωυτῷ ῥέει καὶ θέρεος καὶ χειμῶνος, πρῶτος δὲ τὸ ἀπʼ ἑσπέρης τῶν ἐν τῇ Σκυθικῇ ῥέων κατὰ τοιόνδε μέγιστος γέγονε· ποταμῶν καὶ ἄλλων ἐς αὐτὸν ἐκδιδόντων εἰσὶ δὴ οἵδε οἱ μέγαν αὐτὸν ποιεῦντες, διὰ μέν γε τῆς Σκυθικῆς χώρης πέντε μὲν οἱ ῥέοντες, τὸν τε Σκύθαι Πόρατα καλέουσι Ἑλλήνες δὲ Πυρετόν, καὶ ἄλλος Τιάραντος καὶ Ἄραρος τε καὶ Νάπαρις καὶ Ὀρδησσός. ὁ μὲν πρῶτος λεχθεὶς τῶν ποταμῶν μέγας καὶ πρὸς ἠῶ ῥέων ἀνακοινοῦται τῷ Ἴστρῳ τὸ ὕδωρ, ὁ δὲ δεύτερος λεχθεὶς Τιάραντος πρὸς ἑσπέρης τε μᾶλλον καὶ ἐλάσσων, ὁ δὲ δὴ Ἄραρός τε καὶ ὁ Νάπαρις καὶ ὁ Ὀρδησσὸς καὶ μέσου τούτων ἰόντες ἐσβάλλουσι ἐς τὸν Ἴστρον. 4.49. οὗτοι μὲν αὐθιγενέες Σκυθικοὶ ποταμοὶ συμπληθύουσι αὐτόν, ἐκ δὲ Ἀγαθύρσων Μάρις ποταμὸς ῥέων συμμίσγεται τῷ Ἴστρῳ, ἐκ δὲ τοῦ Αἵμου τῶν κορυφέων τρεῖς ἄλλοι μεγάλοι ῥέοντες πρὸς βορέην ἄνεμον ἐσβάλλουσι ἐς αὐτόν, Ἄτλας καὶ Αὔρας καὶ Τίβισις. διὰ δὲ Θρηίκης καὶ Θρηίκων τῶν Κροβύζων ῥέοντες Ἄθρυς καὶ Νόης καὶ Ἀρτάνης ἐκδιδοῦσι ἐς τὸν Ἴστρον· ἐκ δὲ Παιόνων καὶ ὄρεος Ῥοδόπης Κίος ποταμὸς μέσον σχίζων τὸν Αἷμον ἐκδιδοῖ ἐς αὐτόν. ἐξ Ἰλλυριῶν δὲ ῥέων πρὸς βορέην ἄνεμον Ἄγγρος ποταμὸς ἐσβάλλει ἐς πεδίον τὸ Τριβαλλικὸν καὶ ἐς ποταμὸν Βρόγγον, ὁ δὲ Βρόγγος ἐς τὸν Ἴστρον· οὕτω ἀμφοτέρους ἐόντας μεγάλους ὁ Ἴστρος δέκεται. ἐκ δὲ τῆς κατύπερθε χώρης Ὀμβρικῶν Κάρπις ποταμὸς καὶ ἄλλος Ἄλπις ποταμὸς πρὸς βορέην ἄνεμον καὶ οὗτοι ῥέοντες ἐκδιδοῦσι ἐς αὐτόν· ῥέει γὰρ δὴ διὰ πάσης τῆς Εὐρώπης ὁ Ἴστρος, ἀρξάμενος ἐκ Κελτῶν, οἳ ἔσχατοι πρὸς ἡλίου δυσμέων μετὰ Κύνητας οἰκέουσι τῶν ἐν τῇ Εὐρώπη· ῥέων δὲ διὰ πάσης τῆς Εὐρώπης ἐς τὰ πλάγια τῆς Σκυθίης ἐσβάλλει.
4.50. τούτων ὦν τῶν καταλεχθέντων καὶ ἄλλων πολλῶν συμβαλλομένων τὸ σφέτερον ὕδωρ γίνεται ὁ Ἴστρος ποταμῶν μέγιστος, ἐπεὶ ὕδωρ γε ἓν πρὸς ἓν συμβάλλειν ὁ Νεῖλος πλήθει ἀποκρατέει. ἴσος δὲ γὰρ δὴ τοῦτον οὔτε ποταμὸς οὔτε κρήνη οὐδεμία ἐσδιδοῦσα ἐς πλῆθός οἱ συμβάλλεται. ἴσος δὲ αἰεὶ ῥέει ἐν τε θέρει καὶ χειμῶνι ὁ Ἴστρος κατὰ τοιόνδε τι, ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκέει· τοῦ μὲν χειμῶνος ἐστὶ ὅσος περ ἐστι, ὀλίγῳ τε μέζων τῆς ἑωυτοῦ φύσιος γίνεται· ὕεται γὰρ ἡ γῆ αὕτη τοῦ χειμῶνος πάμπαν ὀλίγῳ, νιφετῷ δὲ πάντα χρᾶται· τοῦ δὲ θέρεος ἡ χιὼν ἡ ἐν τῷ χειμῶνι πεσοῦσα, ἐοῦσα ἀμφιλαφής, τηκομένη πάντοθεν ἐσδιδοῖ ἐς τὸν Ἴστρον. αὕτη τε δὴ ἡ χιὼν ἐσδιδοῦσα ἐς αὐτὸν συμπληθύει καὶ ὄμβροι πολλοί τε καὶ λάβροι σὺν αὐτῇ· ὕει γὰρ δὴ τὸ θέρος. ὅσω δὲ πλέον ἐπʼ ἑωυτὸν ὕδωρ ὁ ἥλιος ἐπέλκεται ἐν τῶ θέρει ἢ ἐν τῷ χειμῶνι, τοσούτῳ τὰ συμμισγόμενα τῷ Ἴστρῳ πολλαπλήσια ἐστὶ τοῦ θέρεος ἤ περ τοῦ χειμῶνος· ἀντιτιθέμενα δὲ ταῦτα ἀντισήκωσις γίνεται, ὥστε ἴσον μιν αἰεὶ φαίνεσθαι ἐόντα.
4.51. εἷς μὲν δὴ τῶν ποταμῶν τοῖσι Σκύθῃσι ἐστὶ ὁ Ἴστρος, μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον Τύρης, ὃς ἀπὸ βορέω μὲν ἀνέμου ὁρμᾶται, ἄρχεται δὲ ῥέων ἐκ λίμνης μεγάλης ἣ οὐρίζει τήν τε Σκυθικὴν καὶ Νευρίδα γῆν. ἐπὶ δὲ τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ κατοίκηνται Ἕλληνες οἳ Τυρῖται καλέονται.
4.52. τρίτος δὲ Ὕπανις ποταμὸς ὁρμᾶται μὲν ἐκ τῆς Σκυθικῆς, ῥέει δὲ ἐκ λίμνης μεγάλης τὴν πέριξ νέμονται ἵπποι ἄγριοι λευκοί· καλέεται δὲ ἡ λίμνη αὕτη ὀρθῶς μήτηρ Ὑπάνιος. ἐκ ταύτης ὦν ἀνατέλλων ὁ Ὕπανις ποταμὸς ῥέει ἐπὶ μὲν πέντε ἡμερέων πλόον βραχὺς καὶ γλυκύς ἐστι, ἀπὸ δὲ τούτου πρὸς θαλάσσης τεσσέρων ἡμερέων πλόον πικρὸς δεινῶς· ἐκδιδοῖ γὰρ ἐς αὐτὸν κρήνη πικρή, οὕτω δή τι ἐοῦσα πικρή, ἣ μεγάθει σμικρὴ ἐοῦσα κιρνᾷ τὸν Ὕπανιν ἐόντα ποταμὸν ἐν ὀλίγοισι μέγαν. ἔστι δὲ ἡ κρήνη αὕτη ἐν οὔροισι χώρης τῆς τε ἀροτήρων Σκυθέων καὶ Ἀλαζόνων· οὔνομα δὲ τῇ κρήνῃ καὶ ὅθεν ῥέει τῷ χώρῳ σκυθιστὶ μὲν Ἐξαμπαῖος, κατὰ δὲ τὴν Ἑλλήνων γλῶσσαν Ἱραὶ ὁδοί. συνάγουσι δὲ τὰ τέρματα ὅ τε Τύρης καὶ ὁ Ὕπανις κατὰ Ἀλαζόνας, τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ τούτου ἀποστρέψας ἑκάτερος ῥέει εὐρύνων τὸ μέσον.
4.53. τέταρτος δὲ Βορυσθένης ποταμός, ὃς ἐστί τε μέγιστος μετὰ Ἴστρον τούτων καὶ πολυαρκέστατος κατὰ γνώμας τὰς ἡμετέρας οὔτι μοῦνον τῶν Σκυθικῶν ποταμῶν ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἁπάντων, πλὴν Νείλου τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου· τούτῳ γὰρ οὐκ οἷά τε ἐστὶ συμβαλεῖν ἄλλον ποταμόν· τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν Βορυσθένης ἐστὶ πολυαρκέστατος, ὃς νομάς τε καλλίστας καὶ εὐκομιδεστάτας κτήνεσι παρέχεται ἰχθύας τε ἀρίστους διακριδὸν καὶ πλείστους, πίνεσθαι τε ἥδιστος ἐστί, ῥέει τε καθαρὸς παρὰ θολεροῖσι, σπόρος τε παρʼ αὐτὸν ἄριστος γίνεται, ποίη τε, τῇ οὐ σπείρεται ἡ χώρη, βαθυτάτη· ἅλες τε ἐπὶ τῷ στόματι αὐτοῦ αὐτόματοι πήγνυνται ἄπλετοι· κήτεά τε μεγάλα ἀνάκανθα, τὰ ἀντακαίους καλέουσι, παρέχεται ἐς ταρίχευσιν, ἄλλα τε πολλὰ θωμάσαι ἄξια. μέχρι μέν νυν Γερρέων χώρου, ἐς τὸν τεσσεράκοντα ἡμερέων πλόος ἐστί, γινώσκεται ῥέων ἀπὸ βορέω ἀνέμου· τὸ δὲ κατύπερθε διʼ ὧν ῥέει ἀνθρώπων οὐδεὶς ἔχει φράσαι· φαίνεται δὲ ῥέων διʼ ἐρήμου ἐς τῶν γεωργῶν Σκυθέων τὴν χώρην· οὗτοι γὰρ οἱ Σκύθαι παρʼ αὐτὸν ἐπὶ δέκα ἡμερέων πλόον νέμονται. μούνου δὲ τούτου τοῦ ποταμοῦ καὶ Νείλου οὐκ ἔχω φράσαι τὰς πηγάς, δοκέω δέ, οὐδὲ οὐδεὶς Ἑλλήνων. ἀγχοῦ τε δὴ θαλάσσης ὁ Βορυσθένης ῥέων γίνεται καὶ οἱ συμμίσγεται ὁ Ὕπανις ἐς τὠυτὸ ἕλος ἐκδιδούς. τὸ δὲ μεταξὺ τῶν ποταμῶν τούτων, ἐὸν ἔμβολον τῆς χώρης, Ἱππόλεω ἄκρη καλέεται, ἐν δὲ αὐτῷ, ἱρὸν Δήμητρος ἐνίδρυται· πέρην δὲ τοῦ ἱροῦ ἐπὶ τῷ Ὑπάνι Βορυσθενεῗται κατοίκηνται.
4.54. ταῦτα μὲν τὰ ἀπὸ τούτων τῶν ποταμῶν, μετὰ δὲ τούτους πέμπτος ποταμὸς ἄλλος, τῷ οὔνομα Παντικάπης, ῥέει μὲν καὶ οὗτος ἀπὸ βορέω τε καὶ ἐκ λίμνης, καὶ τὸ μεταξὺ τούτου τε καὶ τοῦ Βορυσθένεος νέμονται οἱ γεωργοὶ Σκύθαι, ἐκδιδοῖ δὲ ἐς τὴν Ὑβλαίην, παραμειψάμενος δὲ ταύτην τῷ Βορυσθένεϊ συμμίσγεται.
4.55. ἕκτος δὲ Ὑπάκυρις ποταμός, ὃς ὁρμᾶται μὲν ἐκ λίμνης, διὰ μέσων δὲ τῶν νομάδων Σκυθέων ῥέων ἐκδιδοῖ κατὰ Καρκινῖτιν πόλιν, ἐς δεξιὴν ἀπέργων τήν τε Ὑλαίην καὶ τὸν Ἀχιλλήιον δρόμον καλεόμενον.
4.56. ἕβδομος δὲ Γέρρος ποταμὸς ἀπέσχισται μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ Βορυσθένεος κατὰ τοῦτο τῆς χώρης ἐς ὃ γινώσκεται ὁ Βορυσθένης· ἀπέσχισται μέν νυν ἐκ τούτου τοῦ χώρου, οὔνομα δὲ ἔχει τό περ ὁ χῶρος αὐτός, Γέρρος, ῥέων δὲ ἐς θάλασσαν οὐρίζει τήν τε τῶν νομάδων χώρην καὶ τὴν τῶν βασιληίων Σκυθέων, ἐκδιδοῖ δὲ ἐς τὸν Ὑπάκυριν.
4.57. ὄγδοος δὲ δὴ Τάναϊς ποταμός, ὃς ῥέει τἀνέκαθεν ἐκ λίμνης μεγάλης ὁρμώμενος, ἐκδιδοῖ δὲ ἐς μέζω ἔτι λίμνην καλεόμενον Μαιῆτιν, ἣ οὐρίζει Σκύθας τε τοὺς βασιληίους καὶ Σαυρομάτας. ἐς δὲ Τάναϊν τοῦτον ἄλλος ποταμὸς ἐσβάλλει τῷ οὔνομα ἐστὶ Ὕργις.
4.58. τοῖσι μὲν δὴ ὀνομαστοῖσι ποταμοῖσι οὕτω δή τι οἱ Σκύθαι ἐσκευάδαται, τοῖσι δὲ κτήνεσι ἡ ποίη ἀναφυομένη ἐν τῇ Σκυθικῆ ἐστι ἐπιχολωτάτη πασέων ποιέων τῶν ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν· ἀνοιγομένοισι δὲ τοῖσι κτήνεσι ἐστὶ σταθμώσασθαι ὅτι τοῦτο οὕτω ἔχει.
4.59. τὰ μὲν δὴ μέγιστα οὕτω σφι εὔπορα ἐστί, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ νόμαια κατὰ τάδε σφι διακέεται. θεοὺς μὲν μούνους τούσδε ἱλάσκονται, Ἱστίην μὲν μάλιστα, ἐπὶ δὲ Δία καὶ Γῆν, νομίζοντες τὴν Γῆν τοῦ Διὸς εἶναι γυναῖκα, μετὰ δὲ τούτους, Ἀπόλλωνά τε καὶ οὐρανίην Ἀφροδίτην καὶ Ἡρακλέα καὶ Ἄρεα. τούτους μὲν πάντες Σκύθαι νενομίκασι, οἱ δὲ καλεόμενοι βασιλήιοι Σκύθαι καὶ τῷ Ποσειδέωνι θύουσι. ὀνομάζεται δὲ σκυθιστὶ Ἱστίη μὲν Ταβιτί, Ζεὺς δὲ ὀρθότατα κατὰ γνώμην γε τὴν ἐμὴν καλεόμενος Παπαῖος, Γῆ δὲ Ἀπί. Ἀπόλλων δὲ Γοιτόσυρος, οὐρανίη δὲ Ἀφροδίτη Ἀργίμπασα, Ποσειδέων δὲ Θαγιμασάδας. ἀγάλματα δὲ καὶ βωμοὺς καὶ νηοὺς οὐ νομίζουσι ποιέειν πλὴν Ἄρεϊ. τούτῳ δὲ νομίζουσι. 4.60. θυσίη δὲ ἡ αὐτὴ πᾶσι κατέστηκε περὶ πάντα τὰ ἱρὰ ὁμοίως, ἐρδομένη ὧδε· τὸ μὲν ἱρήιον αὐτὸ ἐμπεποδισμένον τοὺς ἐμπροσθίους πόδας ἔστηκε, ὁ δὲ θύων ὄπισθε τοῦ κτήνεος ἑστεὼς σπάσας τὴν ἀρχὴν τοῦ στρόφου καταβάλλει μιν, πίπτοντος δὲ τοῦ ἱρηίου ἐπικαλέει τὸν θεὸν τῷ ἂν θύῃ, καὶ ἔπειτα βρόχῳ περὶ ὦν ἔβαλε τὸν αὐχένα, σκυταλίδα δὲ ἐμβαλὼν περιάγει καὶ ἀποπνίγει, οὔτε πῦρ ἀνακαύσας οὔτε καταρξάμενος οὔτʼ ἐπισπείσας· ἀποπνίξας δὲ καὶ ἀποδείρας τρέπεται πρὸς ἕψησιν. 4.61. τῆς δὲ γῆς τῆς Σκυθικῆς αἰνῶς ἀξύλου ἐούσης ὧδε σφι ἐς τὴν ἕψησιν τῶν κρεῶν ἐξεύρηται· ἐπειδὰν ἀποδείρωσι τὰ ἱρήια, γυμνοῦσι τὰ ὀστέα τῶν κρεῶν, ἔπειτα ἐσβάλλουσι, ἢν μὲν τύχωσι ἔχοντες, ἐς λέβητας ἐπιχωρίους, μάλιστα Λεσβίοισι κρητῆρσι προσεικέλους, χωρὶς ἢ ὅτι πολλῷ μέζονας· ἐς τούτους ἐσβάλλοντες ἕψουσι ὑποκαίοντες τὰ ὀστέα τῶν ἱρηίων. ἢν δὲ μή σφι παρῇ, ὁ λέβης, οἳ δὲ ἐς τὰς γαστέρας τῶν ἱρηίων ἐσβάλλοντες τὰ κρέα πάντα καὶ παραμίξαντες ὕδωρ ὑποκαίουσι τὰ ὀστέα· τὰ δὲ αἴθεται κάλλιστα, αἱ δὲ γαστέρες χωρέουσι εὐπετέως τὰ κρέα ἐψιλωμένα τῶν ὀστέων· καὶ οὕτω βοῦς τε ἑωυτὸν ἐξέψει καὶ τἆλλα ἱρήια ἑωυτὸ ἕκαστον. ἐπεὰν δὲ ἑψηθῇ τὰ κρέα, ὁ θύσας τῶν κρεῶν καὶ τῶν σπλάγχνων ἀπαρξάμενος ῥίπτει ἐς τὸ ἔμπροσθε. θύουσι δὲ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα πρόβατα καὶ ἵππους μάλιστα. 4.62. τοῖσι μὲν δὴ ἄλλοισι τῶν θεῶν οὕτω θύουσι καὶ ταῦτα τῶν κτηνέων, τῷ δὲ Ἄρεϊ ὧδε. κατὰ νομοὺς ἑκάστους τῶν ἀρχέων ἐσίδρυται σφι Ἄρεος ἱρὸν τοιόνδε φρυγάνων φάκελοι συννενέαται ὅσον τʼ ἐπὶ σταδίους τρεῖς μῆκος καὶ εὖρος, ὕψος δὲ ἔλασσον· ἄνω δὲ τούτου τετράγωνον ἄπεδον πεποίηται, καὶ τὰ μὲν τρία τῶν κώλων ἐστὶ ἀπότομα, κατὰ δὲ τὸ ἓν ἐπιβατόν. ἔτεος δὲ ἑκάστου ἁμάξας πεντήκοντα καὶ ἑκατὸν ἐπινέουσι φρυγάνων· ὑπονοστέει γὰρ δὴ αἰεὶ ὑπὸ τῶν χειμώνων. ἐπὶ τούτου δὴ τοῦ σηκοῦ ἀκινάκης σιδήρεος ἵδρυται ἀρχαῖος ἑκάστοισι, καὶ τοῦτʼ ἐστὶ τοῦ Ἄρεος τὸ ἄγαλμα. τούτῳ δὲ τῷ ἀκινάκῃ θυσίας ἐπετείους προσάγουσι προβάτων καὶ ἵππων, καὶ δὴ καὶ τοῖσιδʼ ἔτι πλέω θύουσι ἢ τοῖσι ἄλλοισι θεοῖσι· ὅσους ἂν τῶν πολεμίων ζωγρήσωσι, ἀπὸ τῶν ἑκατὸν ἀνδρῶν ἄνδρα θύουσι τρόπῳ οὐ τῷ αὐτῷ καὶ τὰ πρόβατα, ἀλλʼ ἑτεροίῳ. ἐπεὰν γὰρ οἶνον ἐπισπείσωσι κατὰ τῶν κεφαλέων, ἀποσφάζουσι τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἐς ἄγγος καὶ ἔπειτα ἀνενείκαντες ἄνω ἐπὶ τὸν ὄγκον τῶν φρυγάνων καταχέουσι τὸ αἷμα τοῦ ἀκινάκεω. ἄνω μὲν δὴ φορέουσι τοῦτο, κάτω δὲ παρὰ τὸ ἱρὸν ποιεῦσι τάδε· τῶν ἀποσφαγέντων ἀνδρῶν τοὺς δεξιοὺς ὤμους πάντας ἀποταμόντες σὺν τῇσι χερσὶ ἐς τὸν ἠέρα ἱεῖσι, καὶ ἔπειτα καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἀπέρξαντες ἱρήια ἀπαλλάσσονται. χεὶρ δὲ τῇ ἂν πέσῃ κέεται, καὶ χωρὶς ὁ νεκρός. 4.63. θυσίαι μέν νυν αὗταί σφι κατεστᾶσι. ὑσὶ δὲ οὗτοι οὐδὲν νομίζουσι, οὐδὲ τρέφειν ἐν τῇ χώρῃ τὸ παράπαν θέλουσι. 4.64. τὰ δʼ ἐς πόλεμον ἔχοντα ὧδέ σφι διακέαται· ἐπεὰν τὸν πρῶτον ἄνδρα καταβάλῃ ἀνὴρ Σκύθης, τοῦ αἵματος ἐμπίνει, ὅσους δʼ ἂν φονεύσῃ ἐν τῇ μάχῃ, τούτων τὰς κεφαλὰς ἀποφέρει τῷ βασιλέι. ἀπενείκας μὲν γὰρ κεφαλὴν τῆς ληίης μεταλαμβάνει τὴν ἂν λάβωσι, μὴ ἐνείκας δὲ οὔ. ἀποδείρει δὲ αὐτὴν τρόπῳ τοιῷδε· περιταμὼν κύκλῳ περὶ τὰ ὦτα καὶ λαβόμενος τῆς κεφαλῆς ἐκσείει, μετὰ δὲ σαρκίσας βοὸς πλευρῇ δέψει τῇσι χερσί, ὀργάσας δὲ αὐτὸ ἅτε χειρόμακτρον ἔκτηται, ἐκ δὲ τῶν χαλινῶν τοῦ ἵππου τὸν αὐτὸς ἐλαύνει, ἐκ τούτου ἐξάπτει καὶ ἀγάλλεται· ὃς γὰρ ἂν πλεῖστα δέρματα χειρόμακτρα ἔχῃ, ἀνὴρ ἄριστος οὗτος κέκριται. πολλοὶ δὲ αὐτῶν ἐκ τῶν ἀποδερμάτων καὶ χλαίνας ἐπείνυσθαι ποιεῦσι, συρράπτοντες κατά περ βαίτας. πολλοὶ δὲ ἀνδρῶν ἐχθρῶν τὰς δεξιὰς χεῖρας νεκρῶν ἐόντων ἀποδείραντες αὐτοῖσι ὄνυξι καλύπτρας τῶν φαρετρέων ποιεῦνται. δέρμα δὲ ἀνθρώπου καὶ παχὺ καὶ λαμπρὸν ἦν ἄρα, σχεδὸν δερμάτων πάντων λαμπρότατον λευκότητι. πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ ὅλους ἄνδρας ἐκδείραντες καὶ διατείναντες ἐπὶ ξύλων ἐπʼ ἵππων περιφέρουσι. 4.65. ταῦτα μὲν δὴ οὕτω σφι νενόμισται, αὐτὰς δὲ τὰς κεφαλάς, οὔτι πάντων ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐχθίστων, ποιεῦσι τάδε· ἀποπρίσας ἕκαστος πᾶν τὸ ἔνερθε τῶν ὀφρύων ἐκκαθαίρει· καὶ ἢν μὲν ᾖ πένης, ὁ δὲ ἔξωθεν ὠμοβοέην μούνην περιτείνας οὕτω χρᾶται, ἢν δὲ ᾖ πλούσιος, τὴν μὲν ὠμοβοέην περιτείνει, ἔσωθεν δὲ καταχρυσώσας οὕτω χρᾶται ποτηρίῳ. ποιεῦσι δὲ τοῦτο καὶ ἐκ τῶν οἰκηίων ἤν σφι διάφοροι γένωνται καὶ ἢν ἐπικρατήσῃ αὐτοῦ παρὰ τῷ βασιλέι, ξείνων δέ οἱ ἐλθόντων τῶν ἂν λόγον ποιέηται, τὰς κεφαλὰς ταύτας παραφέρει καὶ ἐπιλέγει ὡς οἱ ἐόντες οἰκήιοι πόλεμον προσεθήκαντο καί σφεων αὐτὸς ἐπεκράτησε, ταύτην ἀνδραγαθίην λέγοντες. 4.66. ἅπαξ δὲ τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ ἑκάστου ὁ νομάρχης ἕκαστος ἐν τῷ ἑωυτοῦ νομῷ κιρνᾷ κρητῆρα οἴνου, ἀπʼ οὗ πίνουσι τῶν Σκυθέων τοῖσι ἂν ἄνδρες πολέμιοι ἀραιρημένοι ἔωσι. τοῖσι δʼ ἂν μὴ κατεργασμένον ᾖ τοῦτο, οὐ γεύονται τοῦ οἴνου τούτου, ἀλλʼ ἠτιμωμένοι ἀποκατέαται· ὄνειδος δέ σφι ἐστὶ μέγιστον τοῦτο. ὅσοι δὲ ἂν αὐτῶν καὶ κάρτα πολλοὺς ἄνδρας ἀραιρηκότες ἔωσι, οὗτοι δὲ σύνδυο κύλικας ἔχοντες πίνουσι ὁμοῦ. 4.67. μάντιες δὲ Σκυθέων εἰσὶ πολλοί, οἳ μαντεύονται ῥάβδοισι ἰτεΐνῃσι πολλῇσι ὧδε· ἐπεὰν φακέλους ῥάβδων μεγάλους ἐνείκωνται, θέντες χαμαὶ διεξειλίσσουσι αὐτούς, καὶ ἐπὶ μίαν ἑκάστην ῥάβδον τιθέντες θεσπίζουσι, ἅμα τε λέγοντες ταῦτα συνειλέουσι τὰς ῥάβδους ὀπίσω καὶ αὖτις κατὰ μίαν συντιθεῖσι. αὕτη μὲν σφι ἡ μαντικὴ πατρωίη ἐστί. οἱ δὲ Ἐνάρεες οἱ ἀνδρόγυνοι τὴν Ἀφροδίτην σφίσι λέγουσι μαντικὴν δοῦναι· φιλύρης δʼ ὧν φλοιῷ μαντεύονται· ἐπεὰν τὴν φιλύρην τρίχα σχίσῃ, διαπλέκων ἐν τοῖσι δακτύλοισι τοῖσι ἑωυτοῦ καὶ διαλύων χρᾷ. 4.68. ἐπεὰν δὲ βασιλεὺς ὁ Σκυθέων κάμῃ, μεταπέμπεται τῶν μαντίων ἄνδρας τρεῖς τοὺς εὐδοκιμέοντας μάλιστα, οἳ τρόπῳ τῷ εἰρημένῳ μαντεύονται· καὶ λέγουσι οὗτοι ὡς τὸ ἐπίπαν μάλιστα τάδε, ὡς τὰς βασιληίας ἱστίας ἐπιώρκηκε ὃς καὶ ὅς, λέγοντες τῶν ἀστῶν τὸν ἂν δὴ λέγωσι. τὰς δὲ βασιληίας ἱστίας νόμος Σκύθῃσι τὰ μάλιστα ἐστὶ ὀμνύναι τότε ἐπεὰν τὸν μέγιστον ὅρκον ἐθέλωσι ὀμνύναι. αὐτίκα δὲ διαλελαμμένος ἄγεται οὗτος τὸν ἂν δὴ φῶσι ἐπιορκῆσαι, ἀπιγμένον δὲ ἐλέγχουσι οἱ μάντιες ὡς ἐπιορκήσας φαίνεται ἐν τῇ μαντικῇ τὰς βασιληίας ἱστίας καὶ διὰ ταῦτα ἀλγέει ὁ βασιλεύς· ὁ δὲ ἀρνέεται, οὐ φάμενος ἐπιορκῆσαι, καὶ δεινολογέεται. ἀρνεομένου δὲ τούτου ὁ βασιλεὺς μεταπέμπεται ἄλλους διπλησίους μάντιας· καὶ ἢν μὲν καὶ οὗτοι ἐσορῶντες ἐς τὴν μαντικὴν καταδήσωσι ἐπιορκῆσαι, τοῦ δὲ ἰθέως τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποτάμνουσι, καὶ τὰ χρήματα αὐτοῦ διαλαγχάνουσι οἱ πρῶτοι τῶν μαντίων· ἢν δὲ οἱ ἐπελθόντες μάντιες ἀπολύσωσι, ἄλλοι πάρεισι μάντιες καὶ μάλα ἄλλοι. ἢν ὦν οἱ πλεῦνες τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἀπολύσωσι, δέδοκται τοῖσι πρώτοισι τῶν μαντίων αὐτοῖσι ἀπόλλυσθαι. 4.69. ἀπολλῦσι δῆτα αὐτοὺς τρόπῳ τοιῷδε· ἐπεὰν ἅμαξαν φρυγάνων πλήσωσι καὶ ὑποζεύξωσι βοῦς, ἐμποδίσαντες τοὺς μάντιας καὶ χεῖρας ὀπίσω δήσαντες καὶ στομώσαντες κατεργνῦσι ἐς μέσα τὰ φρύγανα, ὑποπρήσαντες δὲ αὐτὰ ἀπιεῖσι φοβήσαντες τοὺς βοῦς. πολλοὶ μὲν δὴ συγκατακαίονται τοῖσι μάντισι βόες, πολλοὶ δὲ περικεκαυμένοι ἀποφεύγουσι, ἐπεὰν αὐτῶν ὁ ῥυμὸς κατακαυθῇ. κατακαίουσι δὲ τρόπῳ τῷ εἰρημένω καὶ διʼ ἄλλας αἰτίας τοὺς μάντιας, ψευδομάντιας καλέοντες. τοὺς δʼ ἂν ἀποκτείνῃ βασιλεύς, τούτων οὐδὲ τοὺς παῖδας λείπει, ἀλλὰ πάντα τὰ ἔρσενα κτείνει, τὰ δὲ θήλεα οὐκ ἀδικέει. 4.70. ὅρκια δὲ ποιεῦνται Σκύθαι ὧδε πρὸς τοὺς ἂν ποιέωνται· ἐς κύλικα μεγάλην κεραμίνην οἶνον ἐγχέαντες αἷμα συμμίσγουσι τῶν τὸ ὅρκιον ταμνομένων, τύψαντες ὑπέατι ἡ ἐπιταμόντες μαχαίρῃ σμικρὸν τοῦ σώματος, καὶ ἔπειτα ἀποβάψαντες ἐς τὴν κύλικα ἀκινάκην καὶ ὀιστοὺς καὶ σάγαριν καὶ ἀκόντιον· ἐπεὰν δὲ ταῦτα ποιήσωσι, κατεύχονται πολλὰ καὶ ἔπειτα ἀποπίνουσι αὐτοί τε οἱ τὸ ὅρκιον ποιεύμενοι καὶ τῶν ἑπομένων οἱ πλείστου ἄξιοι. 4.71. ταφαὶ δὲ τῶν βασιλέων ἐν Γέρροισι εἰσὶ ἐς ὃ ὁ Βορυσθένης ἐστὶ προσπλωτός· 1 ἐνθαῦτα, ἐπεάν σφι ἀποθάνῃ ὁ βασιλεύς, ὄρυγμα γῆς μέγα ὀρύσσουσι τετράγωνον, ἕτοιμον δὲ τοῦτο ποιήσαντες ἀναλαμβάνουσι τὸν νεκρόν, κατακεκηρωμένον μὲν τὸ σῶμα, τὴν δὲ νηδὺν ἀνασχισθεῖσαν καὶ καθαρθεῖσαν, πλέην κυπέρου κεκομμένου καὶ θυμιήματος καὶ σελίνου σπέρματος καὶ ἀννήσου, συνερραμμένην ὀπίσω, καὶ κομίζουσι ἐν ἁμάξῃ ἐς ἄλλο ἔθνος. οἳ δὲ ἂν παραδέξωνται κομισθέντα τὸν νεκρόν, ποιεῦσι τά περ οἱ βασιλήιοι Σκύθαι· τοῦ ὠτὸς ἀποτάμνονται, τρίχας περικείρονται, βραχίονας περιτάμνονται, μέτωπον καὶ ῥῖνα καταμύσσονται, διὰ τῆς ἀριστερῆς χειρὸς ὀιστοὺς διαβυνέονται. ἐνθεῦτεν δὲ κομίζουσι ἐν τῇ ἀμάξῃ τοῦ βασιλέος τὸν νέκυν ἐς ἄλλο ἔθνος τῶν ἄρχουσι· οἳ δέ σφι ἕπονται ἐς τοὺς πρότερον ἦλθον. ἐπεὰν δὲ πάντας περιέλθωσι τὸν νέκυν κομίζοντες, ἔν τε Γέρροισι ἔσχατα κατοικημένοισι εἰσὶ τῶν ἐθνέων τῶν ἄρχουσι καὶ ἐν τῇσι ταφῇσι. καὶ ἔπειτα, ἐπεὰν θέωσι τὸν νέκυν ἐν τῇσι θήκῃσι ἐπὶ στιβάδος, παραπήξαντες αἰχμὰς ἔνθεν καὶ ἔνθεν τοῦ νεκροῦ ξύλα ὑπερτείνουσι καὶ ἔπειτα ῥιψὶ καταστεγάζουσι, ἐν δὲ τῇ λοιπῇ εὐρυχωρίῃ τῆς θήκης τῶν παλλακέων τε μίαν ἀποπνίξαντες θάπτουσι καὶ τὸν οἰνοχόον καὶ μάγειρον καὶ ἱπποκόμον καὶ διήκονον καὶ ἀγγελιηφόρον καὶ ἵππους καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πάντων ἀπαρχὰς καὶ φιάλας χρυσέας· ἀργύρῳ δὲ οὐδὲν οὐδὲ χαλκῷ χρέωνται. ταῦτα δὲ ποιήσαντες χοῦσι πάντες χῶμα μέγα, ἁμιλλώμενοι καὶ προθυμεόμενοι ὡς μέγιστον ποιῆσαι. 4.72. ἐνιαυτοῦ δὲ περιφερομένου αὖτις ποιεῦσι τοιόνδε· λαβόντες τῶν λοιπῶν θεραπόντων τοὺς ἐπιτηδεοτάτους ʽοἳ δὲ εἰσὶ Σκύθαι ἐγγενέες· οὗτοι γὰρ θεραπεύουσι τοὺς ἂν αὐτὸς ὁ βασιλεὺς κελεύσῃ ἀργυρώνητοι δὲ οὐκ εἰσί σφι θεράποντεσ̓, τούτων ὦν τῶν διηκόνων ἐπεὰν ἀποπνίξωσι πεντήκοντα καὶ ἵππους τοὺς καλλίστους πεντήκοντα, ἐξελόντες αὐτῶν τὴν κοιλίην καὶ καθήραντες ἐμπιπλᾶσι ἀχύρων καὶ συρράπτουσι. ἁψῖδος δὲ ἥμισυ ἐπὶ δύο ξύλα στήσαντες ὕπτιον καὶ τὸ ἕτερον ἥμισυ τῆς ἁψῖδος ἐπʼ ἕτερα δύο, καταπήξαντες τρόπῳ τοιούτῳ πολλὰ ταῦτα, ἔπειτα τῶν ἵππων κατὰ τὰ μήκεα ξύλα παχέα διελάσαντες μέχρι τῶν τραχήλων ἀναβιβάζουσι αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τὰς ἁψῖδας· τῶν δὲ αἱ μὲν πρότεραι ἀψῖδες ὑπέχουσι τοὺς ὤμους τῶν ἵππων, αἱ δὲ ὄπισθε παρὰ τοὺς μηροὺς τὰς γαστέρας ὑπολαμβάνουσι· σκέλεα δὲ ἀμφότερα κατακρέμαται μετέωρα. χαλινοὺς δὲ καὶ στόμια ἐμβαλόντες ἐς τοὺς ἵππους κατατείνουσι ἐς τὸ πρόσθε αὐτῶν καὶ ἔπειτα ἐκ πασσάλων δέουσι. τῶν δὲ δὴ νεηνίσκων τῶν ἀποπεπνιγμένων τῶν πεντήκοντα ἕνα ἕκαστον ἀναβιβάζουσι ἐπὶ τὸν ἵππον, ὧδε ἀναβιβάζοντες, ἐπεὰν νεκροῦ ἑκάστου παρὰ τὴν ἄκανθαν ξύλον ὀρθὸν διελάσωσι μέχρι τοῦ τραχήλου· κάτωθεν δὲ ὑπερέχει τοῦ ξύλου τούτου τὸ ἐς τόρμον πηγνύουσι τοῦ ἑτέρου ξύλου τοῦ διὰ τοῦ ἵππου. ἐπιστήσαντες δὲ κύκλῳ τὸ σῆμα ἱππέας τοιούτους ἀπελαύνουσι. 4.73. οὕτω μὲν τοὺς βασιλέας θάπτουσι· τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους Σκύθας, ἐπεὰν ἀποθάνωσι, περιάγουσι οἱ ἀγχοτάτω προσήκοντες κατὰ τοὺς φίλους ἐν ἀμάξῃσι κειμένους. τῶν δὲ ἕκαστος ὑποδεκόμενος εὐωχέει τοὺς ἑπομένους, καὶ τῷ νεκρῷ ἁπάντων παραπλησίως παρατίθησι ὅσα τοῖσι ἄλλοισι. ἡμέρας δὲ τεσσεράκοντα οὕτω οἱ ἰδιῶται περιάγονται, ἔπειτα θάπτονται. θάψαντες δὲ οἱ Σκύψαι καθαίρονται τρόπῳ τοιῷδε. σμησάμενοι τὰς κεφαλὰς καὶ ἐκπλυνάμενοι ποιεῦσι περὶ τὸ σῶμα τάδε ἐπεὰν ξύλα στήσωσι τρία ἐς ἄλληλα κεκλιμένα, περὶ ταῦτα πίλους εἰρινέους περιτείνουσι, συμφράξαντες δὲ ὡς μάλιστα λίθους ἐκ πυρὸς διαφανέας ἐσβάλλουσι ἐς σκάφην κειμένην ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ξύλων τε καὶ τῶν πίλων. 4.74. ἔστι δέ σφι κάνναβις φυομένη ἐν τῇ χώρῃ πλὴν παχύτητος καὶ μεγάθεος τῷ λίνῳ ἐμφερεστάτη· ταύτῃ δὲ πολλῷ ὑπερφέρει ἡ κάνναβις. αὕτη καὶ αὐτομάτη καὶ σπειρομένη φύεται, καὶ ἐξ αὐτῆς Θρήικες μὲν καὶ εἵματα ποιεῦνται τοῖσι λινέοισι ὁμοιότατα· οὐδʼ ἄν, ὅστις μὴ κάρτα τρίβων εἴη αὐτῆς, διαγνοίη λίνου ἢ καννάβιος ἐστί· ὃς δὲ μὴ εἶδε κω τὴν κανναβίδα, λίνεον δοκήσει εἶναι τὸ εἷμα. 4.75. ταύτης ὦν οἱ Σκύθαι τῆς καννάβιος τὸ σπέρμα ἐπεὰν λάβωσι, ὑποδύνουσι ὑπὸ τοὺς πίλους, καὶ ἔπειτα ἐπιβάλλουσι τὸ σπέρμα ἐπὶ τοὺς διαφανέας λίθους τῷ πυρί· τὸ δὲ θυμιᾶται ἐπιβαλλόμενον καὶ ἀτμίδα παρέχεται τοσαύτην ὥστε Ἑλληνικὴ οὐδεμία ἄν μιν πυρίη ἀποκρατήσειε. οἱ δὲ Σκύθαι ἀγάμενοι τῇ πυρίῃ ὠρύονται. τοῦτό σφι ἀντὶ λουτροῦ ἐστι. οὐ γὰρ δὴ λούονται ὕδατι τὸ παράπαν τὸ σῶμα. αἱ δὲ γυναῖκες αὐτῶν ὕδωρ παραχέουσαι κατασώχουσι περὶ λίθον τρηχὺν τῆς κυπαρίσσου καὶ κέδρου καὶ λιβάνου ξύλου, καὶ ἔπειτα τὸ κατασωχόμενον τοῦτο παχὺ ἐὸν καταπλάσσονται πᾶν τὸ σῶμα καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον· καὶ ἅμα μὲν εὐωδίη σφέας ἀπὸ τούτου ἴσχει, ἅμα δὲ ἀπαιρέουσαι τῇ δευτέρη ἡμέρῃ τὴν καταπλαστὺν γίνονται καθαραὶ καὶ λαμπραί. 4.76. ξεινικοῖσι δὲ νομαίοισι καὶ οὗτοι φεύγουσι αἰνῶς χρᾶσθαι, μήτε τεῶν ἄλλων, Ἑλληνικοῖσι δὲ καὶ ἥκιστα, ὡς διέδεξαν Ἀνάχαρσις τε καὶ δεύτερα αὖτις Σκύλης. τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ Ἀνάχαρσις ἐπείτε γῆν πολλὴν θεωρήσας καὶ ἀποδεξάμενος κατʼ αὐτὴν σοφίην πολλὴν ἐκομίζετο ἐς ἤθεα τὰ Σκυθέων, πλέων διʼ Ἑλλησπόντου προσίσχει ἐς Κύζικον. καὶ εὗρε γὰρ τῇ μητρὶ τῶν θεῶν ἀνάγοντας τοὺς Κυζικηνοὺς ὁρτὴν μεγαλοπρεπέως κάρτα, εὔξατο τῇ μητρὶ ὁ Ἀνάχαρσις, ἢν σῶς καὶ ὑγιὴς ἀπονοστήσῃ ἐς ἑωυτοῦ, θύσειν τε κατὰ ταὐτὰ κατὰ ὥρα τοὺς Κυζικηνοὺς ποιεῦντας καὶ παννυχίδα στήσειν. ὡς δὲ ἀπίκετο ἐς τὴν Σκυθικήν καταδὺς ἐς τὴν καλεομένην Ὑλαίην ʽἡ δʼ ἔστι μὲν παρὰ τὸν Ἀχιλλήιον δρόμον, τυγχάνει δὲ πᾶσα ἐοῦσα δενδρέων παντοίων πλέἠ, ἐς ταύτην δὴ καταδὺς ὁ Ἀνάχαρσις τὴν ὁρτὴν ἐπετέλεε πᾶσαν τῇ θεῷ, τύμπανον τε ἔχων καὶ ἐκδησάμενος ἀγάλματα. καὶ τῶν τις Σκυθέων καταφρασθεὶς αὐτὸν ταῦτα ποιεῦντα ἐσήμηνε τῷ βασιλέι Σαυλίω· ὁ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ἀπικόμενος ὡς εἶδε τὸν Ἀνάχαρσιν ποιεῦντα ταῦτα, τοξεύσας αὐτὸν ἀπέκτεινε. καὶ νῦν ἤν τις εἴρηται περὶ Ἀναχάρσιος, οὐ φασί μιν Σκύθαι γινώσκειν, διὰ τοῦτο ὅτι ἐξεδήμησέ τε ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ ξεινικοῖσι ἔθεσι διεχρήσατο. ὡς δʼ ἐγὼ ἤκουσα Τύμνεω τοῦ Ἀριαπείθεος ἐπιτρόπου, εἶναι αὐτὸν Ἰδανθύρσου τοῦ Σκυθέων βασιλέος πάτρων, παῖδα δὲ εἶναι Γνούρου τοῦ Λύκου τοῦ Σπαργαπείθεος. εἰ ὦν ταύτης ἦν τῆς οἰκίης ὁ Ἀνάχαρσις, ἴστω ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀδελφεοῦ ἀποθανών· Ἰδάνθυρσος γὰρ ἦν παῖς Σαυλίου, Σαύλιος δὲ ἦν ὁ ἀποκτείνας Ἀνάχαρσιν. 4.77. καίτοι τινὰ ἤδη ἤκουσα λόγον ἄλλον ὑπὸ Πελοποννησίων λεγόμενον, ὡς ὑπὸ τοῦ Σκυθέων βασιλέος Ἀνάχαρσις ἀποπεμφθεὶς τῆς Ἑλλάδος μαθητὴς γένοιτο, ὀπίσω τε ἀπονοστήσας φαίη πρὸς τὸν ἀποπέμψαντα Ἕλληνας πάντας ἀσχόλους εἶναι ἐς πᾶσαν σοφίην πλὴν Λακεδαιμονίων, τούτοισι δὲ εἶναι μούνοισι σωφρόνως δοῦναι τε καὶ δέξασθαι λόγον. ἀλλʼ οὗτος μὲν ὁ λόγος ἄλλως πέπλασται ὑπʼ αὐτῶν Ἑλλήνων, ὁ δʼ ὧν ἀνὴρ ὥσπερ πρότερον εἰρέθη διεφθάρη. 4.78. οὗτος μέν νυν οὕτω δὴ ἔπρηξε διὰ ξεινικά τε νόμαια καὶ Ἑλληνικὰς ὁμιλίας. πολλοῖσι δὲ κάρτα ἔτεσι ὕστερον Σκύλης ὁ Ἀριαπείθεος ἔπαθε παραπλήσια τούτῳ. Ἀριαπείθεϊ γὰρ τῷ Σκυθέων βασιλέι γίνεται μετʼ ἄλλων παίδων Σκύλης· ἐξ Ἰστριηνῆς δὲ γυναικὸς οὗτος γίνεται καὶ οὐδαμῶς ἐγχωρίης· τὸν ἡ μήτηρ αὕτη γλῶσσάν τε Ἑλλάδα καὶ γράμματα ἐδίδαξε. μετὰ δὲ χρόνῳ ὕστερον Ἀριαπείθης μὲν τελευτᾷ δόλῳ ὑπὸ Σπαργαπείθεος τοῦ Ἀγαθύρσων βασιλέος, Σκύλης δὲ τήν τε βασιληίην παρέλαβε καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ πατρός, τῇ οὔνομα ἦν Ὀποίη· ἦν δὲ αὕτη ἡ Ὀποίη ἀστή, ἐξ ἧς ἦν Ὄρικος Ἀριαπείθεϊ παῖς. βασιλεύων δὲ Σκυθέων ὁ Σκύλης διαίτῃ οὐδαμῶς ἠρέσκετο Σκυψικῇ, ἀλλὰ πολλὸν πρὸς τὰ Ἑλληνικὰ μᾶλλον τετραμμένος ἦν ἀπὸ παιδεύσιος τῆς ἐπεπαίδευτο, ἐποίεέ τε τοιοῦτο· εὖτε ἀγάγοι τὴν στρατιὴν τὴν Σκυθέων ἐς τὸ Βορυσθενειτέων ἄστυ ʽοἱ δὲ Βορυσθενεῗται οὗτοι λέγουσι σφέας αὐτοὺς εἶναι Μιλησίουσ̓, ἐς τούτους ὅκως ἔλθοι ὁ Σκύλης, τὴν μὲν στρατιὴν καταλίπεσκε ἐν τῷ προαστείῳ, αὐτὸς δὲ ὅκως ἔλθοι ἐς τὸ τεῖχος καὶ τὰς πύλας ἐγκλῄσειε, τὴν στολὴν ἀποθέμενος τὴν Σκυθικὴν λάβεσκε ἂν Ἑλληνίδα ἐσθῆτα, ἔχων δʼ ἂν ταύτην ἠγόραζε οὔτε δορυφόρων ἑπομένων οὔτε ἄλλου οὐδενός· τὰς δὲ πύλας ἐφύλασσον, μή τίς μιν Σκυθέων ἴδοι ἔχοντα ταύτην τὴν στολήν· καὶ τά τε ἄλλα ἐχρᾶτο διαίτη Ἑλληνικῇ καὶ θεοῖσι ἱρὰ ἐποίεε κατὰ νόμους τοὺς Ἑλλήνων. ὅτε δὲ διατρίψειε μῆνα ἡ πλέον τούτου, ἀπαλλάσσετο ἐνδὺς τὴν Σκυθικὴν στολήν. ταῦτα ποιέεσκε πολλάκις καὶ οἰκία τε ἐδείματο ἐν Βορυσθένεϊ καὶ γυναῖκα ἔγημε ἐς αὐτὰ ἐπιχωρίην. 4.79. ἐπείτε δὲ ἔδεέ οἱ κακῶς γενέσθαι, ἐγίνετο ἀπὸ προφάσιος τοιῆσδε. ἐπεθύμησε Διονύσῳ Βακχείῳ τελεσθῆναι· μέλλοντι δέ οἱ ἐς χεῖρας ἄγεσθαι τὴν τελετὴν ἐγένετο φάσμα μέγιστον. ἦν οἱ ἐν Βορυσθενεϊτέων τῇ πόλι οἰκίης μεγάλης καὶ πολυτελέος περιβολή, τῆς καὶ ὀλίγῳ τι πρότερον τούτων μνήμην εἶχον, τὴν πέριξ λευκοῦ λίθου σφίγγες τε καὶ γρῦπες ἕστασαν· ἐς ταύτην ὁ θεὸς ἐνέσκηψε βέλος. καὶ ἣ μὲν κατεκάη πᾶσα, Σκύλης δὲ οὐδὲν τούτου εἵνεκα ἧσσον ἐπετέλεσε τὴν τελετήν. Σκύθαι δὲ τοῦ βακχεύειν πέρι Ἕλλησι ὀνειδίζουσι· οὐ γὰρ φασὶ οἰκὸς εἶναι θεὸν ἐξευρίσκειν τοῦτον ὅστις μαίνεσθαι ἐνάγει ἀνθρώπους. ἐπείτε δὲ ἐτελέσθη τῷ Βακχείῳ ὁ Σκύλης, διεπρήστευσε τῶν τις Βορυσθενειτέων πρὸς τοὺς Σκύθας λέγων “ἡμῖν γὰρ καταγελᾶτε, ὦ Σκύθαι, ὅτι βακχεύομεν καὶ ἡμέας ὁ θεὸς λαμβάνει· νῦν οὗτος ὁ δαίμων καὶ τὸν ὑμέτερον βασιλέα λελάβηκε, καὶ βακχεύει τε καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ μαίνεται. εἰ δέ μοι ἀπιστέετε, ἕπεσθε, καὶ ὑμῖν ἐγὼ δέξω.” εἵποντο τῶν Σκύθεων οἱ προεστεῶτες, καὶ αὐτοὺς ἀναγαγὼν ὁ Βορυσθενεΐτης λάθρῃ ἐπὶ πύργον κατεῖσε. ἐπείτε δὲ παρήιε σὺν τῷ θιάσῳ ὁ Σκύλης καὶ εἶδόν μιν βακχεύοντα οἱ Σκύθαι, κάρτα συμφορὴν μεγάλην ἐποιήσαντο, ἐξελθόντες δὲ ἐσήμαινον πάσῃ τῇ στρατιῇ τὰ ἴδοιεν. 4.80. ὡς δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα ἐξήλαυνε ὁ Σκύλης ἐς ἤθεα τὰ ἑωυτοῦ, οἱ Σκύθαι προστησάμενοι τὸν ἀδελφεὸν αὐτοῦ Ὀκταμασάδην, γεγονότα ἐκ τῆς Τήρεω θυγατρός, ἐπανιστέατο τῷ Σκύλῃ. ὁ δὲ μαθὼν τὸ γινόμενον ἐπʼ ἑωυτῷ καὶ τὴν αἰτίην διʼ ἣν ἐποιέετο, καταφεύγει ἐς τὴν Θρηίκην. πυθόμενος δὲ ὁ Ὀκταμασάδης ταῦτα ἐστρατεύετο ἐπὶ τὴν Θρηίκην. ἐπείτε δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ Ἴστρῳ ἐγένετο, ἠντίασάν μιν οἱ Θρήικες, μελλόντων δὲ αὐτῶν συνάψειν ἔπεμψε Σιτάλκης παρὰ τὸν Ὀκταμασάδην λέγων τοιάδε. “τι δεῖ ἡμέας ἀλλήλων πειρηθῆναι; εἶς μέν μευ τῆς ἀδελφεῆς παῖς, ἔχεις δέ μευ ἀδελφεόν. σὺ δέ μοι ἀπόδος τοῦτον, καὶ ἐγὼ σοὶ τὸν σὸν Σκύλην παραδίδωμι· στρατιῇ δὲ μήτε σὺ κινδυνεύσῃς μήτʼ ἐγώ.” ταῦτά οἱ πέμψας ὁ Σιτάλκης ἐπεκηρυκεύετο· ἦν γὰρ παρὰ τῷ Ὀκταμασάδη ἀδελφεὸς Σιτάλκεω πεφευγώς. ὁ δὲ Ὀκταμασάδης καταινέει ταῦτα, ἐκδοὺς δὲ τὸν ἑωυτοῦ μήτρωα Σιτάλκη ἔλαβε τὸν ἀδελφεὸν Σκύλην. καὶ Σιτάλκης μὲν παραλαβὼν τὸν ἀδελφεὸν ἀπήγετο, Σκύλεω δὲ Ὀκταμασάδης αὐτοῦ ταύτῃ ἀπέταμε τὴν κεφαλήν. οὕτω μὲν περιστέλλουσι τὰ σφέτερα νόμαια Σκύθαι, τοῖσι δὲ παρακτωμένοισι ξεινικοὺς νόμους τοιαῦτα ἐπιτίμια διδοῦσι. 4.81. πλῆθος δὲ τὸ Σκυθέων οὐκ οἷος τε ἐγενόμην ἀτρεκέως πυθέσθαι, ἀλλὰ διαφόρους λόγους περὶ τοῦ ἀριθμοῦ ἤκουον· καὶ γὰρ κάρτα πολλοὺς εἶναι σφέας καὶ ὀλίγους ὡς Σκύθας εἶναι. τοσόνδε μέντοι ἀπέφαινόν μοι ἐς ὄψιν. ἔστι μεταξὺ Βορυσθένεός τε ποταμοῦ καὶ Ὑπάνιος χῶρος, οὔνομα δέ οἱ ἐστὶ Ἐξαμπαῖος· τοῦ καὶ ὀλίγῳ τι πρότερον τούτων μνήμην εἶχον, φάμενος ἐν αὐτῷ κρήνην ὕδατος πικροῦ εἶναι, ἀπʼ ἧς τὸ ὕδωρ ἀπορρέον τὸν Ὕπανιν ἄποτον ποιέειν. ἐν τούτῳ τῷ χώρῳ κέεται χαλκήιον, μεγάθει καὶ ἑξαπλήσιον τοῦ ἐπὶ στόματι τοῦ Πόντου κρητῆρος, τὸν Παυσανίης ὁ Κλεομβρότου ἀνέθηκε. ὃς δὲ μὴ εἶδε κω τοῦτον, ὧδε δηλώσω. ἑξακοσίους ἀμφορέας εὐπετέως χωρέει τὸ ἐν Σκύθῃσι χαλκήιον, πάχος δὲ τὸ Σκυθικὸν τοῦτο χαλκήιον ἐστὶ δακτύλων ἕξ. τοῦτο ὦν ἔλεγον οἱ ἐπιχώριοι ἀπὸ ἀρδίων γενέσθαι. βουλόμενον γὰρ τὸν σφέτερον βασιλέα, τῶ οὔνομα εἶναι Ἀριάνταν, τοῦτον εἰδέναι τὸ πλῆθος τὸ Σκυθέων κελεύειν μιν πάντας Σκύθας ἄρδιν ἕκαστον μίαν ἀπὸ τοῦ ὀιστοῦ κομίσαι. ὃς δʼ ἄν μὴ κομίσῃ, θάνατον ἀπείλεε. κομισθῆναι τε δὴ χρῆμα πολλὸν ἀρδίων καί οἱ δόξαι ἐξ αὐτέων μνημόσυνον ποιήσαντι λιπέσθαι. ἐκ τουτέων δή μιν τὸ χαλκήιον ποιῆσαι τοῦτο καὶ ἀναθεῖναι ἐς τὸν Ἐξαμπαῖον τοῦτον. ταῦτα δὲ περὶ τοῦ πλήθεος τοῦ Σκυθέων ἤκουον. 4.82. θωμάσια δὲ ἡ χώρη αὕτη οὐκ ἔχει, χωρὶς ἢ ὅτι ποταμούς τε πολλῶ μεγίστους καὶ ἀριθμὸν πλείστους. τὸ δὲ ἀποθωμάσαι ἄξιον καὶ πάρεξ τῶν ποταμῶν καὶ τοῦ μεγάθεος τοῦ πεδίου παρέχεται, εἰρήσεται. ἴχνος Ἡρακλέος φαίνουσι ἐν πέτρῃ ἐνεόν, τὸ ἔοικε μὲν βήματι ἀνδρός, ἔστι δὲ τὸ μέγαθος δίπηχυ, παρὰ τὸν Τύρην ποταμόν. τοῦτο μέν νυν τοιοῦτο ἐστί, ἀναβήσομαι δὲ ἐς τὸν κατʼ ἀρχὰς ἤια λέξων λόγον.
4.99. τῆς δὲ Σκυθικῆς γῆς ἡ Θρηίκη τὸ ἐς θάλασσαν πρόκειται· κόλπου δὲ ἀγομένου τῆς γῆς ταύτης, ἡ Σκυθική τε ἐκδέκεται καὶ ὁ Ἴστρος ἐκδιδοῖ ἐς αὐτήν, πρὸς εὗρον ἄνεμον τὸ στόμα τετραμμένος. τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ Ἴστρου ἔρχομαι σημανέων τὸ πρὸς θάλασσαν αὐτῆς τῆς Σκυθικῆς χώρης ἐς μέτρησιν. ἀπὸ Ἴστρου αὕτη ἤδη ἡ ἀρχαίη Σκυθίη ἐστί, πρὸς μεσαμβρίην τε καὶ νότον ἄνεμον κειμένη, μέχρι πόλιος Καρκινίτιδος καλεομένης. τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ ταύτης τὴν μὲν ἐπὶ θάλασσαν τὴν αὐτὴν φέρουσαν, ἐοῦσαν ὀρεινήν τε χώρην καὶ προκειμένην τὸ ἐς Πόντον, νέμεται τὸ Ταυρικὸν ἔθνος μέχρι χερσονήσου τῆς τρηχέης καλεομένης· αὕτη δὲ ἐς θάλασσαν τὴν πρὸς ἀπηλιώτην ἄνεμον κατήκει. ἔστι γὰρ τῆς Σκυθικῆς τὰ δύο μέρεα τῶν οὔρων ἐς θάλασσαν φέροντα, τήν τε πρὸς μεσαμβρίην καὶ τὴν πρὸς τὴν ἠῶ, κατά περ τῆς Ἀττικῆς χώρης· καὶ παραπλήσια ταύτῃ καὶ οἱ Ταῦροι νέμονται τῆς Σκυθικῆς, ὡς εἰ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἄλλο ἔθνος καὶ μὴ Ἀθηναῖοι νεμοίατο τὸν γουνὸν τὸν Σουνιακόν, μᾶλλον ἐς τὸν πόντον τὴν ἄκρην 1 ἀνέχοντα, τὸν ἀπὸ Θορικοῦ μέχρι Ἀναφλύστου δήμου· λέγω δὲ ὡς εἶναι ταῦτα σμικρὰ μεγάλοισι συμβάλλειν· τοιοῦτον ἡ Ταυρική ἐστι. ὃς δὲ τῆς Ἀττικῆς ταῦτα μὴ παραπέπλωκε, ἐγὼ δὲ ἄλλως δηλώσω· ὡς εἰ τῆς Ἰηπυγίης ἄλλο ἔθνος καὶ μὴ Ἰήπυγες ἀρξάμενοι ἐκ Βρεντεσίου λιμένος ἀποταμοίατο μέχρι Τάραντος καὶ νεμοίατο τὴν ἄκρην. δύο δὲ λέγων ταῦτα πολλὰ λέγω παρόμοια, τοῖσι ἄλλοισι ἔοικε ἡ Ταυρική. 4.100. τὸ δʼ ἀπὸ τῆς Ταυρικῆς ἤδη Σκύθαι τὰ κατύπερθε τῶν Ταύρων καὶ τὰ πρὸς θαλάσσης τῆς ἠοίης νέμονται, τοῦ τε Βοσπόρου τοῦ Κιμμερίου τὰ πρὸς ἑσπέρης καὶ τῆς λίμνης τῆς Μαιήτιδος μέχρι Τανάιδος ποταμοῦ, ὃς ἐκδιδοῖ ἐς μυχὸν τῆς λίμνης ταύτης. ἤδη ὧν ἀπὸ μὲν Ἴστρου τὰ κατύπερθε ἐς τὴν μεσόγαιαν φέροντα ἀποκληίεται ἡ Σκυθικὴ ὑπὸ πρώτων Ἀγαθύρσων, μετὰ δὲ Νευρῶν, ἔπειτα δὲ Ἀνδροφάγων, τελευταίων δὲ Μελαγχλαίνων. 4.101. ἔστι ὦν τῆς Σκυθικῆς ὡς ἐούσης τετραγώνου, τῶν δύο μερέων κατηκόντων ἐς θάλασσαν, πάντῃ ἴσον τό τε ἐς τὴν μεσόγαιαν φέρον καὶ τὸ παρὰ τὴν θάλασσαν. ἀπὸ γὰρ Ἴστρου ἐπὶ Βορυσθένεα δέκα ἡμερέων ὁδός ἀπὸ Βορυσθένεος τε ἐπὶ τὴν λίμνην τὴν Μαιῆτιν ἑτερέων δέκα· καὶ τὸ ἀπὸ θαλάσσης ἐς μεσόγαιαν ἐς τοὺς Μελαγχλαίνους τοὺς κατύπερθε Σκυψέων οἰκημένους εἴκοσι ἡμερέων ὁδὸς. ἡ δὲ ὁδὸς ἡ ἡμερησίη ἀνὰ διηκόσια στάδια συμβέβληταί μοι. οὕτω ἂν εἴη τῆς Σκυθικῆς τὰ ἐπικάρσια τετρακισχιλίων σταδίων καὶ τὰ ὄρθια τὰ ἐς τὴν μεσόγαιαν φέροντα ἑτέρων τοσούτων σταδίων. ἡ μέν νυν γῆ αὕτη ἐστὶ μέγαθος τοσαύτη.
4.106. ἀνδροφάγοι δὲ ἀγριώτατα πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἔχουσι ἤθεα, οὔτε δίκην νομίζοντες οὔτε νόμῳ οὐδενὶ χρεώμενοι· νομάδες δὲ εἰσι, ἐσθῆτά τε φορέουσι τῇ Σκυθικῇ ὁμοίην, γλῶσσαν δὲ ἰδίην, ἀνδροφαγέουσι δὲ μοῦνοι τούτων.
4.114. μετὰ δὲ συμμίξαντες τὰ στρατόπεδα οἴκεον ὁμοῦ, γυναῖκα ἔχων ἕκαστος ταύτην τῇ τὸ πρῶτον συνεμίχθη. τὴν δὲ φωνὴν τὴν μὲν τῶν γυναικῶν οἱ ἄνδρες οὐκ ἐδυνέατο μαθεῖν, τὴν δὲ τῶν ἀνδρῶν αἱ γυναῖκες συνέλαβον. ἐπεὶ δὲ συνῆκαν ἀλλήλων, ἔλεξαν πρὸς τὰς Ἀμαζόνας τάδε οἱ ἄνδρες. “ἡμῖν εἰσὶ μὲν τοκέες, εἰσὶ δὲ κτήσιες· νῦν ὦν μηκέτι πλεῦνα χρόνον ζόην τοιήνδε ἔχωμεν, ἀλλʼ ἀπελθόντες ἐς τὸ πλῆθος διαιτώμεθα. γυναῖκας δὲ ἕξομεν ὑμέας καὶ οὐδαμὰς ἄλλας.” αἳ δὲ πρὸς ταῦτα ἔλεξαν τάδε. “ἡμεῖς οὐκ ἂν δυναίμεθα οἰκέειν μετὰ τῶν ὑμετερέων γυναικῶν· οὐ γὰρ τὰ αὐτὰ νόμαια ἡμῖν τε κἀκείνῃσι ἐστί. ἡμεῖς μὲν τοξεύομέν τε καὶ ἀκοντίζομεν καὶ ἱππαζόμεθα, ἔργα δὲ γυναικήια οὐκ ἐμάθομεν· αἱ δὲ ὑμέτεραι γυναῖκες τούτων μὲν οὐδὲν τῶν ἡμεῖς κατελέξαμεν ποιεῦσι, ἔργα δὲ γυναικήια ἐργάζονται μένουσαι ἐν τῇσι ἁμάξῃσι, οὔτʼ ἐπὶ θήρην ἰοῦσαι οὔτε ἄλλῃ οὐδαμῇ. οὐκ ἂν ὦν δυναίμεθα ἐκείνῃσι συμφέρεσθαι. ἀλλʼ εἰ βούλεσθε γυναῖκας ἔχειν ἡμέας καὶ δοκέειν εἶναι δίκαιοι, ἐλθόντες παρὰ τοὺς τοκέας ἀπολάχετε τῶν κτημάτων τὸ μέρος, καὶ ἔπειτα ἐλθόντες οἰκέωμεν ἐπὶ ἡμέων αὐτῶν.” ἐπείθοντο καὶ ἐποίησαν ταῦτα οἱ νεηνίσκοι.
4.119. ταῦτα Σκυθέων ἐπαγγελλομένων ἐβουλεύοντο οἱ βασιλέες οἱ ἀπὸ τῶν ἐθνέων ἥκοντες, καί σφεων ἐσχίσθησαν αἱ γνῶμαι· ὁ μὲν γὰρ Γελωνὸς καὶ ὁ Βουδῖνος καὶ ὁ Σαυρομάτης κατὰ τὠυτὸ γενόμενοι ὑπεδέκοντο Σκύθῃσι τιμωρήσειν, ὁ δὲ Ἀγάθυρσος καὶ Νευρὸς καὶ Ἀνδροφάγος καὶ οἱ τῶν Μελαγχλαίνων καὶ Ταύρων τάδε Σκύθῃσι ὑπεκρίναντο. “εἰ μὲν μὴ ὑμεῖς ἔατε οἱ πρότεροι ἀδικήσαντες Πέρσας καὶ ἄρξαντες πολέμου, τούτων δεόμενοι τῶν νῦν δέεσθε λέγειν τε ἂν ἐφαίνεσθε ἡμῖν ὀρθά, καὶ ἡμεῖς ὑπακούσαντες τὠυτὸ ἂν ὑμῖν ἐπρήσσομεν. νῦν δὲ ὑμεῖς τε ἐς τὴν ἐκείνων ἐσβαλόντες γῆν ἄνευ ἡμέων ἐπεκρατέετε Περσέων ὅσον χρόνον ὑμῖν ὁ θεὸς παρεδίδου, καὶ ἐκεῖνοι, ἐπεί σφεας ὡυτὸς θεὸς ἐγείρει, τὴν ὁμοίην ὑμῖν ἀποδιδοῦσι. ἡμεῖς δὲ οὔτε τι τότε ἠδικήσαμεν τοὺς ἄνδρας τούτους οὐδὲν οὔτε νῦν πρότεροι πειρησόμεθα ἀδικέειν. ἢν μέντοι ἐπίῃ καὶ τὴν ἡμετέρην ἄρξῃ τε ἀδικέων, καὶ ἡμεῖς οὐ πεισόμεθα, 1 μέχρι δὲ τοῦτο ἴδωμεν, μενέομεν παρʼ ἡμῖν αὐτοῖσι· ἥκειν γὰρ δοκέομεν οὐκ ἐπʼ ἡμέας Πέρσας ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τοὺς αἰτίους τῆς ἀδικίης γενομὲνους.”
4.127. πρὸς ταῦτα ὁ Σκυθέων βασιλεὺς Ἰδάνθυρσος λέγει τάδε. “οὕτω τὸ ἐμὸν ἔχει, ὦ Πέρσα. ἐγὼ οὐδένα κω ἀνθρώπων δείσας ἔφυγον οὔτε πρότερον οὔτε νῦν σὲ φεύγω, οὐδέ τι νεώτερον εἰμὶ ποιήσας νῦν ἢ καὶ ἐν εἰρήνη ἐώθεα ποιέειν. ὅ τι δὲ οὐκ αὐτίκα μάχομαι τοι, ἐγὼ καὶ τοῦτο σημανέω. ἡμῖν οὔτε ἄστεα οὔτε γῆ πεφυτευμένη ἐστί, τῶν πέρι δείσαντες μὴ ἁλῷ, ἢ καρῇ ταχύτερον ἂν ὑμῖν συμμίσγοιμεν ἐς μάχην. εἰ δὲ δέοι πάντως ἐς τοῦτο κατὰ τάχος ἀπικνέεσθαι, τυγχάνουσι ἡμῖν ἐόντες τάφοι πατρώιοι· φέρετε, τούτους ἀνευρόντες συγχέειν πειρᾶσθε αὐτούς, καὶ γνώσεσθε τότε εἴτε ὑμῖν μαχησόμεθα περὶ τῶν τάφων εἴτε καὶ οὐ μαχησόμεθα. πρότερον δέ, ἢν μὴ ἡμέας λόγος αἱρέῃ, οὐ συμμίξομεν τοι. ἀμφὶ μὲν μάχῃ τοσαῦτα εἰρήσθω, δεσπότας δὲ ἐμοὺς ἐγὼ Δία τε νομίζω τὸν ἐμὸν πρόγονον καὶ Ἱστίην τὴν Σκυθέων βασίλειαν μούνους εἶναι. σοὶ δὲ ἀντὶ μὲν δώρων γῆς τε καὶ ὕδατος δῶρα πέμψω τοιαῦτα οἷα σοὶ πρέπει ἐλθεῖν, ἀντὶ δὲ τοῦ ὅτι δεσπότης ἔφησας εἶναι ἐμός, κλαίειν λέγω.” τοῦτο ἐστὶ ἡ ἀπὸ Σκυθέων ῥῆσις. 1
4.183. ἀπὸ δὲ Αὐγίλων διὰ δέκα ἡμερέων ἀλλέων ὁδοῦ ἕτερος ἁλὸς κολωνὸς καὶ ὕδωρ καὶ φοίνικες καρποφόροι πολλοί, κατά περ καὶ ἐν τοῖσι ἑτέροισι· καὶ ἄνθρωποι οἰκέουσι ἐν αὐτῷ τοῖσι οὔνομα Γαράμαντες ἐστί, ἔθνος μέγα ἰσχυρῶς, οἳ ἐπὶ τὸν ἅλα γῆν ἐπιφορέοντες οὕτω σπείρουσι. συντομώτατον δʼ ἐστὶ ἐς τοὺς Λωτοφάγους, ἐκ τῶν τριήκοντα ἡμερέων ἐς αὐτοὺς ὁδός ἐστι· ἐν τοῖσι καὶ οἱ ὀπισθονόμοι βόες γίνονται· ὀπισθονόμοι δὲ διὰ τόδε εἰσι. τὰ κέρεα ἔχουσι κεκυφότα ἐς τὸ ἔμπροσθε· διὰ τοῦτο ὀπίσω ἀναχωρέοντες νέμονται· ἐς γὰρ τὸ ἔμπροσθε οὐκ οἷοι τε εἰσὶ προεμβαλλόντων ἐς τὴν γῆν τῶν κερέων. ἄλλο δὲ οὐδὲν διαφέρουσι τῶν ἄλλων βοῶν ὅτι μὴ τοῦτο καὶ τὸ δέρμα ἐς παχύτητά τε καὶ τρῖψιν. οἱ Γαράμαντες δὴ οὗτοι τοὺς τρωγλοδύτας Αἰθίοπας θηρεύουσι τοῖσι τεθρίπποισι· οἱ γὰρ τρωγλοδύται Αἰθίοπες πόδας τάχιστοι ἀνθρώπων πάντων εἰσὶ τῶν ἡμεῖς πέρι λόγους ἀποφερομένους ἀκούομεν. σιτέονται δὲ οἱ τρωγλοδύται ὄφις καὶ σαύρους καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα τῶν ἑρπετῶν· γλῶσσαν δὲ οὐδεμιῇ ἄλλῃ παρομοίην νενομίκασι, ἀλλὰ τετρίγασι κατά περ αἱ νυκτερίδες.
6.58. ταῦτα μὲν ζῶσι τοῖσι βασιλεῦσι δέδοται ἐκ τοῦ κοινοῦ τῶν Σπαρτιητέων, ἀποθανοῦσι δὲ τάδε. ἱππέες περιαγγέλλουσι τὸ γεγονὸς κατὰ πᾶσαν τὴν Λακωνικήν, κατὰ δὲ τὴν πόλιν γυναῖκες περιιοῦσαι λέβητα κροτέουσι. ἐπεὰν ὦν τοῦτο γίνηται τοιοῦτο, ἀνάγκη ἐξ οἰκίης ἑκάστης ἐλευθέρους δύο καταμιαίνεσθαι, ἄνδρα τε καὶ γυναῖκα· μὴ ποιήσασι δὲ τοῦτο ζημίαι μεγάλαι ἐπικέαται. νόμος δὲ τοῖσι Λακεδαιμονίοισι κατὰ τῶν βασιλέων τοὺς θανάτους ἐστὶ ὡυτὸς καὶ τοῖσι βαρβάροισι τοῖσι ἐν τῇ Ἀσίῃ· τῶν γὰρ ὦν βαρβάρων οἱ πλεῦνες τῷ αὐτῷ νόμῳ χρέωνται κατὰ τοὺς θανάτους τῶν βασιλέων. ἐπεὰν γὰρ ἀποθάνῃ βασιλεὺς Λακεδαιμονίων, ἐκ πάσης δεῖ Λακεδαίμονος, χωρὶς Σπαρτιητέων, ἀριθμῷ τῶν περιοίκων ἀναγκαστοὺς ἐς τὸ κῆδος ἰέναι. τούτων ὦν καὶ τῶν εἱλωτέων καὶ αὐτῶν Σπαρτιητέων ἐπεὰν συλλεχθέωσι ἐς τὠυτὸ πολλαὶ χιλιάδες σύμμιγα τῇσι γυναιξί, κόπτονταί τε τὰ μέτωπα προθύμως καὶ οἰμωγῇ διαχρέωνται ἀπλέτῳ, φάμενοι τὸν ὕστατον αἰεὶ ἀπογενόμενον τῶν βασιλέων, τοῦτον δὴ γενέσθαι ἄριστον. ὃς δʼ ἂν ἐν πολέμῳ τῶν βασιλέων ἀποθάνῃ, τούτῳ δὲ εἴδωλον σκευάσαντες ἐν κλίνῃ εὖ ἐστρωμένῃ ἐκφέρουσι. ἐπεὰν δὲ θάψωσι, ἀγορὴ δέκα ἡμερέων οὐκ ἵσταταί σφι οὐδʼ ἀρχαιρεσίη συνίζει, ἀλλὰ πενθέουσι ταύτας τὰς ἡμέρας. 6.59. συμφέρονται δὲ ἄλλο οὗτοι τόδε τοῖσι Πέρσῃσι· ἐπεὰν ἀποθανόντος τοῦ βασιλέος ἄλλος ἐνίστηται βασιλεύς, οὗτος ὁ ἐσιὼν ἐλευθεροῖ ὅστις τι Σπαρτιητέων τῷ βασιλέι ἢ τῷ δημοσίῳ ὤφειλε· ἐν δʼ αὖ Πέρσῃσι ὁ κατιστάμενος βασιλεὺς τὸν προοφειλόμενον φόρον μετιεῖ τῇσι πόλισι πάσῃσι. 6.60. συμφέρονται δὲ καὶ τάδε Αἰγυπτίοισι Λακεδαιμόνιοι· οἱ κήρυκες αὐτῶν καὶ αὐληταὶ καὶ μάγειροι ἐκδέκονται τὰς πατρωίας τέχνας, καὶ αὐλητής τε αὐλητέω γίνεται καὶ μάγειρος μαγείρου καὶ κῆρυξ κήρυκος· οὐ κατὰ λαμπροφωνίην ἐπιτιθέμενοι ἄλλοι σφέας παρακληίουσι, ἀλλὰ κατὰ τὰ πάτρια ἐπιτελέουσι.
7.11. Ἀρτάβανος μὲν ταῦτα ἔλεξε, Ξέρξης δὲ θυμωθεὶς ἀμείβεται τοῖσιδε. “Ἀρτάβανε, πατρὸς εἶς τοῦ ἐμοῦ ἀδελφεός· τοῦτό σε ῥύσεται μηδένα ἄξιον μισθὸν λαβεῖν ἐπέων ματαίων. καί τοι ταύτην τὴν ἀτιμίην προστίθημι ἐόντι κακῷ καὶ ἀθύμῳ, μήτε συστρατεύεσθαι ἔμοιγε ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα αὐτοῦ τε μένειν ἅμα τῇσι γυναιξί· ἐγὼ δὲ καὶ ἄνευ σέο ὅσα περ εἶπα ἐπιτελέα ποιήσω. μὴ γὰρ εἴην ἐκ Δαρείου τοῦ Ὑστάσπεος τοῦ Ἀρσάμεος τοῦ Ἀριαράμνεω τοῦ Τεΐσπεος τοῦ Κύρου τοῦ Καμβύσεω τοῦ Τεΐσπεος τοῦ Ἀχαιμένεος γεγονώς, μὴ τιμωρησάμενος Ἀθηναίους, εὖ ἐπιστάμενος ὅτι εἰ ἡμεῖς ἡσυχίην ἄξομεν, ἀλλʼ οὐκ ἐκεῖνοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ μάλα στρατεύσονται ἐπὶ τὴν ἡμετέρην, εἰ χρὴ σταθμώσασθαι τοῖσι ὑπαργμένοισι ἐξ ἐκείνων, οἳ Σάρδις τε ἐνέπρησαν καὶ ἤλασαν ἐς τὴν Ἀσίην. οὔκων ἐξαναχωρέειν οὐδετέροισι δυνατῶς ἔχει, ἀλλὰ ποιέειν ἢ παθεῖν πρόκειται ἀγών, ἵνα ἢ τάδε πάντα ὑπὸ Ἕλλησι ἢ ἐκεῖνα πάντα ὑπὸ Πέρσῃσι γένηται· τὸ γὰρ μέσον οὐδὲν τῆς ἔχθρης ἐστί. καλὸν ὦν προπεπονθότας ἡμέας τιμωρέειν ἤδη γίνεται, ἵνα καὶ τὸ δεινὸν τὸ πείσομαι τοῦτο μάθω, ἐλάσας ἐπʼ ἄνδρας τούτους, τούς γε καὶ Πέλοψ ὁ Φρύξ, ἐὼν πατέρων τῶν ἐμῶν δοῦλος, κατεστρέψατο οὕτω ὡς καὶ ἐς τόδε αὐτοί τε ὥνθρωποι καὶ ἡ γῆ αὐτῶν ἐπώνυμοι τοῦ καταστρεψαμένου καλέονται.”
7.60. ὅσον μέν νυν ἕκαστοι παρεῖχον πλῆθος ἐς ἀριθμόν, οὐκ ἔχω εἰπεῖν τὸ ἀτρεκές· οὐ γὰρ λέγεται πρὸς οὐδαμῶν ἀνθρώπων· σύμπαντος δὲ τοῦ στρατοῦ τοῦ πεζοῦ τὸ πλῆθος ἐφάνη ἑβδομήκοντα καὶ ἑκατὸν μυριάδες. ἐξηρίθμησαν δὲ τόνδε τὸν τρόπον· συνήγαγόν τε ἐς ἕνα χῶρον μυριάδα ἀνθρώπων, καὶ συννάξαντες ταύτην ὡς μάλιστα εἶχον περιέγραψαν ἔξωθεν κύκλον· περιγράψαντες δὲ καὶ ἀπέντες τοὺς μυρίους αἱμασιὴν περιέβαλον κατὰ τὸν κύκλον, ὕψος ἀνήκουσαν ἀνδρὶ ἐς τὸν ὀμφαλόν· ταύτην δὲ ποιήσαντες ἄλλους ἐσεβίβαζον ἐς τὸ περιοικοδομημένον, μέχρι οὗ πάντας τούτῳ τῷ τρόπῳ ἐξηρίθμησαν. ἀριθμήσαντες δὲ κατὰ ἔθνεα διέτασσον.
7.70. τῶν μὲν δὴ ὑπὲρ Αἰγύπτου Αἰθιόπων καὶ Ἀραβίων ἦρχε Ἀρσάμης, οἱ δὲ ἀπὸ ἡλίου ἀνατολέων Αἰθίοπες ʽδιξοὶ γὰρ δὴ ἐστρατεύοντὀ προσετετάχατο τοῖσι Ἰνδοῖσι, διαλλάσσοντες εἶδος μὲν οὐδὲν τοῖσι ἑτέροισι, φωνὴν δὲ καὶ τρίχωμα μοῦνον· οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἀπὸ ἡλίου Αἰθίοπες ἰθύτριχες εἰσί, οἱ δʼ ἐκ τῆς Λιβύης οὐλότατον τρίχωμα ἔχουσι πάντων ἀνθρώπων. οὗτοι δὲ οἱ ἐκ τῆς Ἀσίης Αἰθίοπες τὰ μὲν πλέω κατά περ Ἰνδοὶ ἐσεσάχατο, προμετωπίδια δὲ ἵππων εἶχον ἐπὶ τῇσι κεφαλῇσι σύν τε τοῖσι ὠσὶ ἐκδεδαρμένα καὶ τῇ λοφιῇ· καὶ ἀντὶ μὲν λόφου ἡ λοφιὴ κατέχρα, τὰ δὲ ὦτα τῶν ἵππων ὀρθὰ πεπηγότα εἶχον· προβλήματα δὲ ἀντʼ ἀσπίδων ἐποιεῦντο γεράνων δοράς.
7.101. ὡς δὲ καὶ ταύτας διεξέπλωσε καὶ ἐξέβη ἐκ τῆς νεός, μετεπέμψατο Δημάρητον τὸν Ἀρίστωνος συστρατευόμενον αὐτῷ ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα, καλέσας δʼ αὐτὸν εἴρετο τάδε. “Δημάρητε, νῦν μοι σὲ ἡδύ τι ἐστὶ εἰρέσθαι τὰ θέλω. σὺ εἶς Ἕλλην τε, καὶ ὡς ἐγὼ πυνθάνομαι σεῦ τε καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Ἑλλήνων τῶν ἐμοὶ ἐς λόγους ἀπικνεομένων, πόλιος οὔτʼ ἐλαχίστης οὔτʼ ἀσθενεστάτης. νῦν ὦν μοι τόδε φράσον, εἰ Ἕλληνες ὑπομενέουσι χεῖρας ἐμοὶ ἀνταειρόμενοι. οὐ γάρ, ὡς ἐγὼ δοκέω, οὐδʼ εἰ πάντες Ἕλληνες καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ οἱ πρὸς ἑσπέρης οἰκέοντες ἄνθρωποι συλλεχθείησαν, οὐκ ἀξιόμαχοι εἰσὶ ἐμὲ ἐπιόντα ὑπομεῖναι, μὴ ἐόντες ἄρθμιοι. θέλω μέντοι καὶ τὸ ἀπὸ σεῦ, ὁκοῖόν τι λέγεις περὶ αὐτῶν, πυθέσθαι.” ὃ μὲν ταῦτα εἰρώτα, ὁ δὲ ὑπολαβὼν ἔφη “βασιλεῦ, κότερα ἀληθείῃ χρήσωμαι πρὸς σὲ ἢ ἡδονῇ;” ὁ δέ μιν ἀληθείῃ χρήσασθαι ἐκέλευε, φὰς οὐδέν οἱ ἀηδέστερον ἔσεσθαι ἢ πρότερον ἦν. 7.102. ὡς δὲ ταῦτα ἤκουσε Δημάρητος, ἔλεγε τάδε. “βασιλεῦ, ἐπειδὴ ἀληθείῃ διαχρήσασθαι πάντως κελεύεις ταῦτα λέγοντα τὰ μὴ ψευδόμενός τις ὕστερον ὑπὸ σεῦ ἁλώσεται, τῇ Ἑλλάδι πενίη μὲν αἰεί κοτε σύντροφος ἐστί, ἀρετὴ δὲ ἔπακτος ἐστί, ἀπό τε σοφίης κατεργασμένη καὶ νόμου ἰσχυροῦ· τῇ διαχρεωμένη ἡ Ἑλλὰς τήν τε πενίην ἀπαμύνεται καὶ τὴν δεσποσύνην. αἰνέω μέν νυν πάντας Ἕλληνας τοὺς περὶ ἐκείνους τοὺς Δωρικοὺς χώρους οἰκημένους, ἔρχομαι δὲ λέξων οὐ περὶ πάντων τούσδε τοὺς λόγους ἀλλὰ περὶ Λακεδαιμονίων μούνων, πρῶτα μὲν ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι ὅκως κοτὲ σοὺς δέξονται λόγους δουλοσύνην φέροντας τῇ Ἑλλάδι, αὖτις δὲ ὡς ἀντιώσονταί τοι ἐς μάχην καὶ ἢν οἱ ἄλλοι Ἕλληνες πάντες τὰ σὰ φρονέωσι. ἀριθμοῦ δὲ πέρι, μή πύθῃ ὅσοι τινὲς ἐόντες ταῦτα ποιέειν οἷοί τε εἰσί· ἤν τε γὰρ τύχωσι ἐξεστρατευμένοι χίλιοι, οὗτοι μαχήσονταί τοι, ἤν τε ἐλάσσονες τούτων ἤν τε καὶ πλεῦνες.” 7.103. ταῦτα ἀκούσας Ξέρξης γελάσας ἔφη “Δημάρητε, οἷον ἐφθέγξαο ἔπος, ἄνδρας χιλίους στρατιῇ τοσῇδε μαχήσεσθαι. ἄγε εἰπέ μοι· σὺ φῂς τούτων τῶν ἀνδρῶν βασιλεὺς αὐτὸς γενέσθαι· σὺ ὦν ἐθελήσεις αὐτίκα μάλα πρὸς ἄνδρας δέκα μάχεσθαι; καίτοι εἰ τὸ πολιτικὸν ὑμῖν πᾶν ἐστι τοιοῦτον οἷον σὺ διαιρέεις, σέ γε τὸν κείνων βασιλέα πρέπει πρὸς τὸ διπλήσιον ἀντιτάσσεσθαι κατὰ νόμους τοὺς ὑμετέρους. εἰ γὰρ κείνων ἕκαστος δέκα ἀνδρῶν τῆς στρατιῆς τῆς ἐμῆς ἀντάξιος ἐστί, σὲ δέ γε δίζημαι εἴκοσι εἶναι ἀντάξιον, καὶ οὕτω μὲν ὀρθοῖτʼ ἂν ὁ λόγος ὁ παρὰ σέο λεγόμενος· εἰ δὲ τοιοῦτοί τε ἐόντες καὶ μεγάθεα τοσοῦτοι, ὅσοι σύ τε καὶ οἳ παρʼ ἐμὲ φοιτῶσι Ἑλλήνων ἐς λόγους αὐχέετε τοσοῦτον, ὅρα μὴ μάτην κόμπος ὁ λόγος οὗτος εἰρημένος ᾖ. ἐπεὶ φέρε ἴδω παντὶ τῷ οἰκότι· κῶς ἂν δυναίατο χίλιοι ἢ καὶ μύριοι ἢ καὶ πεντακισμύριοι, ἐόντες γε ἐλεύθεροι πάντες ὁμοίως καὶ μὴ ὑπʼ ἑνὸς ἀρχόμενοι, στρατῷ τοσῷδε ἀντιστῆναι; ἐπεί τοι πλεῦνες περὶ ἕνα ἕκαστον γινόμεθα ἢ χίλιοι, ἐόντων ἐκείνων πέντε χιλιάδων. ὑπὸ μὲν γὰρ ἑνὸς ἀρχόμενοι κατὰ τρόπον τὸν ἡμέτερον γενοίατʼ ἄν, δειμαίνοντες τοῦτον, καὶ παρὰ τὴν ἑωυτῶν φύσιν ἀμείνονες, καὶ ἴοιεν ἀναγκαζόμενοι μάστιγι ἐς πλεῦνας ἐλάσσονες ἐόντες· ἀνειμένοι δὲ ἐς τὸ ἐλεύθερον οὐκ ἂν ποιέοιεν τούτων οὐδέτερα. δοκέω δὲ ἔγωγε καὶ ἀνισωθέντας πλήθεϊ χαλεπῶς ἂν Ἕλληνας Πέρσῃσι μούνοισι μάχεσθαι. ἀλλὰ παρʼ ἡμῖν μὲν μούνοισι τοῦτο ἐστὶ τὸ σὺ λέγεις, ἔστι γε μὲν οὐ πολλὸν ἀλλὰ σπάνιον· εἰσὶ γὰρ Περσέων τῶν ἐμῶν αἰχμοφόρων οἳ ἐθελήσουσι Ἑλλήνων ἀνδράσι τρισὶ ὁμοῦ μάχεσθαι· τῶν σὺ ἐὼν ἄπειρος πολλὰ φλυηρέεις.” 7.104. πρὸς ταῦτα Δημάρητος λέγει “ὦ βασιλεῦ, ἀρχῆθεν ἠπιστάμην ὅτι ἀληθείῃ χρεώμενος οὐ φίλα τοι ἐρέω· σὺ δʼ ἐπεὶ ἠνάγκασας λέγειν τῶν λόγων τοὺς ἀληθεστάτους, ἔλεγον τὰ κατήκοντα Σπαρτιήτῃσι. καίτοι ὡς ἐγὼ τυγχάνω τὰ νῦν τάδε ἐστοργὼς ἐκείνους, αὐτὸς μάλιστα ἐξεπίστεαι, οἵ με τιμήν τε καὶ γέρεα ἀπελόμενοι πατρώια ἄπολίν τε καὶ φυγάδα πεποιήκασι, πατὴρ δὲ σὸς ὑποδεξάμενος βίον τέ μοι καὶ οἶκον ἔδωκε. οὔκων οἰκός ἐστι ἄνδρα τὸν σώφρονα εὐνοίην φαινομένην διωθέεσθαι, ἀλλὰ στέργειν μάλιστα. ἐγὼ δὲ οὔτε δέκα ἀνδράσι ὑπίσχομαι οἷός τε εἶναι μάχεσθαι οὔτε δυοῖσι, ἑκών τε εἶναι οὐδʼ ἂν μουνομαχέοιμι. εἰ δὲ ἀναγκαίη εἴη ἢ μέγας τις ὁ ἐποτρύνων ἀγών, μαχοίμην ἂν πάντων ἥδιστα ἑνὶ τούτων τῶν ἀνδρῶν οἳ Ἑλλήνων ἕκαστος φησὶ τριῶν ἄξιος εἶναι. ὣς δὲ καὶ Λακεδαιμόνιοι κατὰ μὲν ἕνα μαχόμενοι οὐδαμῶν εἰσι κακίονες ἀνδρῶν, ἁλέες δὲ ἄριστοι ἀνδρῶν ἁπάντων. ἐλεύθεροι γὰρ ἐόντες οὐ πάντα ἐλεύθεροι εἰσί· ἔπεστι γάρ σφι δεσπότης νόμος, τὸν ὑποδειμαίνουσι πολλῷ ἔτι μᾶλλον ἢ οἱ σοὶ σέ. ποιεῦσι γῶν τὰ ἂν ἐκεῖνος ἀνώγῃ· ἀνώγει δὲ τὠυτὸ αἰεί, οὐκ ἐῶν φεύγειν οὐδὲν πλῆθος ἀνθρώπων ἐκ μάχης, ἀλλὰ μένοντας ἐν τῇ τάξι ἐπικρατέειν ἢ ἀπόλλυσθαι. σοὶ δὲ εἰ φαίνομαι ταῦτα λέγων φλυηρέειν, τἆλλα σιγᾶν θέλω τὸ λοιπόν· νῦν τε ἀναγκασθεὶς ἔλεξα. γένοιτο μέντοι κατὰ νόον τοι, βασιλεῦ”
7.208. ταῦτα βουλευομένων σφέων, ἔπεμπε Ξέρξης κατάσκοπον ἱππέα ἰδέσθαι ὁκόσοι εἰσὶ καὶ ὅ τι ποιέοιεν. ἀκηκόεε δὲ ἔτι ἐὼν ἐν Θεσσαλίῃ ὡς ἁλισμένη εἴη ταύτῃ στρατιὴ ὀλίγη, καὶ τοὺς ἡγεμόνας ὡς εἴησαν Λακεδαιμόνιοί τε καὶ Λεωνίδης ἐὼν γένος Ἡρακλείδης. ὡς δὲ προσήλασε ὁ ἱππεὺς πρὸς τὸ στρατόπεδον, ἐθηεῖτό τε καὶ κατώρα πᾶν μὲν οὒ τὸ στρατόπεδον· τοὺς γὰρ ἔσω τεταγμένους τοῦ τείχεος, τὸ ἀνορθώσαντες εἶχον ἐν φυλακῇ, οὐκ οἷά τε ἦν κατιδέσθαι· ὁ δὲ τοὺς ἔξω ἐμάνθανε, τοῖσι πρὸ τοῦ τείχεος τὰ ὅπλα ἔκειτο· ἔτυχον δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον Λακεδαιμόνιοι ἔξω τεταγμένοι. τοὺς μὲν δὴ ὥρα γυμναζομένους τῶν ἀνδρῶν, τοὺς δὲ τὰς κόμας κτενιζομένους. ταῦτα δὴ θεώμενος ἐθώμαζε καὶ τὸ πλῆθος ἐμάνθανε. μαθὼν δὲ πάντα ἀτρεκέως ἀπήλαυνε ὀπίσω κατʼ ἡσυχίην· οὔτε γάρ τις ἐδίωκε ἀλογίης τε ἐνεκύρησε πολλῆς· ἀπελθών τε ἔλεγε πρὸς Ξέρξην τά περ ὀπώπεε πάντα.
8.144. πρὸς μὲν Ἀλέξανδρον ταῦτα ὑπεκρίναντο, πρὸς δὲ τοὺς ἀπὸ Σπάρτης ἀγγέλους τάδε. “τὸ μὲν δεῖσαι Λακεδαιμονίους μὴ ὁμολογήσωμεν τῷ βαρβάρῳ, κάρτα ἀνθρωπήιον ἦν· ἀτὰρ αἰσχρῶς γε οἴκατε ἐξεπιστάμενοι τὸ Ἀθηναίων φρόνημα ἀρρωδῆσαι, ὅτι οὔτε χρυσός ἐστι γῆς οὐδαμόθι τοσοῦτος οὔτε χώρη κάλλεϊ καὶ ἀρετῇ μέγα ὑπερφέρουσα, τὰ ἡμεῖς δεξάμενοι ἐθέλοιμεν ἂν μηδίσαντες καταδουλῶσαι τὴν Ἑλλάδα. πολλά τε γὰρ καὶ μεγάλα ἐστι τὰ διακωλύοντα ταῦτα μὴ ποιέειν μηδʼ ἢν ἐθέλωμεν, πρῶτα μὲν καὶ μέγιστα τῶν θεῶν τὰ ἀγάλματα καὶ τὰ οἰκήματα ἐμπεπρησμένα τε καὶ συγκεχωσμένα, τοῖσι ἡμέας ἀναγκαίως ἔχει τιμωρέειν ἐς τὰ μέγιστα μᾶλλον ἤ περ ὁμολογέειν τῷ ταῦτα ἐργασαμένῳ, αὖτις δὲ τὸ Ἑλληνικὸν ἐὸν ὅμαιμόν τε καὶ ὁμόγλωσσον καὶ θεῶν ἱδρύματά τε κοινὰ καὶ θυσίαι ἤθεά τε ὁμότροπα, τῶν προδότας γενέσθαι Ἀθηναίους οὐκ ἂν εὖ ἔχοι. ἐπίστασθέ τε οὕτω, εἰ μὴ πρότερον ἐτυγχάνετε ἐπιστάμενοι, ἔστʼ ἂν καὶ εἷς περιῇ Ἀθηναίων, μηδαμὰ ὁμολογήσοντας ἡμέας Ξέρξῃ. ὑμέων μέντοι ἀγάμεθα τὴν προνοίην τὴν πρὸς ἡμέας ἐοῦσαν, ὅτι προείδετε ἡμέων οἰκοφθορημένων οὕτω ὥστε ἐπιθρέψαι ἐθέλειν ἡμέων τοὺς οἰκέτας. καὶ ὑμῖν μὲν ἡ χάρις ἐκπεπλήρωται, ἡμεῖς μέντοι λιπαρήσομεν οὕτω ὅκως ἂν ἔχωμεν, οὐδὲν λυπέοντες ὑμέας. νῦν δέ, ὡς οὕτω ἐχόντων, στρατιὴν ὡς τάχιστα ἐκπέμπετε. ὡς γὰρ ἡμεῖς εἰκάζομεν, οὐκ ἑκὰς χρόνου παρέσται ὁ βάρβαρος ἐσβαλὼν ἐς τὴν ἡμετέρην, ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὰν τάχιστα πύθηται τὴν ἀγγελίην ὅτι οὐδὲν ποιήσομεν τῶν ἐκεῖνος ἡμέων προσεδέετο. πρὶν ὦν παρεῖναι ἐκεῖνον ἐς τὴν Ἀττικήν, ἡμέας καιρός ἐστι προβοηθῆσαι ἐς τὴν Βοιωτίην.” οἳ μὲν ταῦτα ὑποκριναμένων Ἀθηναίων ἀπαλλάσσοντο ἐς Σπάρτην.
9.122. τούτου δὲ Ἀρταΰκτεω τοῦ ἀνακρεμασθέντος προπάτωρ Ἀρτεμβάρης ἐστὶ ὁ Πέρσῃσι ἐξηγησάμενος λόγον τὸν ἐκεῖνοι ὑπολαβόντες Κύρῳ προσήνεικαν λέγοντα τάδε. “ἐπεὶ Ζεὺς Πέρσῃσι ἡγεμονίην διδοῖ, ἀνδρῶν δὲ σοὶ Κῦρε, κατελὼν Ἀστυάγην, φέρε, γῆν γὰρ ἐκτήμεθα ὀλίγην καὶ ταύτην τρηχέαν, μεταναστάντες ἐκ ταύτης ἄλλην σχῶμεν ἀμείνω. εἰσὶ δὲ πολλαὶ μὲν ἀστυγείτονες πολλαὶ δὲ καὶ ἑκαστέρω, τῶν μίαν σχόντες πλέοσι ἐσόμεθα θωμαστότεροι. οἰκὸς δὲ ἄνδρας ἄρχοντας τοιαῦτα ποιέειν· κότε γὰρ δὴ καὶ παρέξει κάλλιον ἢ ὅτε γε ἀνθρώπων τε πολλῶν ἄρχομεν πάσης τε τῆς Ἀσίης; ” Κῦρος δὲ ταῦτα ἀκούσας καὶ οὐ θωμάσας τὸν λόγον ἐκέλευε ποιέειν ταῦτα, οὕτω δὲ αὐτοῖσι παραίνεε κελεύων παρασκευάζεσθαι ὡς οὐκέτι ἄρξοντας ἀλλʼ ἀρξομένους· φιλέειν γὰρ ἐκ τῶν μαλακῶν χώρων μαλακοὺς γίνεσθαι· οὐ γὰρ τι τῆς αὐτῆς γῆς εἶναι καρπόν τε θωμαστὸν φύειν καὶ ἄνδρας ἀγαθοὺς τὰ πολέμια. ὥστε συγγνόντες Πέρσαι οἴχοντο ἀποστάντες, ἑσσωθέντες τῇ γνώμῃ πρὸς Κύρου, ἄρχειν τε εἵλοντο λυπρὴν οἰκέοντες μᾶλλον ἢ πεδιάδα σπείροντες ἄλλοισι δουλεύειν.''. None | 1.1. The Persian learned men say that the Phoenicians were the cause of the dispute. These (they say) came to our seas from the sea which is called Red, and having settled in the country which they still occupy, at once began to make long voyages. Among other places to which they carried Egyptian and Assyrian merchandise, they came to Argos, ,which was at that time preeminent in every way among the people of what is now called Hellas . The Phoenicians came to Argos, and set out their cargo. ,On the fifth or sixth day after their arrival, when their wares were almost all sold, many women came to the shore and among them especially the daughter of the king, whose name was Io (according to Persians and Greeks alike), the daughter of Inachus. ,As these stood about the stern of the ship bargaining for the wares they liked, the Phoenicians incited one another to set upon them. Most of the women escaped: Io and others were seized and thrown into the ship, which then sailed away for Egypt .
1.56. When he heard these verses, Croesus was pleased with them above all, for he thought that a mule would never be king of the Medes instead of a man, and therefore that he and his posterity would never lose his empire. Then he sought very carefully to discover who the mightiest of the Greeks were, whom he should make his friends. ,He found by inquiry that the chief peoples were the Lacedaemonians among those of Doric, and the Athenians among those of Ionic stock. These races, Ionian and Dorian, were the foremost in ancient time, the first a Pelasgian and the second a Hellenic people. The Pelasgian race has never yet left its home; the Hellenic has wandered often and far. ,For in the days of king Deucalion it inhabited the land of Phthia, then the country called Histiaean, under Ossa and Olympus, in the time of Dorus son of Hellen; driven from this Histiaean country by the Cadmeans, it settled about Pindus in the territory called Macedonian; from there again it migrated to Dryopia, and at last came from Dryopia into the Peloponnese, where it took the name of Dorian. 1.57. What language the Pelasgians spoke I cannot say definitely. But if one may judge by those that still remain of the Pelasgians who live above the Tyrrheni in the city of Creston —who were once neighbors of the people now called Dorians, and at that time inhabited the country which now is called Thessalian— ,and of the Pelasgians who inhabited Placia and Scylace on the Hellespont, who came to live among the Athenians, and by other towns too which were once Pelasgian and afterwards took a different name: if, as I said, one may judge by these, the Pelasgians spoke a language which was not Greek. ,If, then, all the Pelasgian stock spoke so, then the Attic nation, being of Pelasgian blood, must have changed its language too at the time when it became part of the Hellenes. For the people of Creston and Placia have a language of their own in common, which is not the language of their neighbors; and it is plain that they still preserve the manner of speech which they brought with them in their migration into the places where they live.
1.71. Croesus, mistaking the meaning of the oracle, invaded Cappadocia, expecting to destroy Cyrus and the Persian power. ,But while he was preparing to march against the Persians, a certain Lydian, who was already held to be a wise man, and who, from the advice which he now gave, won a great name among the Lydians, advised him as follows (his name was Sandanis): “O King, you are getting ready to march against men who wear trousers of leather and whose complete wardrobe is of leather, and who eat not what they like but what they have; for their land is stony. ,Further, they do not use wine, but drink water, have no figs to eat, or anything else that is good. Now if you conquer them, of what will you deprive them, since they have nothing? But if on the other hand you are conquered, then look how many good things you will lose; for once they have tasted of our blessings they will cling so tightly to them that nothing will pry them away. ,For myself, then, I thank the gods that they do not put it in the heads of the Persians to march against the Lydians.” Sandanis spoke thus but he did not persuade Croesus. Indeed, before they conquered the Lydians, the Persians had no luxury and no comforts.
1.125. When Cyrus read this, he deliberated as to what was the shrewdest way to persuade the Persians to revolt; and what he thought to be most effective, he did: ,writing what he liked on a paper, he assembled the Persians, and then unfolded the paper and declared that in it Astyages appointed him leader of the Persian armies. “Now,” he said in his speech, “I command you, men of Persia, to come, each provided with a sickle.” This is what Cyrus said. ,Now there are many tribes in Persia : those of them that Cyrus assembled and persuaded to revolt from the Medes were the Pasargadae, the Maraphii, and the Maspii. On these all the other Persians depend. The chief tribe is that of the Pasargadae; to them belongs the clan of the Achaemenidae, the royal house of Persia . ,The other Persian tribes are the Panthialaei, the Derusiaei, and the Germanii, all tillers of the soil, and the Dai, the Mardi, the Dropici, the Sagartii, all wandering herdsmen.
1.135. But the Persians more than all men welcome foreign customs. They wear the Median dress, thinking it more beautiful than their own, and the Egyptian cuirass in war. Their luxurious practices are of all kinds, and all borrowed: the Greeks taught them pederasty. Every Persian marries many lawful wives, and keeps still more concubines.
1.138. Furthermore, of what they may not do, they may not speak, either. They hold lying to be the most disgraceful thing of all and next to that debt; for which they have many other reasons, but this in particular: it is inevitable (so they say) that the debtor also speak some falsehood. The citizen who has leprosy or the white sickness may not come into town or mingle with other Persians. They say that he is so afflicted because he has sinned in some way against the sun. ,Every stranger who gets such a disease, many drive out of the country; and they do the same to white doves, for the reason given. Rivers they especially revere; they will neither urinate nor spit nor wash their hands in them, nor let anyone else do so.
1.152. So when the envoys of the Ionians and Aeolians came to Sparta (for they set about this in haste) they chose a Phocaean, whose name was Pythennos, to speak for all. He then put on a purple cloak, so that as many Spartans as possible might assemble to hear him, and stood up and made a long speech asking aid for his people. ,But the Lacedaemonians would not listen to him and refused to help the Ionians. So the Ionians departed; but the Lacedaemonians, though they had rejected their envoys, did nevertheless send men in a ship of fifty oars to see (as I suppose) the situation with Cyrus and Ionia . ,These, after coming to Phocaea, sent Lacrines, who was the most esteemed among them, to Sardis, to repeat there to Cyrus a proclamation of the Lacedaemonians, that he was to harm no city on Greek territory, or else the Lacedaemonians would punish him.
1.172. I think the Caunians are aborigines of the soil, but they say that they came from Crete . Their speech has become like the Carian, or the Carian like theirs (for I cannot clearly decide), but in their customs they diverge widely from the Carians, as from all other men. Their chief pleasure is to assemble for drinking-bouts in groups according to their ages and friendships: men, women, and children. ,Certain foreign rites of worship were established among them; but afterwards, when they were inclined otherwise, and wanted to worship only the gods of their fathers, all Caunian men of full age put on their armor and went together as far as the boundaries of Calynda, striking the air with their spears and saying that they were casting out the alien gods.
1.203.2. Here, it is said, are trees growing leaves that men crush and mix with water and use for painting figures on their clothing; these figures cannot be washed out, but last as long as the wool, as if they had been woven into it from the first. Men and women here (they say) have intercourse openly, like beasts of the flock. ' "
1.207. But Croesus the Lydian, who was present, was displeased by their advice and spoke against it. “O King,” he said, “you have before now heard from me that since Zeus has given me to you I will turn aside to the best of my ability whatever misadventure I see threatening your house. And disaster has been my teacher. ,Now, if you think that you and the army that you lead are immortal, I have no business giving you advice; but if you know that you and those whom you rule are only men, then I must first teach you this: men's fortunes are on a wheel, which in its turning does not allow the same man to prosper forever. ,So, if that is the case, I am not of the same opinion about the business in hand as these other counsellors of yours. This is the danger if we agree to let the enemy enter your country: if you lose the battle, you lose your empire also, for it is plain that if the Massagetae win they will not retreat but will march against your provinces. ,And if you conquer them, it is a lesser victory than if you crossed into their country and routed the Massagetae and pursued them; for I weigh your chances against theirs, and suppose that when you have beaten your adversaries you will march for the seat of Tomyris' power. ,And besides what I have shown, it would be a shameful thing and not to be endured if Cyrus the son of Cambyses should yield and give ground before a woman. Now then, it occurs to me that we should cross and go forward as far as they draw back, and that then we should endeavor to overcome them by doing as I shall show. ,As I understand, the Massagetae have no experience of the good things of Persia, and have never fared well as to what is greatly desirable. Therefore, I advise you to cut up the meat of many of your sheep and goats into generous portions for these men, and to cook it and serve it as a feast in our camp, providing many bowls of unmixed wine and all kinds of food. ,Then let your army withdraw to the river again, leaving behind that part of it which is of least value. For if I am not mistaken in my judgment, when the Massagetae see so many good things they will give themselves over to feasting on them; and it will be up to us then to accomplish great things.” " "
2.2. Now before Psammetichus became king of Egypt, the Egyptians believed that they were the oldest people on earth. But ever since Psammetichus became king and wished to find out which people were the oldest, they have believed that the Phrygians were older than they, and they than everybody else. ,Psammetichus, when he was in no way able to learn by inquiry which people had first come into being, devised a plan by which he took two newborn children of the common people and gave them to a shepherd to bring up among his flocks. He gave instructions that no one was to speak a word in their hearing; they were to stay by themselves in a lonely hut, and in due time the shepherd was to bring goats and give the children their milk and do everything else necessary. ,Psammetichus did this, and gave these instructions, because he wanted to hear what speech would first come from the children, when they were past the age of indistinct babbling. And he had his wish; for one day, when the shepherd had done as he was told for two years, both children ran to him stretching out their hands and calling “Bekos!” as he opened the door and entered. ,When he first heard this, he kept quiet about it; but when, coming often and paying careful attention, he kept hearing this same word, he told his master at last and brought the children into the king's presence as required. Psammetichus then heard them himself, and asked to what language the word “Bekos” belonged; he found it to be a Phrygian word, signifying bread. ,Reasoning from this, the Egyptians acknowledged that the Phrygians were older than they. This is the story which I heard from the priests of Hephaestus' temple at Memphis ; the Greeks say among many foolish things that Psammetichus had the children reared by women whose tongues he had cut out. " "
2.5. And I think that their account of the country was true. For even if a man has not heard it before, he can readily see, if he has sense, that that Egypt to which the Greeks sail is land deposited for the Egyptians, the river's gift—not only the lower country, but even the land as far as three days' voyage above the lake, which is of the same nature as the other, although the priests did not say this, too. ,For this is the nature of the land of Egypt : in the first place, when you approach it from the sea and are still a day's sail from land, if you let down a sounding line you will bring up mud from a depth of eleven fathoms. This shows that the deposit from the land reaches this far. " "
2.11. Now in Arabia, not far from Egypt, there is a gulf extending inland from the sea called Red, whose length and width are such as I shall show: ,in length, from its inner end out to the wide sea, it is a forty days' voyage for a ship rowed by oars; and in breadth, it is half a day's voyage at the widest. Every day the tides ebb and flow in it. ,I believe that where Egypt is now, there was once another such gulf; this extended from the northern sea towards Aethiopia, and the other, the Arabian gulf of which I shall speak, extended from the south towards Syria ; the ends of these gulfs penetrated into the country near each other, and but a little space of land separated them. ,Now, if the Nile inclined to direct its current into this Arabian gulf, why should the latter not be silted up by it inside of twenty thousand years? In fact, I expect that it would be silted up inside of ten thousand years. Is it to be doubted, then, that in the ages before my birth a gulf even much greater than this should have been silted up by a river so great and so busy? " '
2.30. From this city you make a journey by water equal in distance to that by which you came from Elephantine to the capital city of Ethiopia, and you come to the land of the Deserters. These Deserters are called Asmakh, which translates, in Greek, as “those who stand on the left hand of the king”. ,These once revolted and joined themselves to the Ethiopians, two hundred and forty thousand Egyptians of fighting age. The reason was as follows. In the reign of Psammetichus, there were watchposts at Elephantine facing Ethiopia, at Daphnae of Pelusium facing Arabia and Assyria, and at Marea facing Libya . ,And still in my time the Persians hold these posts as they were held in the days of Psammetichus; there are Persian guards at Elephantine and at Daphnae . Now the Egyptians had been on guard for three years, and no one came to relieve them; so, organizing and making common cause, they revolted from Psammetichus and went to Ethiopia . ,Psammetichus heard of it and pursued them; and when he overtook them, he asked them in a long speech not to desert their children and wives and the gods of their fathers. Then one of them, the story goes, pointed to his genitals and said that wherever that was, they would have wives and children. ,So they came to Ethiopia, and gave themselves up to the king of the country; who, to make them a gift in return, told them to dispossess certain Ethiopians with whom he was feuding, and occupy their land. These Ethiopians then learned Egyptian customs and have become milder-mannered by intermixture with the Egyptians.
2.35. It is sufficient to say this much concerning the Nile . But concerning Egypt, I am going to speak at length, because it has the most wonders, and everywhere presents works beyond description; therefore, I shall say the more concerning Egypt . ,Just as the Egyptians have a climate peculiar to themselves, and their river is different in its nature from all other rivers, so, too, have they instituted customs and laws contrary for the most part to those of the rest of mankind. Among them, the women buy and sell, the men stay at home and weave; and whereas in weaving all others push the woof upwards, the Egyptians push it downwards. ,Men carry burdens on their heads, women on their shoulders. Women pass water standing, men sitting. They ease their bowels indoors, and eat out of doors in the streets, explaining that things unseemly but necessary should be done alone in private, things not unseemly should be done openly. ,No woman is dedicated to the service of any god or goddess; men are dedicated to all deities male or female. Sons are not compelled against their will to support their parents, but daughters must do so though they be unwilling. 2.36. Everywhere else, priests of the gods wear their hair long; in Egypt, they are shaven. For all other men, the rule in mourning for the dead is that those most nearly concerned have their heads shaven; Egyptians are shaven at other times, but after a death they let their hair and beard grow. ,The Egyptians are the only people who keep their animals with them in the house. Whereas all others live on wheat and barley, it is the greatest disgrace for an Egyptian to live so; they make food from a coarse grain which some call spelt. ,They knead dough with their feet, and gather mud and dung with their hands. The Egyptians and those who have learned it from them are the only people who practise circumcision. Every man has two garments, every woman only one. ,The rings and sheets of sails are made fast outside the boat elsewhere, but inside it in Egypt . The Greeks write and calculate from left to right; the Egyptians do the opposite; yet they say that their way of writing is towards the right, and the Greek way towards the left. They employ two kinds of writing; one is called sacred, the other demotic. ' "2.37. They are religious beyond measure, more than any other people; and the following are among their customs. They drink from cups of bronze, which they clean out daily; this is done not by some but by all. ,They are especially careful always to wear newly-washed linen. They practise circumcision for cleanliness' sake; for they would rather be clean than more becoming. Their priests shave the whole body every other day, so that no lice or anything else foul may infest them as they attend upon the gods. ,The priests wear a single linen garment and sandals of papyrus: they may have no other kind of clothing or footwear. Twice a day and twice every night they wash in cold water. Their religious observances are, one may say, innumerable. ,But also they receive many benefits: they do not consume or spend anything of their own; sacred food is cooked for them, beef and goose are brought in great abundance to each man every day, and wine of grapes is given to them, too. They may not eat fish. ,The Egyptians sow no beans in their country; if any grow, they will not eat them either raw or cooked; the priests cannot endure even to see them, considering beans an unclean kind of legume. Many (not only one) are dedicated to the service of each god. One of these is the high priest; and when a high priest dies, his son succeeds to his office." '2.38. They believe that bulls belong to Epaphus, and for this reason scrutinize them as follows; if they see even one black hair on them, the bull is considered impure. ,One of the priests, appointed to the task, examines the beast, making it stand and lie, and drawing out its tongue, to determine whether it is clean of the stated signs which I shall indicate hereafter. He looks also to the hairs of the tail, to see if they grow naturally. ,If it is clean in all these respects, the priest marks it by wrapping papyrus around the horns, then smears it with sealing-earth and stamps it with his ring; and after this they lead the bull away. But the penalty is death for sacrificing a bull that the priest has not marked. Such is the manner of approving the beast; I will now describe how it is sacrificed. 2.39. After leading the marked beast to the altar where they will sacrifice it, they kindle a fire; then they pour wine on the altar over the victim and call upon the god; then they cut its throat, and having done so sever the head from the body. ,They flay the carcass of the victim, then invoke many curses on its head, which they carry away. Where there is a market, and Greek traders in it, the head is taken to the market and sold; where there are no Greeks, it is thrown into the river. ,The imprecation which they utter over the heads is that whatever ill threatens those who sacrifice, or the whole of Egypt, fall upon that head. ,In respect of the heads of sacrificed beasts and the libation of wine, the practice of all Egyptians is the same in all sacrifices; and from this ordice no Egyptian will taste of the head of anything that had life. 2.40. But in regard to the disembowelling and burning of the victims, there is a different way for each sacrifice. I shall now, however, speak of that goddess whom they consider the greatest, and in whose honor they keep highest festival. ,After praying in the foregoing way, they take the whole stomach out of the flayed bull, leaving the entrails and the fat in the carcass, and cut off the legs, the end of the loin, the shoulders, and the neck. ,Having done this, they fill what remains of the carcass with pure bread, honey, raisins, figs, frankincense, myrrh, and other kinds of incense, and then burn it, pouring a lot of oil on it. ,They fast before the sacrifice, and while it is burning, they all make lamentation; and when their lamentation is over, they set out a meal of what is left of the victim. ' "2.41. All Egyptians sacrifice unblemished bulls and bull-calves; they may not sacrifice cows: these are sacred to Isis. ,For the images of Isis are in woman's form, horned like a cow, exactly as the Greeks picture Io, and cows are held by far the most sacred of all beasts of the herd by all Egyptians alike. ,For this reason, no Egyptian man or woman will kiss a Greek man, or use a knife, or a spit, or a cauldron belonging to a Greek, or taste the flesh of an unblemished bull that has been cut up with a Greek knife. ,Cattle that die are dealt with in the following way. Cows are cast into the river, bulls are buried by each city in its suburbs, with one or both horns uncovered for a sign; then, when the carcass is decomposed, and the time appointed is at hand, a boat comes to each city from the island called Prosopitis, ,an island in the Delta, nine schoeni in circumference. There are many other towns on Prosopitis; the one from which the boats come to gather the bones of the bulls is called Atarbekhis; a temple of Aphrodite stands in it of great sanctity. ,From this town many go out, some to one town and some to another, to dig up the bones, which they then carry away and all bury in one place. As they bury the cattle, so do they all other beasts at death. Such is their ordice respecting these also; for they, too, may not be killed. " "2.42. All that have a temple of Zeus of Thebes or are of the Theban district sacrifice goats, but will not touch sheep. ,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 Mendes or are of the Mendesian district sacrifice sheep, but will not touch goats. ,The Thebans, and those who by the Theban example will not touch sheep, give the following reason for their ordice: 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 ,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. ,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. ,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. " '2.43. Concerning Heracles, I heard it said that he was one of the twelve gods. But nowhere in Egypt could I hear anything about the other Heracles, whom the Greeks know. ,I have indeed a lot of other evidence that the name of Heracles did not come from Hellas to Egypt, but from Egypt to Hellas (and in Hellas to those Greeks who gave the name Heracles to the son of Amphitryon), besides this: that Amphitryon and Alcmene, the parents of this Heracles, were both Egyptian by descent ; and that the Egyptians deny knowing the names Poseidon and the Dioscuri, nor are these gods reckoned among the gods of Egypt . ,Yet if they got the name of any deity from the Greeks, of these not least but in particular would they preserve a recollection, if indeed they were already making sea voyages and some Greeks, too, were seafaring men, as I expect and judge; so that the names of these gods would have been even better known to the Egyptians than the name of Heracles. ,But Heracles is a very ancient god in Egypt ; as the Egyptians themselves say, the change of the eight gods to the twelve, one of whom they acknowledge Heracles to be, was made seventeen thousand years before the reign of Amasis. 2.44. Moreover, wishing to get clear information about this matter where it was possible so to do, I took ship for Tyre in Phoenicia, where I had learned by inquiry that there was a holy temple of Heracles. ,There I saw it, richly equipped with many other offerings, besides two pillars, one of refined gold, one of emerald: a great pillar that shone at night; and in conversation with the priests, I asked how long it was since their temple was built. ,I found that their account did not tally with the belief of the Greeks, either; for they said that the temple of the god was founded when Tyre first became a city, and that was two thousand three hundred years ago. At Tyre I saw yet another temple of the so-called Thasian Heracles. ,Then I went to Thasos, too, where I found a temple of Heracles built by the Phoenicians, who made a settlement there when they voyaged in search of Europe ; now they did so as much as five generations before the birth of Heracles the son of Amphitryon in Hellas . ,Therefore, what I have discovered by inquiry plainly shows that Heracles is an ancient god. And furthermore, those Greeks, I think, are most in the right, who have established and practise two worships of Heracles, sacrificing to one Heracles as to an immortal, and calling him the Olympian, but to the other bringing offerings as to a dead hero. 2.45. And the Greeks say many other ill-considered things, too; among them, this is a silly story which they tell about Heracles: that when he came to Egypt, the Egyptians crowned him and led him out in a procession to sacrifice him to Zeus; and for a while (they say) he followed quietly, but when they started in on him at the altar, he resisted and killed them all. ,Now it seems to me that by this story the Greeks show themselves altogether ignorant of the character and customs of the Egyptians; for how should they sacrifice men when they are forbidden to sacrifice even beasts, except swine and bulls and bull-calves, if they are unblemished, and geese? ,And furthermore, as Heracles was alone, and, still, only a man, as they say, how is it natural that he should kill many myriads? In talking so much about this, may I keep the goodwill of gods and heroes! 2.46. This is why the Egyptians of whom I have spoken sacrifice no goats, male or female: the Mendesians reckon Pan among the eight gods who, they say, were before the twelve gods. ,Now in their painting and sculpture, the image of Pan is made with the head and the legs of a goat, as among the Greeks; not that he is thought to be in fact such, or unlike other gods; but why they represent him so, I have no wish to say. ,The Mendesians consider all goats sacred, the male even more than the female, and goatherds are held in special estimation: one he-goat is most sacred of all; when he dies, it is ordained that there should be great mourning in all the Mendesian district. ,In the Egyptian language Mendes is the name both for the he-goat and for Pan. In my lifetime a strange thing occurred in this district: a he-goat had intercourse openly with a woman. This came to be publicly known. 2.47. Swine are held by the Egyptians to be unclean beasts. In the first place, if an Egyptian touches a hog in passing, he goes to the river and dips himself in it, clothed as he is; and in the second place, swineherds, though native born Egyptians, are alone of all men forbidden to enter any Egyptian temple; nor will any give a swineherd his daughter in marriage, nor take a wife from their women; but swineherds intermarry among themselves. ,Nor do the Egyptians think it right to sacrifice swine to any god except the Moon and Dionysus; to these, they sacrifice their swine at the same time, in the same season of full moon; then they eat the meat. The Egyptians have an explanation of why they sacrifice swine at this festival, yet abominate them at others; I know it, but it is not fitting that I relate it. ,But this is how they sacrifice swine to the Moon: the sacrificer lays the end of the tail and the spleen and the caul together and covers them up with all the fat that he finds around the belly, then consigns it all to the fire; as for the rest of the flesh, they eat it at the time of full moon when they sacrifice the victim; but they will not taste it on any other day. Poor men, with but slender means, mold swine out of dough, which they then take and sacrifice. 2.48. To Dionysus, on the evening of his festival, everyone offers a piglet which he kills before his door and then gives to the swineherd who has sold it, for him to take away. ,The rest of the festival of Dionysus is observed by the Egyptians much as it is by the Greeks, except for the dances; but in place of the phallus, they have invented the use of puppets two feet high moved by strings, the male member nodding and nearly as big as the rest of the body, which are carried about the villages by women; a flute-player goes ahead, the women follow behind singing of Dionysus. ,Why the male member is so large and is the only part of the body that moves, there is a sacred legend that explains. 2.49. Now then, it seems to me that Melampus son of Amytheon was not ignorant of but was familiar with this sacrifice. For Melampus was the one who taught the Greeks the name of Dionysus and the way of sacrificing to him and the phallic procession; he did not exactly unveil the subject taking all its details into consideration, for the teachers who came after him made a fuller revelation; but it was from him that the Greeks learned to bear the phallus along in honor of Dionysus, and they got their present practice from his teaching. ,I say, then, that Melampus acquired the prophetic art, being a discerning man, and that, besides many other things which he learned from Egypt, he also taught the Greeks things concerning Dionysus, altering few of them; for I will not say that what is done in Egypt in connection with the god and what is done among the Greeks originated independently: for they would then be of an Hellenic character and not recently introduced. ,Nor again will I say that the Egyptians took either this or any other custom from the Greeks. But I believe that Melampus learned the worship of Dionysus chiefly from Cadmus of Tyre and those who came with Cadmus from Phoenicia to the land now called Boeotia .
2.50. In fact, the names of nearly all the gods came to Hellas from Egypt . For I am convinced by inquiry that they have come from foreign parts, and I believe that they came chiefly from Egypt . ,Except the names of Poseidon and the Dioscuri, as I have already said, and Hera, and Hestia, and Themis, and the Graces, and the Nereids, the names of all the gods have always existed in Egypt . I only say what the Egyptians themselves say. The gods whose names they say they do not know were, as I think, named by the Pelasgians, except Poseidon, the knowledge of whom they learned from the Libyans. ,Alone of all nations the Libyans have had among them the name of Poseidon from the beginning, and they have always honored this god. The Egyptians, however, are not accustomed to pay any honors to heroes.
2.51. These customs, then, and others besides, which I shall indicate, were taken by the Greeks from the Egyptians. It was not so with the ithyphallic images of Hermes; the production of these came from the Pelasgians, from whom the Athenians were the first Greeks to take it, and then handed it on to others. ,For the Athenians were then already counted as Greeks when the Pelasgians came to live in the land with them and thereby began to be considered as Greeks. Whoever has been initiated into the rites of the Cabeiri, which the Samothracians learned from the Pelasgians and now practice, understands what my meaning is. ,Samothrace was formerly inhabited by those Pelasgians who came to live among the Athenians, and it is from them that the Samothracians take their rites. ,The Athenians, then, were the first Greeks to make ithyphallic images of Hermes, and they did this because the Pelasgians taught them. The Pelasgians told a certain sacred tale about this, which is set forth in the Samothracian mysteries.
2.52. Formerly, in all their sacrifices, the Pelasgians called upon gods without giving name or appellation to any (I know this, because I was told at Dodona ); for as yet they had not heard of such. They called them gods from the fact that, besides setting everything in order, they maintained all the dispositions. ,Then, after a long while, first they learned the names of the rest of the gods, which came to them from Egypt, and, much later, the name of Dionysus; and presently they asked the oracle at Dodona about the names; for this place of divination, held to be the most ancient in Hellas, was at that time the only one. ,When the Pelasgians, then, asked at Dodona whether they should adopt the names that had come from foreign parts, the oracle told them to use the names. From that time onwards they used the names of the gods in their sacrifices; and the Greeks received these later from the Pelasgians.
2.53. But whence each of the gods came to be, or whether all had always been, and how they appeared in form, they did not know until yesterday or the day before, so to speak; ,for I suppose Hesiod and Homer flourished not more than four hundred years earlier than I; and these are the ones who taught the Greeks the descent of the gods, and gave the gods their names, and determined their spheres and functions, and described their outward forms. ,But the poets who are said to have been earlier than these men were, in my opinion, later. The earlier part of all this is what the priestesses of Dodona tell; the later, that which concerns Hesiod and Homer, is what I myself say.
2.54. But about the oracles in Hellas, and that one which is in Libya, the Egyptians give the following account. The priests of Zeus of Thebes told me that two priestesses had been carried away from Thebes by Phoenicians; one, they said they had heard was taken away and sold in Libya, the other in Hellas ; these women, they said, were the first founders of places of divination in the aforesaid countries. ,When I asked them how it was that they could speak with such certain knowledge, they said in reply that their people had sought diligently for these women, and had never been able to find them, but had learned later the story which they were telling me.
2.55. That, then, I heard from the Theban priests; and what follows, the prophetesses of Dodona say: that two black doves had come flying from Thebes in Egypt, one to Libya and one to Dodona ; ,the latter settled on an oak tree, and there uttered human speech, declaring that a place of divination from Zeus must be made there; the people of Dodona understood that the message was divine, and therefore established the oracular shrine. ,The dove which came to Libya told the Libyans (they say) to make an oracle of Ammon; this also is sacred to Zeus. Such was the story told by the Dodonaean priestesses, the eldest of whom was Promeneia and the next Timarete and the youngest Nicandra; and the rest of the servants of the temple at Dodona similarly held it true.
2.56. But my own belief about it is this. If the Phoenicians did in fact carry away the sacred women and sell one in Libya and one in Hellas, then, in my opinion, the place where this woman was sold in what is now Hellas, but was formerly called Pelasgia, was Thesprotia ; ,and then, being a slave there, she established a shrine of Zeus under an oak that was growing there; for it was reasonable that, as she had been a handmaid of the temple of Zeus at Thebes , she would remember that temple in the land to which she had come. ,After this, as soon as she understood the Greek language, she taught divination; and she said that her sister had been sold in Libya by the same Phoenicians who sold her.
2.57. I expect that these women were called “doves” by the people of Dodona because they spoke a strange language, and the people thought it like the cries of birds; ,then the woman spoke what they could understand, and that is why they say that the dove uttered human speech; as long as she spoke in a foreign tongue, they thought her voice was like the voice of a bird. For how could a dove utter the speech of men? The tale that the dove was black signifies that the woman was Egyptian . ,The fashions of divination at Thebes of Egypt and at Dodona are like one another; moreover, the practice of divining from the sacrificed victim has also come from Egypt .
2.58. It would seem, too, that the Egyptians were the first people to establish solemn assemblies, and processions, and services; the Greeks learned all that from them. I consider this proved, because the Egyptian ceremonies are manifestly very ancient, and the Greek are of recent origin.
2.59. The Egyptians hold solemn assemblies not once a year, but often. The principal one of these and the most enthusiastically celebrated is that in honor of Artemis at the town of Bubastis , and the next is that in honor of Isis at Busiris. ,This town is in the middle of the Egyptian Delta, and there is in it a very great temple of Isis, who is Demeter in the Greek language. ,The third greatest festival is at Saïs in honor of Athena; the fourth is the festival of the sun at Heliopolis, the fifth of Leto at Buto, and the sixth of Ares at Papremis. 2.60. When the people are on their way to Bubastis, they go by river, a great number in every boat, men and women together. Some of the women make a noise with rattles, others play flutes all the way, while the rest of the women, and the men, sing and clap their hands. ,As they travel by river to Bubastis, whenever they come near any other town they bring their boat near the bank; then some of the women do as I have said, while some shout mockery of the women of the town; others dance, and others stand up and lift their skirts. They do this whenever they come alongside any riverside town. ,But when they have reached Bubastis, they make a festival with great sacrifices, and more wine is drunk at this feast than in the whole year besides. It is customary for men and women (but not children) to assemble there to the number of seven hundred thousand, as the people of the place say. 2.61. This is what they do there; I have already described how they keep the feast of Isis at Busiris. There, after the sacrifice, all the men and women lament, in countless numbers; but it is not pious for me to say who it is for whom they lament. ,Carians who live in Egypt do even more than this, inasmuch as they cut their foreheads with knives; and by this they show that they are foreigners and not Egyptians. 2.62. When they assemble at Saïs on the night of the sacrifice, they keep lamps burning outside around their houses. These lamps are saucers full of salt and oil on which the wick floats, and they burn all night. This is called the Feast of Lamps. ,Egyptians who do not come to this are mindful on the night of sacrifice to keep their own lamps burning, and so they are alight not only at Saïs but throughout Egypt . A sacred tale is told showing why this night is lit up thus and honored. 2.63. When the people go to Heliopolis and Buto, they offer sacrifice only. At Papremis sacrifice is offered and rites performed just as elsewhere; but when the sun is setting, a few of the priests hover about the image, while most of them go and stand in the entrance to the temple with clubs of wood in their hands; others, more than a thousand men fulfilling vows, who also carry wooden clubs, stand in a mass opposite. ,The image of the god, in a little gilded wooden shrine, they carry away on the day before this to another sacred building. The few who are left with the image draw a four-wheeled wagon conveying the shrine and the image that is in the shrine; the others stand in the space before the doors and do not let them enter, while the vow-keepers, taking the side of the god, strike them, who defend themselves. ,A fierce fight with clubs breaks out there, and they are hit on their heads, and many, I expect, even die from their wounds; although the Egyptians said that nobody dies. ,The natives say that they made this assembly a custom from the following incident: the mother of Ares lived in this temple; Ares had been raised apart from her and came, when he grew up, wishing to visit his mother; but as her attendants kept him out and would not let him pass, never having seen him before, Ares brought men from another town, manhandled the attendants, and went in to his mother. From this, they say, this hitting for Ares became a custom in the festival. 2.64. Furthermore, it was the Egyptians who first made it a matter of religious observance not to have intercourse with women in temples or to enter a temple after such intercourse without washing. Nearly all other peoples are less careful in this matter than are the Egyptians and Greeks, and consider a man to be like any other animal; ,for beasts and birds (they say) are seen to mate both in the temples and in the sacred precincts; now were this displeasing to the god, the beasts would not do so. This is the reason given by others for practices which I, for my part, dislike;
2.75. There is a place in Arabia not far from the town of Buto where I went to learn about the winged serpents. When I arrived there, I saw innumerable bones and backbones of serpents: many heaps of backbones, great and small and even smaller. ,This place, where the backbones lay scattered, is where a narrow mountain pass opens into a great plain, which adjoins the plain of Egypt . ,Winged serpents are said to fly from Arabia at the beginning of spring, making for Egypt ; but the ibis birds encounter the invaders in this pass and kill them. ,The Arabians say that the ibis is greatly honored by the Egyptians for this service, and the Egyptians give the same reason for honoring these birds.
2.81. They wear linen tunics with fringes hanging about the legs, called “calasiris,” and loose white woolen mantles over these. But nothing woolen is brought into temples, or buried with them: that is impious. ,They agree in this with practices called Orphic and Bacchic, but in fact Egyptian and Pythagorean: for it is impious, too, for one partaking of these rites to be buried in woolen wrappings. There is a sacred legend about this. ' "2.82. Other things originating with the Egyptians are these. Each month and day belong to one of the gods, and according to the day of one's birth are determined how one will fare and how one will end and what one will be like; those Greeks occupied with poetry exploit this. ,More portents have been discovered by them than by all other peoples; when a portent occurs, they take note of the outcome and write it down; and if something of a like kind happens again, they think it will have a like result. " "
2.91. The Egyptians shun using Greek customs, and (generally speaking) the customs of all other peoples as well. Yet, though the rest are wary of this, there is a great city called Khemmis, in the Theban district, near the New City. ,In this city is a square temple of Perseus son of Danae, in a grove of palm trees. Before this temple stand great stone columns; and at the entrance, two great stone statues. In the outer court there is a shrine with an image of Perseus standing in it. ,The people of this Khemmis say that Perseus is seen often up and down this land, and often within the temple, and that the sandal he wears, which is four feet long, keeps turning up, and that when it does turn up, all Egypt prospers. ,This is what they say; and their doings in honor of Perseus are Greek, inasmuch as they celebrate games that include every form of contest, and offer animals and cloaks and skins as prizes. ,When I asked why Perseus appeared only to them, and why, unlike all other Egyptians, they celebrate games, they told me that Perseus was by lineage of their city; for Danaus and Lynceus, who travelled to Greece, were of Khemmis ; and they traced descent from these down to Perseus. ,They told how he came to Khemmis, too, when he came to Egypt for the reason alleged by the Greeks as well—namely, to bring the Gorgon's head from Libya —and recognized all his relatives; and how he had heard the name of Khemmis from his mother before he came to Egypt . It was at his bidding, they said, that they celebrated the games." "
2.102. Leaving the latter aside, then, I shall speak of the king who came after them, whose name was Sesostris . ,This king, the priests said, set out with a fleet of long ships from the Arabian Gulf and subjugated all those living by the Red Sea, until he came to a sea which was too shallow for his vessels. ,After returning from there back to Egypt, he gathered a great army (according to the account of the priests) and marched over the mainland, subjugating every nation to which he came. ,When those that he met were valiant men and strove hard for freedom, he set up pillars in their land, the inscription on which showed his own name and his country's, and how he had overcome them with his own power; ,but when the cities had made no resistance and been easily taken, then he put an inscription on the pillars just as he had done where the nations were brave; but he also drew on them the private parts of a woman, wishing to show clearly that the people were cowardly. " "
2.104. For it is plain to see that the Colchians are Egyptians; and what I say, I myself noted before I heard it from others. When it occurred to me, I inquired of both peoples; and the Colchians remembered the Egyptians better than the Egyptians remembered the Colchians; ,the Egyptians said that they considered the Colchians part of Sesostris' army. I myself guessed it, partly because they are dark-skinned and woolly-haired; though that indeed counts for nothing, since other peoples are, too; but my better proof was that the Colchians and Egyptians and Ethiopians are the only nations that have from the first practised circumcision. ,The Phoenicians and the Syrians of Palestine acknowledge that they learned the custom from the Egyptians, and the Syrians of the valleys of the Thermodon and the Parthenius, as well as their neighbors the Macrones, say that they learned it lately from the Colchians. These are the only nations that circumcise, and it is seen that they do just as the Egyptians. ,But as to the Egyptians and Ethiopians themselves, I cannot say which nation learned it from the other; for it is evidently a very ancient custom. That the others learned it through traffic with Egypt, I consider clearly proved by this: that Phoenicians who traffic with Hellas cease to imitate the Egyptians in this matter and do not circumcise their children. " '
2.119. Menelaus then went to Egypt and up the river to Memphis ; there, relating the truth of the matter, he met with great hospitality and got back Helen, who had not been harmed, and also all his wealth, besides. ,Yet, although getting this, Menelaus was guilty of injustice toward the Egyptians. For adverse weather detained him when he tried to sail away; after this continued for some time, he carried out something impious, ,taking two native children and sacrificing them. When it became known that he had done this, he fled with his ships straight to Libya, hated and hunted; and where he went from there, the Egyptians could not say. The priests told me that they had learned some of this by inquiry, but that they were sure of what had happened in their own country.
2.137. After him reigned a blind man called Anysis, of the town of that name. In his reign Egypt was invaded by Sabacos king of Ethiopia and a great army of Ethiopians. ,The blind man fled to the marshes, and the Ethiopian ruled Egypt for fifty years, during which he distinguished himself for the following: ,he would never put to death any Egyptian wrongdoer but sentenced all, according to the severity of their offenses, to raise embankments in their native towns. Thus the towns came to stand yet higher than before; ,for after first being built on embankments made by the excavators of the canals in the reign of Sesostris, they were yet further raised in the reign of the Ethiopian. ,of the towns in Egypt that were raised, in my opinion, Bubastis is especially prominent, where there is also a temple of Bubastis, a building most worthy of note. Other temples are greater and more costly, but none more pleasing to the eye than this. Bubastis is, in the Greek language, Artemis.
2.139. Now the departure of the Ethiopian (they said) came about in this way. After seeing in a dream one who stood over him and urged him to gather together all the Priests in Egypt and cut them in half, he fled from the country. ,Seeing this vision, he said, he supposed it to be a manifestation sent to him by the gods, so that he might commit sacrilege and so be punished by gods or men; he would not (he said) do so, but otherwise, for the time foretold for his rule over Egypt was now fulfilled, after which he was to depart: ,for when he was still in Ethiopia, the oracles that are consulted by the people of that country told him that he was fated to reign fifty years over Egypt . Seeing that this time was now completed and that he was troubled by what he saw in his dream, Sabacos departed from Egypt of his own volition.
2.143. Hecataeus the historian was once at Thebes , where he made a genealogy for himself that had him descended from a god in the sixteenth generation. But the priests of Zeus did with him as they also did with me (who had not traced my own lineage). ,They brought me into the great inner court of the temple and showed me wooden figures there which they counted to the total they had already given, for every high priest sets up a statue of himself there during his lifetime; ,pointing to these and counting, the priests showed me that each succeeded his father; they went through the whole line of figures, back to the earliest from that of the man who had most recently died. ,Thus, when Hecataeus had traced his descent and claimed that his sixteenth forefather was a god, the priests too traced a line of descent according to the method of their counting; for they would not be persuaded by him that a man could be descended from a god; they traced descent through the whole line of three hundred and forty-five figures, not connecting it with any ancestral god or hero, but declaring each figure to be a “Piromis” the son of a “Piromis”; in Greek, one who is in all respects a good man.
2.152. This Psammetichus had formerly been in exile in Syria, where he had fled from Sabacos the Ethiopian, who killed his father Necos; then, when the Ethiopian departed because of what he saw in a dream, the Egyptians of the district of Saïs brought him back from Syria . ,Psammetichus was king for the second time when he found himself driven away into the marshes by the eleven kings because of the helmet. ,Believing, therefore, that he had been abused by them, he meant to be avenged on those who had expelled him. He sent to inquire in the town of Buto, where the most infallible oracle in Egypt is; the oracle answered that he would have vengeance when he saw men of bronze coming from the sea. ,Psammetichus did not in the least believe that men of bronze would come to aid him. But after a short time, Ionians and Carians, voyaging for plunder, were forced to put in on the coast of Egypt, where they disembarked in their armor of bronze; and an Egyptian came into the marsh country and brought news to Psammetichus (for he had never before seen armored men) that men of bronze had come from the sea and were foraging in the plain. ,Psammetichus saw in this the fulfillment of the oracle; he made friends with the Ionians and Carians, and promised them great rewards if they would join him and, having won them over, deposed the eleven kings with these allies and those Egyptians who volunteered.' "2.153. Having made himself master of all Egypt, he made the southern outer court of Hephaestus' temple at Memphis, and built facing this a court for Apis, where Apis is kept and fed whenever he appears; this court has an inner colonnade all around it and many cut figures; the roof is held up by great statues twenty feet high for pillars. Apis in Greek is Epaphus. " '2.154. To the Ionians and Carians who had helped him, Psammetichus gave places to live in called The Camps, opposite each other on either side of the Nile ; and besides this, he paid them all that he had promised. ,Moreover, he put Egyptian boys in their hands to be taught Greek, and from these, who learned the language, are descended the present-day Egyptian interpreters. ,The Ionians and Carians lived for a long time in these places, which are near the sea, on the arm of the Nile called the Pelusian, a little way below the town of Bubastis . Long afterwards, king Amasis removed them and settled them at Memphis to be his guard against the Egyptians. ,It is a result of our communication with these settlers in Egypt (the first of foreign speech to settle in that country) that we Greeks have exact knowledge of the history of Egypt from the reign of Psammetichus onwards. ,There still remained in my day, in the places out of which the Ionians and Carians were turned, the winches for their ships and the ruins of their houses. This is how Psammetichus got Egypt . ' "
2.158. Psammetichus had a son, Necos, who became king of Egypt . It was he who began building the canal into the Red Sea, which was finished by Darius the Persian. This is four days' voyage in length, and it was dug wide enough for two triremes to move in it rowed abreast. ,It is fed by the Nile, and is carried from a little above Bubastis by the Arabian town of Patumus; it issues into the Red Sea . Digging began in the part of the Egyptian plain nearest to Arabia ; the mountains that extend to Memphis (the mountains where the stone quarries are) come close to this plain; ,the canal is led along the foothills of these mountains in a long reach from west to east; passing then into a ravine, it bears southward out of the hill country towards the Arabian Gulf . ,Now the shortest and most direct passage from the northern to the southern or Red Sea is from the Casian promontory, the boundary between Egypt and Syria, to the Arabian Gulf, and this is a distance of one hundred and twenty five miles, neither more nor less; ,this is the most direct route, but the canal is far longer, inasmuch as it is more crooked. In Necos' reign, a hundred and twenty thousand Egyptians died digging it. Necos stopped work, stayed by a prophetic utterance that he was toiling beforehand for the barbarian. The Egyptians call all men of other languages barbarians. " "
2.169. When Apries with his guards and Amasis with the whole force of Egyptians came to the town of Momemphis, they engaged; and though the foreigners fought well, they were vastly outnumbered, and therefore were beaten. ,Apries, they say, supposed that not even a god could depose him from his throne, so firmly did he think he was established; and now, defeated in battle and taken captive, he was brought to Saïs, to the royal dwelling which belonged to him once but now belonged to Amasis. ,There, he was kept alive for a while in the palace and well treated by Amasis. But presently the Egyptians complained that there was no justice in keeping alive one who was their own and their king's bitterest enemy; whereupon Amasis gave Apries up to them, and they strangled him and then buried him in the burial-place of his fathers. ,This is in the temple of Athena, very near to the sanctuary, on the left of the entrance. The people of Saïs buried within the temple precinct all kings who were natives of their district. ,The tomb of Amasis is farther from the sanctuary than the tomb of Apries and his ancestors; yet it, too, is within the temple court; it is a great colonnade of stone, richly adorned, the pillars made in the form of palm trees. In this colonnade are two portals, and the place where the coffin lies is within their doors. " "
2.171. On this lake they enact by night the story of the god's sufferings, a rite which the Egyptians call the Mysteries. I could say more about this, for I know the truth, but let me preserve a discreet silence. ,Let me preserve a discreet silence, too, concerning that rite of Demeter which the Greeks call 2.173. The following was how he scheduled his affairs: in the morning, until the the hour when the marketplace filled, he readily conducted whatever business was brought to him; the rest of the day, he drank and joked at the expense of his companions and was idle and playful. ,But this displeased his friends, who admonished him thus: “O King, you do not conduct yourself well by indulging too much in vulgarity. You, a celebrated man, ought to conduct your business throughout the day, sitting on a celebrated throne; and thus the Egyptians would know that they are governed by a great man, and you would be better spoken of; as it is, what you do is by no means kingly.” ,But he answered them like this: “Men that have bows string them when they must use them, and unstring them when they have used them; were bows kept strung forever, they would break, and so could not be used when needed. ,Such, too, is the nature of man. Were one to be always at serious work and not permit oneself a bit of relaxation, he would go mad or idiotic before he knew it; I am well aware of that, and give each of the two its turn.” Such was his answer to his friends.
2.178. Amasis became a philhellene, and besides other services which he did for some of the Greeks, he gave those who came to Egypt the city of Naucratis to live in; and to those who travelled to the country without wanting to settle there, he gave lands where they might set up altars and make holy places for their gods. ,of these the greatest and most famous and most visited precinct is that which is called the Hellenion, founded jointly by the Ionian cities of Chios, Teos, Phocaea, and Clazomenae, the Dorian cities of Rhodes, Cnidus, Halicarnassus, and Phaselis, and one Aeolian city, Mytilene . ,It is to these that the precinct belongs, and these are the cities that furnish overseers of the trading port; if any other cities advance claims, they claim what does not belong to them. The Aeginetans made a precinct of their own, sacred to Zeus; and so did the Samians for Hera and the Milesians for Apollo.
3.17. After this Cambyses planned three expeditions, against the Carchedonians, against the Ammonians, and against the “long-lived” Ethiopians, who inhabit that part of Libya that is on the southern sea. ,He decided after consideration to send his fleet against the Carthaginians and a part of his land army against the Ammonians; to Ethiopia he would first send spies, to see what truth there was in the story of a Table of the Sun in that country, and to spy out all else besides, under the pretext of bringing gifts for the Ethiopian king. ' "3.18. Now the Table of the Sun is said to be something of this kind: there is a meadow outside the city, filled with the boiled flesh of all four-footed things; here during the night the men of authority among the townsmen are careful to set out the meat, and all day whoever wishes comes and feasts on it. These meats, say the people of the country, are ever produced by the earth of itself. Such is the story of the Sun's Table. " '3.19. When Cambyses determined to send the spies, he sent for those Fish-eaters from the city of Elephantine who understood the Ethiopian language. ,While they were fetching them, he ordered his fleet to sail against Carthage . But the Phoenicians said they would not do it; for they were bound, they said, by strong oaths, and if they sailed against their own progeny they would be doing an impious thing; and the Phoenicians being unwilling, the rest were inadequate fighters. ,Thus the Carthaginians escaped being enslaved by the Persians; for Cambyses would not use force with the Phoenicians, seeing that they had willingly surrendered to the Persians, and the whole fleet drew its strength from them. The Cyprians too had come of their own accord to aid the Persians against Egypt . ' "3.20. When the Fish-eaters arrived from Elephantine at Cambyses' summons, he sent them to Ethiopia, with orders what to say, and bearing as gifts a red cloak and a twisted gold necklace and bracelets and an alabaster box of incense and an earthenware jar of palm wine. These Ethiopians, to whom Cambyses sent them, are said to be the tallest and most handsome of all men. ,Their way of choosing kings is different from that of all others, as (it is said) are all their laws; they consider that man worthy to be their king whom they judge to be tallest and to have strength proportional to his stature. " '3.21. When the Fish-eaters arrived among these men, they gave the gifts to their king and said: “Cambyses, the king of the Persians, wishing to become your friend and ally, sent us with orders to address ourselves to you; and he offers you as gifts these things which he enjoys using himself.” ,But the Ethiopian, perceiving that they had come as spies, spoke thus to them: “It is not because he values my friendship that the Persian King sends you with gifts, nor do you speak the truth (for you have come to spy on my realm), nor is that man just; for were he just, he would not have coveted a land other than his own, nor would he try to lead into slavery men by whom he has not been injured. Now, give him this bow, and this message: ,‘The King of the Ethiopians advises the King of the Persians to bring overwhelming odds to attack the long-lived Ethiopians when the Persians can draw a bow of this length as easily as I do; but until then, to thank the gods who do not incite the sons of the Ethiopians to add other land to their own.’” 3.22. So speaking he unstrung the bow and gave it to the men who had come. Then, taking the red cloak, he asked what it was and how it was made; and when the Fish-eaters told him the truth about the color and the process of dyeing, he said that both the men and their garments were full of deceit. ,Next he inquired about the twisted gold necklace and the bracelets; and when the Fish-eaters told him how they were made, the king smiled, and, thinking them to be fetters, said: “We have stronger chains than these.” ,Thirdly he inquired about the incense; and when they described making and applying it, he made the same reply as about the cloak. But when he came to the wine and asked about its making, he was vastly pleased with the drink, and asked further what food their king ate, and what was the greatest age to which a Persian lived. ,They told him their king ate bread, showing him how wheat grew; and said that the full age to which a man might hope to live was eighty years. Then, said the Ethiopian, it was no wonder that they lived so few years, if they ate dung; they would not even have been able to live that many unless they were refreshed by the drink—signifying to the Fish-eaters the wine—for in this, he said, the Persians excelled the Ethiopians. 3.23. The Fish-eaters then in turn asking of the Ethiopian length of life and diet, he said that most of them attained to a hundred and twenty years, and some even to more; their food was boiled meat and their drink milk. ,The spies showed wonder at the tale of years; whereupon he led them, it is said, to a spring, by washing in which they grew sleeker, as though it were of oil; and it smelled of violets. ,So light, the spies said, was this water, that nothing would float on it, neither wood nor anything lighter than wood, but all sank to the bottom. If this water is truly such as they say, it is likely that their constant use of it makes the people long-lived. ,When they left the spring, the king led them to a prison where all the men were bound with fetters of gold. Among these Ethiopians there is nothing so scarce and so precious as bronze. Then, having seen the prison, they saw what is called the Table of the Sun. 3.24. Last after this they viewed the Ethiopian coffins; these are said to be made of alabaster, as I shall describe: ,they cause the dead body to shrink, either as the Egyptians do or in some other way, then cover it with gypsum and paint it all as far as possible in the likeness of the living man; ,then they set it within a hollow pillar of alabaster, which they dig in abundance from the ground, and it is easily worked; the body can be seen in the pillar through the alabaster, no evil stench nor anything unpleasant proceeding from it, and showing clearly all its parts, as if it were the man himself. ,The nearest of kin keep the pillar in their house for a year, giving it of the first-fruits and offering it sacrifices; after which they bring the pillars out and set them round about the city. 3.25. Having seen everything, the spies departed again. When they reported all this, Cambyses was angry, and marched at once against the Ethiopians, neither giving directions for any provision of food nor considering that he was about to lead his army to the ends of the earth; ,being not in his right mind but mad, however, he marched at once on hearing from the Fish-eaters, ordering the Greeks who were with him to await him where they were, and taking with him all his land army. ,When he came in his march to Thebes , he detached about fifty thousand men from his army, and directed them to enslave the Ammonians and burn the oracle of Zeus; and he himself went on towards Ethiopia with the rest of his host. ,But before his army had accomplished the fifth part of their journey they had come to an end of all there was in the way of provision, and after the food was gone, they ate the beasts of burden until there was none of these left either. ,Now had Cambyses, when he perceived this, changed his mind and led his army back again, he would have been a wise man at last after his first fault; but as it was, he went ever forward, taking account of nothing. ,While his soldiers could get anything from the earth, they kept themselves alive by eating grass; but when they came to the sandy desert, some did a terrible thing, taking by lot one man out of ten and eating him. ,Hearing this, Cambyses feared their becoming cannibals, and so gave up his expedition against the Ethiopians and marched back to Thebes , with the loss of many of his army; from Thebes he came down to Memphis, and sent the Greeks to sail away. ' "
3.38. I hold it then in every way proved that Cambyses was quite insane; or he would never have set himself to deride religion and custom. For if it were proposed to all nations to choose which seemed best of all customs, each, after examination, would place its own first; so well is each convinced that its own are by far the best. ,It is not therefore to be supposed that anyone, except a madman, would turn such things to ridicule. I will give this one proof among many from which it may be inferred that all men hold this belief about their customs. ,When Darius was king, he summoned the Greeks who were with him and asked them for what price they would eat their fathers' dead bodies. They answered that there was no price for which they would do it. ,Then Darius summoned those Indians who are called Callatiae, who eat their parents, and asked them (the Greeks being present and understanding through interpreters what was said) what would make them willing to burn their fathers at death. The Indians cried aloud, that he should not speak of so horrid an act. So firmly rooted are these beliefs; and it is, I think, rightly said in Pindar's poem that custom is lord of all." "
3.72. To this Otanes replied, seeing Darius' vehemence, “Since you force us to hurry and will tolerate no delay, tell us now yourself how we shall pass into the palace and attack them. For you know yourself, I suppose, if not because you have seen them then you have heard, that guards are stationed all around; how shall we go past the guards?” ,“Otanes,” answered Darius, “there are many things that cannot be described in words, but in deed; and there are other things that can be described in words, but nothing illustrious comes of them. You know well that the guards who are set are easy to go by. ,There is no one who will not allow us to pass, from respect or from fear, because of who we are; and further, I have myself the best pretext for entering, for I shall say that I have just arrived from Persia and have a message for the king from my father. ,When it is necessary to lie, lie. For we want the same thing, liars and those who tell the truth; some lie to win credence and advantage by lies, while others tell the truth in order to obtain some advantage by the truth and to be more trusted; thus we approach the same ends by different means. ,If the hope of advantage were taken away, the truth-teller would be as ready to lie as the liar to tell the truth. Now if any of the watchmen willingly let us pass, it will be better for him later. But if any tries to withstand us, let us note him as an enemy, and so thrust ourselves in and begin our work.” " '
3.98. All this abundance of gold, from which the Indians send the aforementioned gold-dust to the king, they obtain in the following way. ,To the east of the Indian country is sand. of all the people of Asia whom we know - even those about whom something is said with precision - the Indians dwell nearest to the dawn and the rising sun; for on the eastern side of India all is desolate because of the sand. ,There are many Indian nations, none speaking the same language; some of them are nomads, some not; some dwell in the river marshes and live on raw fish, which they catch from reed boats. Each boat is made of one joint of reed. ,These Indians wear clothes of bullrushes; they mow and cut these from the river, then weave them crosswise like a mat, and wear them like a breastplate. ' "3.99. Other Indians, to the east of these, are nomads and eat raw flesh; they are called Padaei. It is said to be their custom that when anyone of their fellows, whether man or woman, is sick, a man's closest friends kill him, saying that if wasted by disease he will be lost to them as meat; though he denies that he is sick, they will not believe him, but kill and eat him. ,When a woman is sick, she is put to death like the men by the women who are her close acquaintances. As for one that has come to old age, they sacrifice him and feast on his flesh; but not many reach this reckoning, for before that everyone who falls ill they kill. " '3.100. There are other Indians, again, who kill no living creature, nor plant anything, nor are accustomed to have houses; they eat grass, and they have a grain growing naturally from the earth in its husk, about the size of a millet-seed, which they gather with the husk and boil and eat. When any one of them falls sick, he goes into the desert and lies there, and no one notices whether he is sick or dies. ' "3.101. These Indians whom I have described have intercourse openly like cattle; they are all black-skinned, like the Ethiopians. ,Their semen too, which they ejaculate into the women, is not white like other men's, but black like their skin, and resembles in this respect that of the Ethiopians. These Indians dwell far away from the Persians southwards, and were not subjects of King Darius. " '3.102. Other Indians dwell near the town of Caspatyrus and the Pactyic country, north of the rest of India ; these live like the Bactrians; they are of all Indians the most warlike, and it is they who are sent for the gold; for in these parts all is desolate because of the sand. ,In this sandy desert are ants, not as big as dogs but bigger than foxes; the Persian king has some of these, which have been caught there. These ants live underground, digging out the sand in the same way as the ants in Greece, to which they are very similar in shape, and the sand which they carry from the holes is full of gold. ,It is for this sand that the Indians set forth into the desert. They harness three camels apiece, males on either side sharing the drawing, and a female in the middle: the man himself rides on the female, that when harnessed has been taken away from as young an offspring as may be. Their camels are as swift as horses, and much better able to bear burdens besides. ' "3.103. I do not describe the camel's appearance to Greeks, for they know it; but I shall tell them something that they do not know concerning it: the hindlegs of the camel have four thighbones and four knee-joints; its genitals are turned towards the tail between the hindlegs. " "3.104. Thus and with teams so harnessed the Indians ride after the gold, being careful to be engaged in taking it when the heat is greatest; for the ants are then out of sight underground. ,Now in these parts the sun is hottest in the morning, not at midday as elsewhere, but from sunrise to the hour of market-closing. Through these hours it is much hotter than in Hellas at noon, so that men are said to sprinkle themselves with water at this time. ,At midday the sun's heat is nearly the same in India as elsewhere. As it goes to afternoon, the sun of India has the power of the morning sun in other lands; as day declines it becomes ever cooler, until at sunset it is exceedingly cold. " '3.105. So when the Indians come to the place with their sacks, they fill these with the sand and drive back as fast as possible; for the ants at once scent them out, the Persians say, and give chase. They say nothing is equal to them for speed, so that unless the Indians have a headstart while the ants were gathering, not one of them would get away. ,They cut loose the male trace-camels, which are slower than the females, as they begin to lag, one at a time; the mares never tire, for they remember the young that they have left. Such is the tale. Most of the gold (say the Persians) is got in this way by the Indians; they dig some from mines in their country, too, but it is less abundant. ' "3.106. The most outlying nations of the world have somehow drawn the finest things as their lot, exactly as Greece has drawn the possession of far the best seasons. ,As I have lately said, India lies at the world's most distant eastern limit; and in India all living creatures four-footed and flying are much bigger than those of other lands, except the horses, which are smaller than the Median horses called Nesaean; moreover, the gold there, whether dug from the earth or brought down by rivers or got as I have described, is very abundant. ,There, too, wool more beautiful and excellent than the wool of sheep grows on wild trees; these trees supply the Indians with clothing. " '
3.113. Enough of marvels, and yet the land of Arabia gives off a scent as sweet as if divine. They have besides two marvellous kinds of sheep, found nowhere else. One of these has tails no less than nine feet long. Were the sheep to trail these after them they would suffer by the chafing of the tails on the ground; ,but every shepherd there knows enough of carpentry to make little carts which they fix under the tails, binding the tail of each sheep on its own cart. The other kind of sheep has a tail a full three feet broad. 3.114. Where south inclines westwards, the part of the world stretching farthest towards the sunset is Ethiopia ; this produces gold in abundance, and huge elephants, and all sorts of wild trees, and ebony, and the tallest and handsomest and longest-lived people. ' "
4.5. The Scythians say that their nation is the youngest in the world, and that it came into being in this way. A man whose name was Targitaüs appeared in this country, which was then desolate. They say that his parents were Zeus and a daughter of the Borysthenes river (I do not believe the story, but it is told). ,Such was Targitaüs' lineage; and he had three sons: Lipoxaïs, Arpoxaïs, and Colaxaïs, youngest of the three. ,In the time of their rule (the story goes) certain implements—namely, a plough, a yoke, a sword, and a flask, all of gold—fell down from the sky into Scythia . The eldest of them, seeing these, approached them meaning to take them; but the gold began to burn as he neared, and he stopped. ,Then the second approached, and the gold did as before. When these two had been driven back by the burning gold, the youngest brother approached and the burning stopped, and he took the gold to his own house. In view of this, the elder brothers agreed to give all the royal power to the youngest. " "4.6. Lipoxaïs, it is said, was the father of the Scythian clan called Auchatae; Arpoxaïs, the second brother, of those called Katiari and Traspians; the youngest, who was king, of those called Paralatae. ,All these together bear the name of Skoloti, after their king; “Scythians” is the name given them by Greeks. This, then, is the Scythians' account of their origin, " '4.7. and they say that neither more nor less than a thousand years in all passed from the time of their first king Targitaüs to the entry of Darius into their country. The kings guard this sacred gold very closely, and every year offer solemn sacrifices of propitiation to it. ,Whoever falls asleep at this festival in the open air, having the sacred gold with him, is said by the Scythians not to live out the year; for which reason (they say) as much land as he can ride round in one day is given to him. Because of the great size of the country, the lordships that Colaxaïs established for his sons were three, one of which, where they keep the gold, was the greatest. ,Above and north of the neighbors of their country no one (they say) can see or travel further, because of showers of feathers; for earth and sky are full of feathers, and these hinder sight. ' "4.8. This is what the Scythians say about themselves and the country north of them. But the story told by the Greeks who live in Pontus is as follows. Heracles, driving the cattle of Geryones, came to this land, which was then desolate, but is now inhabited by the Scythians. ,Geryones lived west of the Pontus, settled in the island called by the Greeks Erythea, on the shore of Ocean near Gadira, outside the pillars of Heracles. As for Ocean, the Greeks say that it flows around the whole world from where the sun rises, but they cannot prove that this is so. ,Heracles came from there to the country now called Scythia, where, encountering wintry and frosty weather, he drew his lion's skin over him and fell asleep, and while he slept his mares, which were grazing yoked to the chariot, were spirited away by divine fortune. " '4.9. When Heracles awoke, he searched for them, visiting every part of the country, until at last he came to the land called the Woodland, and there he found in a cave a creature of double form that was half maiden and half serpent; above the buttocks she was a woman, below them a snake. ,When he saw her he was astonished, and asked her if she had seen his mares straying; she said that she had them, and would not return them to him before he had intercourse with her; Heracles did, in hope of this reward. ,But though he was anxious to take the horses and go, she delayed returning them, so that she might have Heracles with her for as long as possible; at last she gave them back, telling him, “These mares came, and I kept them safe here for you, and you have paid me for keeping them, for I have three sons by you. ,Now tell me what I am to do when they are grown up: shall I keep them here (since I am queen of this country), or shall I send them away to you?” Thus she inquired, and then (it is said) Heracles answered: ,“When you see the boys are grown up, do as follows and you will do rightly: whichever of them you see bending this bow and wearing this belt so, make him an inhabitant of this land; but whoever falls short of these accomplishments that I require, send him away out of the country. Do so and you shall yourself have comfort, and my will shall be done.” 4.10. So he drew one of his bows (for until then Heracles always carried two), and showed her the belt, and gave her the bow and the belt, that had a golden vessel on the end of its clasp; and, having given them, he departed. But when the sons born to her were grown men, she gave them names, calling one of them Agathyrsus and the next Gelonus and the youngest Scythes; furthermore, remembering the instructions, she did as she was told. ,Two of her sons, Agathyrsus and Gelonus, were cast out by their mother and left the country, unable to fulfill the requirements set; but Scythes, the youngest, fulfilled them and so stayed in the land. ,From Scythes son of Heracles comes the whole line of the kings of Scythia ; and it is because of the vessel that the Scythians carry vessels on their belts to this day. This alone his mother did for Scythes. This is what the Greek dwellers in Pontus say. ' "4.11. There is yet another story, to which account I myself especially incline. It is to this effect. The nomadic Scythians inhabiting Asia, when hard pressed in war by the Massagetae, fled across the Araxes river to the Cimmerian country (for the country which the Scythians now inhabit is said to have belonged to the Cimmerians before),,and the Cimmerians, at the advance of the Scythians, deliberated as men threatened by a great force should. Opinions were divided; both were strongly held, but that of the princes was the more honorable; for the people believed that their part was to withdraw and that there was no need to risk their lives for the dust of the earth; but the princes were for fighting to defend their country against the attackers. ,Neither side could persuade the other, neither the people the princes nor the princes the people; the one party planned to depart without fighting and leave the country to their enemies, but the princes were determined to lie dead in their own country and not to flee with the people, for they considered how happy their situation had been and what ills were likely to come upon them if they fled from their native land. ,Having made up their minds, the princes separated into two equal bands and fought with each other until they were all killed by each other's hands; then the Cimmerian people buried them by the Tyras river, where their tombs are still to be seen, and having buried them left the land; and the Scythians came and took possession of the country left empty." '4.12. And to this day there are Cimmerian walls in Scythia, and a Cimmerian ferry, and there is a country Cimmeria and a strait named Cimmerian. ,Furthermore, it is evident that the Cimmerians in their flight from the Scythians into Asia also made a colony on the peninsula where the Greek city of Sinope has since been founded; and it is clear that the Scythians pursued them and invaded Media, missing their way; ,for the Cimmerians always fled along the coast, and the Scythians pursued with the Caucasus on their right until they came into the Median land, turning inland on their way. That is the other story current among Greeks and foreigners alike. ' "4.13. There is also a story related in a poem by Aristeas son of Caüstrobius, a man of Proconnesus . This Aristeas, possessed by Phoebus, visited the Issedones; beyond these (he said) live the one-eyed Arimaspians, beyond whom are the griffins that guard gold, and beyond these again the Hyperboreans, whose territory reaches to the sea. ,Except for the Hyperboreans, all these nations (and first the Arimaspians) are always at war with their neighbors; the Issedones were pushed from their lands by the Arimaspians, and the Scythians by the Issedones, and the Cimmerians, living by the southern sea, were hard pressed by the Scythians and left their country. Thus Aristeas' story does not agree with the Scythian account about this country. " "4.14. Where Aristeas who wrote this came from, I have already said; I will tell the story that I heard about him at Proconnesus and Cyzicus . It is said that this Aristeas, who was as well-born as any of his townsfolk, went into a fuller's shop at Proconnesus and there died; the owner shut his shop and went away to tell the dead man's relatives, ,and the report of Aristeas' death being spread about in the city was disputed by a man of Cyzicus, who had come from the town of Artace, and said that he had met Aristeas going toward Cyzicus and spoken with him. While he argued vehemently, the relatives of the dead man came to the fuller's shop with all that was necessary for burial; ,but when the place was opened, there was no Aristeas there, dead or alive. But in the seventh year after that, Aristeas appeared at Proconnesus and made that poem which the Greeks now call the 4.50. With these rivers aforesaid, and many others, too, as its tributaries, the Ister becomes the greatest river of all, while river for river the Nile surpasses it in volume, since that owes its volume of water to no tributary river or spring. ,But the Ister is always the same height in summer and winter, the reason for which, I think, is this. In winter it is of its customary size, or only a little greater than is natural to it, for in that country in winter there is very little rain, but snow everywhere. ,In the summer, the abundant snow that has fallen in winter melts and pours from all sides into the Ister; so this snow-melt pours into the river and helps to swell it and much violent rain besides, as the summer is the season of rain. ,And in proportion as the sun draws to itself more water in summer than in winter, the water that commingles with the Ister is many times more abundant in summer than it is in winter; these opposites keep the balance true, so that the volume of the river appears always the same.
4.51. One of the rivers of the Scythians, then, is the Ister. The next is the Tyras; this comes from the north, flowing at first out of a great lake, which is the boundary between the Scythian and the Neurian countries; at the mouth of the river there is a settlement of Greeks, who are called Tyritae. ' "
4.52. The third river is the Hypanis; this comes from Scythia, flowing out of a great lake, around which wild, white horses graze. This lake is truly called the mother of the Hypanis. ,Here, then, the Hypanis rises; for five days' journey its waters are shallow and still sweet; after that for four days' journey seaward it is amazingly bitter, ,for a spring runs into it so bitter that although its volume is small its admixture taints the Hypanis, one of the few great rivers of the world. This spring is on the border between the farming Scythians and the Alazones; the name of it and of the place where it rises is in Scythian Exampaeus; in the Greek tongue, Sacred Ways. ,The Tyras and the Hypanis draw near together in the Alazones' country; after that they flow apart, the intervening space growing wider. " "
4.53. The fourth is the Borysthenes river. This is the next greatest after the Ister, and the most productive, in our judgment, not only of the Scythian but of all rivers, except the Egyptian Nile, with which no other river can be compared. ,But of the rest, the Borysthenes is the most productive; it provides the finest and best-nurturing pasture lands for beasts, and the fish in it are beyond all in their excellence and abundance. Its water is most sweet to drink, flowing with a clear current, whereas the other rivers are turbid. There is excellent soil on its banks, and very rich grass where the land is not planted; ,and self-formed crusts of salt abound at its mouth; it provides great spineless fish, called sturgeons, for salting, and many other wonderful things besides. ,Its course is from the north, and it is known as far as the Gerrhan land; that is, for forty days' voyage; beyond that, no one can say through what nations it flows; but it is plain that it flows through desolate country to the land of the farming Scythians, who live beside it for a ten days' voyage. ,This is the only river, besides the Nile, whose source I cannot identify; nor, I think, can any Greek. When the Borysthenes comes near the sea, the Hypanis mingles with it, running into the same marsh; ,the land between these rivers, where the land projects like a ship's beak, is called Hippolaus' promontory; a temple of Demeter stands there. The settlement of the Borystheneïtae is beyond the temple, on the Hypanis. " '
4.54. This is the produce of these rivers, and after these there is a fifth river called Panticapas; this also flows from the north out of a lake, and the land between it and the Borysthenes is inhabited by the farming Scythians; it flows into the woodland country, after passing which it mingles with the Borysthenes.
4.55. The sixth is the Hypacuris river, which rises from a lake, and flowing through the midst of the nomadic Scythians flows out near the city of Carcine, bordering on its right the Woodland and the region called the Racecourse of Achilles .
4.56. The seventh river, the Gerrhus, separates from the Borysthenes at about the place which is the end of our knowledge of that river; at this place it separates, and has the same name as the place itself, Gerrhus; then in its course to the sea it divides the country of the Nomads and the country of the Royal Scythians, and empties into the Hypacuris.
4.57. The eighth is the Tanaïs river; in its upper course, this begins by flowing out of a great lake, and enters a yet greater lake called the Maeetian, which divides the Royal Scythians from the Sauromatae; another river, called Hyrgis, is a tributary of this Tanaïs.
4.58. These are the rivers of note with which the Scythians are provided. For rearing cattle, the grass growing in Scythia is the most productive of bile of all pastures which we know; that this is so can be judged by opening up the bodies of the cattle.
4.59. The most important things are thus provided them. It remains now to show the customs which are established among them. The only gods whom they propitiate are these: Hestia in particular, and secondly Zeus and Earth, whom they believe to be the wife of Zeus; after these, Apollo, and the Heavenly Aphrodite, and Heracles, and Ares. All the Scythians worship these as gods; the Scythians called Royal sacrifice to Poseidon also. ,In the Scythian tongue, Hestia is called Tabiti; Zeus (in my judgment most correctly so called) Papaeus; Earth is Apia; Apollo Goetosyrus; the Heavenly Aphrodite Argimpasa; Poseidon Thagimasadas. It is their practice to make images and altars and shrines for Ares, but for no other god. ' "4.60. In all their sacred rites they follow the same method of sacrifice; this is how it is offered. The victim stands with its forefeet shackled together; the sacrificer stands behind the beast, and throws it down by pulling the end of the rope; ,as the victim falls, he invokes whatever god it is to whom he sacrifices. Then, throwing a noose around the beast's neck, he thrusts in a stick and twists it and so strangles the victim, lighting no fire nor offering the first-fruits, nor pouring any libation; and having strangled and skinned the beast, he sets about cooking it. " "4.61. Now as the Scythian land is quite bare of wood, this is how they contrive to cook the meat. When they have skinned the victims, they strip the meat from the bones and throw it into the cauldrons of the country, if they have them: these are most like Lesbian bowls, except that they are much bigger; they throw the meat into these, then, and cook it by lighting a fire beneath with the bones of the victims. But if they have no cauldron, then they put all the meat into the victims' stomachs, adding water, and make a fire of the bones beneath, ,which burn nicely; the stomachs easily hold the meat when it is stripped from the bones; thus a steer serves to cook itself, and every other victim does likewise. When the flesh is cooked, the sacrificer takes the first-fruits of the flesh and the entrails and casts them before him. They use all grazing animals for sacrifice, but mainly horses. " "4.62. This is their way of sacrificing to other gods and these are the beasts offered; but their sacrifices to Ares are of this sort. Every district in each of the governments has a structure sacred to Ares; namely, a pile of bundles of sticks three eighths of a mile wide and long, but of a lesser height, on the top of which there is a flattened four-sided surface; three of its sides are sheer, but the fourth can be ascended. ,Every year a hundred and fifty wagon-loads of sticks are heaped upon this; for the storms of winter always make it sink down. On this sacred pile an ancient scimitar of iron is set for each people: their image of Ares. They bring yearly sacrifice of sheep and goats and horses to this scimitar, offering to these symbols even more than they do to the other gods. ,of enemies that they take alive, they sacrifice one man in every hundred, not as they sacrifice sheep and goats, but differently. They pour wine on the men's heads and cut their throats over a bowl; then they carry the blood up on to the pile of sticks and pour it on the scimitar. ,They carry the blood up above, but down below by the sacred pile they cut off all the slain men's right arms and hands and throw these into the air, and depart when they have sacrificed the rest of the victims; the arm lies where it has fallen, and the body apart from it. " '4.63. These then are their established rites of sacrifice; but these Scythians make no offerings of swine; nor are they willing for the most part to rear them in their country. ' "4.64. As to war, these are their customs. A Scythian drinks the blood of the first man whom he has taken down. He carries the heads of all whom he has slain in the battle to his king; for if he brings a head, he receives a share of the booty taken, but not otherwise. ,He scalps the head by making a cut around it by the ears, then grasping the scalp and shaking the head off. Then he scrapes out the flesh with the rib of a steer, and kneads the skin with his hands, and having made it supple he keeps it for a hand towel, fastening it to the bridle of the horse which he himself rides, and taking pride in it; for he who has most scalps for hand towels is judged the best man. ,Many Scythians even make garments to wear out of these scalps, sewing them together like coats of skin. Many too take off the skin, nails and all, from their dead enemies' right hands, and make coverings for their quivers;the human skin was, as it turned out, thick and shining, the brightest and whitest skin of all, one might say. ,Many flay the skin from the whole body, too, and carry it about on horseback stretched on a wooden frame. " '4.65. The heads themselves, not all of them but those of their bitterest enemies, they treat this way. Each saws off all the part beneath the eyebrows, and cleans the rest. If he is a poor man, then he covers the outside with a piece of raw hide, and so makes use of it; but if he is rich, he covers the head with the raw hide, and gilds the inside of it and uses it for a drinking-cup. ,Such a cup a man also makes out of the head of his own kinsman with whom he has been feuding, and whom he has defeated in single combat before the king; and if guests whom he honors visit him he will serve them with these heads, and show how the dead were his kinsfolk who fought him and were beaten by him; this they call manly valor. 4.66. Furthermore, once a year each governor of a province brews a bowl of wine in his own province, which those Scythians who have slain enemies drink; those who have not achieved this do not taste this wine but sit apart dishonored; and this they consider a very great disgrace; but as many as have slain not one but many enemies have two cups apiece and drink out of both. 4.67. There are many diviners among the Scythians, who divine by means of many willow wands as I will show. They bring great bundles of wands, which they lay on the ground and unfasten, and utter their divinations as they lay the rods down one by one; and while still speaking, they gather up the rods once more and place them together again; ,this manner of divination is hereditary among them. The Enarees, who are hermaphrodites, say that Aphrodite gave them the art of divination, which they practise by means of lime-tree bark. They cut this bark into three portions, and prophesy while they braid and unbraid these in their fingers. ' "4.68. Whenever the king of the Scythians falls ill, he sends for the three most reputable diviners, who prophesy in the aforesaid way; and they generally tell him that such and such a man (naming whoever it may be of the people) has sworn falsely by the king's hearth; ,for when the Scythians will swear their mightiest oath, it is by the king's hearth that they are accustomed to swear. Immediately, the man whom they allege to have sworn falsely is seized and brought in, and when he comes the diviners accuse him, saying that their divination shows him to have sworn falsely by the king's hearth, and that this is the cause of the king's sickness; and the man vehemently denies that he has sworn falsely. ,When he denies it, the king sends for twice as many diviners: and if they too, consulting their art, prove him guilty of perjury, then he is instantly beheaded, and his goods are divided among the first diviners; ,but if the later diviners acquit him, then other diviners come, and yet again others. If the greater number of them acquit the man, it is decreed that the first diviners themselves be put to death. " '4.69. And this is how they die. Men yoke oxen to a wagon laden with sticks and tie the diviners up in these, fettering their legs and binding their hands behind them and gagging them; then they set fire to the sticks and drive the oxen away, stampeding them. ,often the oxen are burnt to death with the diviners, and often the yoke-pole of their wagon is burnt through and the oxen escape with a scorching. They burn their diviners for other reasons, too, in the way described, calling them false prophets. ,When the king puts them to death, he does not leave the sons alive either, but kills all the males of the family; the females he does not harm. 4.70. As for giving sworn pledges to those who are to receive them, this is the Scythian way: they take blood from the parties to the agreement by making a little cut in the body with an awl or a knife, and pour it mixed with wine into a big earthenware bowl, into which they then dip a scimitar and arrows and an axe and a javelin; and when this is done those swearing the agreement, and the most honorable of their followers, drink the blood after solemn curses. ' "4.71. The burial-places of the kings are in the land of the Gerrhi, which is the end of the navigation of the Borysthenes. Whenever their king has died, the Scythians dig a great four-cornered pit in the ground there; when this is ready, they take up the dead man—his body enclosed in wax, his belly cut open and cleaned and filled with cut marsh-plants and frankincense, and parsley and anise seed, and sewn up again—and transport him on a wagon to another tribe. ,Then those who receive the dead man on his arrival do the same as do the Royal Scythians: that is, they cut off a part of their ears, shave their heads, make cuts around their arms, tear their foreheads and noses, and pierce their left hands with arrows. ,From there, the escorts transport the king's body on the wagon to another of the tribes that they rule, and those to whom they have already come follow them; and having carried the dead man to all in turn, they are at the place of burial, in the country of the Gerrhi, the farthest distant tribe of all under their rule. ,Then, having laid the body on a couch in the tomb, they plant spears on each side of the body and lay wooden planks across them, which they then roof over with braided osiers; in the open space which is left in the tomb they bury one of the king's concubines, his cupbearer, his cook, his groom, his squire, and his messenger, after strangling them, besides horses, and first-fruits of everything else, and golden cups; for the Scythians do not use silver or bronze. ,Having done this, they all build a great barrow of earth, vying eagerly with one another to make this as great as possible. " "4.72. After a year has past, they next do as follows. They take the most trusted of the rest of the king's servants (and these are native-born Scythians, for only those whom he tells to do so serve the king, and none of the Scythians have servants bought by money) ,and strangle fifty of these and fifty of their best horses and empty and clean the bellies of them all, fill them with chaff, and sew them up again. ,Then they fasten half of a wheel to two posts, the hollow upward, and the other half to another pair of posts, until many posts thus prepared are planted in the ground, and, after driving thick stakes lengthways through the horses' bodies to their necks, they place the horses up on the wheels ,so that the wheel in front supports the horse's forequarters and the wheel behind takes the weight of the belly by the hindquarters, and the forelegs and hindlegs hang free; and putting bridles and bits in the horses' mouths, they stretch the bridles to the front and fasten them with pegs. ,Then they take each one of the fifty strangled young men and mount him on the horse; their way of doing it is to drive an upright stake through each body passing up alongside the spine to the neck leaving enough of the stake projecting below to be fixed in a hole made in the other stake, which passes through the horse. So having set horsemen of this fashion around the tomb, they ride away. " '4.73. This is the way they bury their kings. All other Scythians, when they die, are laid in wagons and carried about among their friends by their nearest of kin; each receives them and entertains the retinue hospitably, setting before the dead man about as much of the fare as he serves to the rest. All but the kings are carried about like this for forty days and then buried. ,After the burial the Scythians cleanse themselves as follows: they anoint and wash their heads and, for their bodies, set up three poles leaning together to a point and cover these over with wool mats; then, in the space so enclosed to the best of their ability, they make a pit in the center beneath the poles and the mats and throw red-hot stones into it. 4.74. They have hemp growing in their country, very like flax, except that the hemp is much thicker and taller. This grows both of itself and also by their cultivation, and the Thracians even make garments of it which are very like linen; no one, unless he were an expert in hemp, could determine whether they were hempen or linen; whoever has never seen hemp before will think the garment linen. 4.75. The Scythians then take the seed of this hemp and, crawling in under the mats, throw it on the red-hot stones, where it smoulders and sends forth such fumes that no Greek vapor-bath could surpass it. ,The Scythians howl in their joy at the vapor-bath. This serves them instead of bathing, for they never wash their bodies with water. ,But their women pound cypress and cedar and frankincense wood on a rough stone, adding water also, and with the thick stuff thus pounded they anoint their bodies and faces, as a result of which not only does a fragrant scent come from them, but when on the second day they take off the ointment, their skin becomes clear and shining. ' "4.76. But as regards foreign customs, the Scythians (like others) very much shun practising those of any other country, and particularly of Hellas, as was proved in the case of Anacharsis and also of Scyles. ,For when Anacharsis was coming back to the Scythian country after having seen much of the world in his travels and given many examples of his wisdom, he sailed through the Hellespont and put in at Cyzicus; ,where, finding the Cyzicenes celebrating the feast of the Mother of the Gods with great ceremony, he vowed to this same Mother that if he returned to his own country safe and sound he would sacrifice to her as he saw the Cyzicenes doing, and establish a nightly rite of worship. ,So when he came to Scythia, he hid himself in the country called Woodland (which is beside the Race of Achilles, and is all overgrown with every kind of timber); hidden there, Anacharsis celebrated the goddess' ritual with exactness, carrying a small drum and hanging images about himself. ,Then some Scythian saw him doing this and told the king, Saulius; who, coming to the place himself and seeing Anacharsis performing these rites, shot an arrow at him and killed him. And now the Scythians, if they are asked about Anacharsis, say they have no knowledge of him; this is because he left his country for Hellas and followed the customs of strangers. ,But according to what I heard from Tymnes, the deputy for Ariapithes, Anacharsis was an uncle of Idanthyrsus king of Scythia, and he was the son of Gnurus, son of Lycus, son of Spargapithes. Now if Anacharsis was truly of this family, then let him know he was slain by his own brother; for Idanthyrsus was the son of Saulius, and it was Saulius who killed Anacharsis. " '4.77. It is true that I have heard another story told by the Peloponnesians; namely, that Anacharsis had been sent by the king of Scythia and had been a student of the ways of Hellas, and after his return told the king who sent him that all Greeks were keen for every kind of learning, except the Lacedaemonians; but that these were the only Greeks who spoke and listened with discretion. ,But this is a tale pointlessly invented by the Greeks themselves; and be this as it may, the man was put to death as I have said. ' "4.78. This, then, was how Anacharsis fared, owing to his foreign ways and consorting with Greeks; and a great many years afterward, Scyles, son of Ariapithes, suffered a like fate. Scyles was one of the sons born to Ariapithes, king of Scythia; but his mother was of Istria, and not native-born; and she taught him to speak and read Greek. ,As time passed, Ariapithes was treacherously killed by Spargapithes, king of the Agathyrsi, and Scyles inherited the kingship and his father's wife, a Scythian woman whose name was Opoea, and she bore Scyles a son, Oricus. ,So Scyles was king of Scythia; but he was in no way content with the Scythian way of life, and was much more inclined to Greek ways, from the upbringing that he had received. So this is what he would do: he would lead the Scythian army to the city of the Borysthenites (who say that they are Milesians), and when he arrived there would leave his army in the suburb of the city, ,while he himself, entering within the walls and shutting the gates, would take off his Scythian apparel and put on Greek dress; and in it he would go among the townsfolk unattended by spearmen or any others (who would guard the gates, lest any Scythian see him wearing this apparel), and in every way follow the Greek manner of life, and worship the gods according to Greek usage. ,When he had spent a month or more like this, he would put on Scythian dress and leave the city. He did this often; and he built a house in Borysthenes, and married a wife of the people of the country and brought her there. " '4.79. But when things had to turn out badly for him, they did so for this reason: he conceived a desire to be initiated into the rites of the Bacchic Dionysus; and when he was about to begin the sacred mysteries, he saw the greatest vision. ,He had in the city of the Borysthenites a spacious house, grand and costly (the same house I just mentioned), all surrounded by sphinxes and griffins worked in white marble; this house was struck by a thunderbolt. And though the house burnt to the ground, Scyles none the less performed the rite to the end. ,Now the Scythians reproach the Greeks for this Bacchic revelling, saying that it is not reasonable to set up a god who leads men to madness. ,So when Scyles had been initiated into the Bacchic rite, some one of the Borysthenites scoffed at the Scythians: “You laugh at us, Scythians, because we play the Bacchant and the god possesses us; but now this deity has possessed your own king, so that he plays the Bacchant and is maddened by the god. If you will not believe me, follow me now and I will show him to you.” ,The leading men among the Scythians followed him, and the Borysthenite brought them up secretly onto a tower; from which, when Scyles passed by with his company of worshippers, they saw him playing the Bacchant; thinking it a great misfortune, they left the city and told the whole army what they had seen. ' "4.80. After this Scyles rode off to his own place; but the Scythians rebelled against him, setting up his brother Octamasades, son of the daughter of Teres, for their king. ,Scyles, learning what had happened concerning him and the reason why it had happened, fled into Thrace; and when Octamasades heard this he led his army there. But when he was beside the Ister, the Thracians barred his way; and when the armies were about to engage, Sitalces sent this message to Octamasades: ,“Why should we try each other's strength? You are my sister's son, and you have my brother with you; give him back to me, and I will give up your Scyles to you; and let us not endanger our armies.” ,Such was the offer Sitalces sent to him; for Sitalces' brother had fled from him and was with Octamasades. The Scythian agreed to this, and took his brother Scyles, giving up his own uncle to Sitalces. ,Sitalces then took his brother and carried him away, but Octamasades beheaded Scyles on the spot. This is how closely the Scythians guard their customs, and these are the penalties they inflict on those who add foreign customs to their own. " "4.81. How numerous the Scythians are, I was not able to learn exactly, and the accounts that I heard did not tally, some saying that they are very numerous, and some that they are few, so far as they are true Scythians. ,But this much they let me see for myself: there is a region between the Borysthenes and Hypanis rivers, whose name is Exampaeus; this is the land that I mentioned when I said that there is a spring of salt water in it, whose water makes the Hypanis unfit to drink. ,In this region is a bronze vessel, as much as six times greater than the cauldron dedicated by Pausanias son of Cleombrotus at the entrance of the Pontus. ,For anyone who has not yet seen the latter, I will make my meaning plain: the Scythian bronze vessel easily contains five thousand four hundred gallons, and it is of six fingers' thickness. This vessel (so the people of the country said) was made out of arrowheads. ,For their king, whose name was Ariantas, desiring to know the census of the Scythians, commanded every Scythian to bring him the point from an arrow, threatening death to all who did not. ,So a vast number of arrow-heads was brought, and he decided to make and leave a memorial out of them; and he made of these this bronze vessel, and set it up in this country Exampaeus. This much I heard about the number of the Scythians. " "4.82. As for marvels, there are none in the land, except that it has by far the greatest and the most numerous rivers in the world; and over and above the rivers and the great extent of the plains there is one most marvellous thing for me to mention: they show a footprint of Heracles by the Tyras river stamped on rock, like the mark of a man's foot, but forty inches in length. Having described this, I will now return to the story which I began to tell." '
4.99. Thrace runs farther out into the sea than Scythia; and Scythia begins where a bay is formed in its coast, and the mouth of the Ister, facing southeast, is in that country. ,Now I am going to describe the coast of the true Scythia from the Ister, and give its measurements. The ancient Scythian land begins at the Ister and faces south and the south wind, as far as the city called Carcinitis. ,Beyond this place, the country fronting the same sea is hilly and projects into the Pontus; it is inhabited by the Tauric nation as far as what is called the Rough Peninsula; and this ends in the eastern sea. ,For the sea to the south and the sea to the east are two of the four boundary lines of Scythia, just as seas are boundaries of Attica; and the Tauri inhabit a part of Scythia like Attica, as though some other people, not Attic, were to inhabit the heights of Sunium from Thoricus to the town of Anaphlystus, if Sunium jutted farther out into the sea. ,I mean, so to speak, to compare small things with great. Such a land is the Tauric country. But those who have not sailed along that part of Attica may understand from this other analogy: it is as though in Calabria some other people, not Calabrian, were to live on the promontory within a line drawn from the harbor of Brundisium to Tarentum. I am speaking of these two countries, but there are many others of a similar kind that Tauris resembles. 4.100. Beyond the Tauric country the Scythians begin, living north of the Tauri and beside the eastern sea, west of the Cimmerian Bosporus and the Maeetian lake, as far as the Tanaïs river, which empties into the end of that lake. ,Now it has been seen that on its northern and inland side, running from the Ister, Scythia is bounded first by the Agathyrsi, next by the Neuri, next by the Man-eaters, and last by the Black-cloaks. ' "4.101. Scythia, then, is a four-sided country, two of whose sides are coastline, the frontiers running inland and those that are by the sea making it a perfect square; ,for it is a ten days' journey from the Ister to the Borysthenes, and the same from the Borysthenes to the Maeetian lake; and it is a twenty days' journey from the sea inland to the country of the Black-cloaks who live north of Scythia. ,Now, as I reckon a day's journey at two hundred stades, the cross-measurement of Scythia would be a distance of five hundred miles, and the line drawn straight up inland the same. Such then is the extent of this land. " '
4.106. The Man-eaters are the most savage of all men in their way of life; they know no justice and obey no law. They are nomads, wearing a costume like the Scythian, but speaking a language of their own; of all these, they are the only people that eat men. ' "
4.114. Presently they joined their camps and lived together, each man having for his wife the woman with whom he had had intercourse at first. Now the men could not learn the women's language, but the women mastered the speech of the men; ,and when they understood each other, the men said to the Amazons, “We have parents and possessions; therefore, let us no longer live as we do, but return to our people and be with them; and we will still have you, and no others, for our wives.” To this the women replied: ,“We could not live with your women; for we and they do not have the same customs. We shoot the bow and throw the javelin and ride, but have never learned women's work; and your women do none of the things of which we speak, but stay in their wagons and do women's work, and do not go out hunting or anywhere else. ,So we could never agree with them. If you want to keep us for wives and to have the name of fair men, go to your parents and let them give you the allotted share of their possessions, and after that let us go and live by ourselves.” The young men agreed and did this. " '
4.119. After the Scythians had made this speech, the kings who had come from the nations deliberated, and their opinions were divided. The kings of the Geloni and the Budini and the Sauromatae were of one mind and promised to help the Scythians; but the kings of the Agathyrsi and Neuri and Maneaters and Black-cloaks and Tauri gave this answer to the messengers: ,“Had it not been you who wronged the Persians first and began the war, what you now ask would seem to us right, and we would listen and act together with you. ,But as it is, you invaded their land without us and ruled the Persians for as long as god granted; and the Persians, urged on by the same god, are only repaying you in kind. ,But we did these men no wrong at that former time, nor do we intend now to wrong them first; but if the Persian comes against our land too and begins the wrong-doing, then we will not accept it, either; but until we see that, we shall keep to ourselves. For in our judgment the Persians have not come for us but for those who were the agents of wrong.”
4.127. Idanthyrsus the Scythian king replied: “It is like this with me, Persian: I never ran from any man before out of fear, and I am not running from you now; I am not doing any differently now than I am used to doing in time of peace, too. ,As to why I do not fight with you at once, I will tell you why. We Scythians have no towns or cultivated land, out of fear for which, that the one might be taken or the other wasted, we would engage you sooner in battle. But if all you want is to come to that quickly, we have the graves of our fathers. ,Come on, find these and try to destroy them: you shall know then whether we will fight you for the graves or whether we will not fight. Until then, unless we have reason, we will not engage with you. ,As to fighting, enough; as to masters, I acknowledge Zeus my forefather and Hestia queen of the Scythians only. As for you, instead of gifts of earth and water I shall send such as ought to come to you; and for your boast that you are my master, I say ‘Weep!’” Such is the proverbial “Scythian speech.” ' "
4.183. After ten days' journey again from Augila there is yet another hill of salt and springs of water and many fruit-bearing palms, as at the other places; men live there called Garamantes, an exceedingly great nation, who sow in earth which they have laid on the salt. ,The shortest way to the Lotus Eaters' country is from here, thirty days' journey distant. Among the Garamantes are the cattle that go backward as they graze, the reason being that their horns curve forward; ,therefore, not being able to go forward, since the horns would stick in the ground, they walk backward grazing. Otherwise, they are like other cattle, except that their hide is thicker and harder to the touch. ,These Garamantes go in their four-horse chariots chasing the cave-dwelling Ethiopians: for the Ethiopian cave-dwellers are swifter of foot than any men of whom tales are brought to us. They live on snakes and lizards and such-like creeping things. Their speech is like no other in the world: it is like the squeaking of bats. " "
6.58. The kings are granted these rights from the Spartan commonwealth while they live; when they die, their rights are as follows: Horsemen proclaim their death in all parts of Laconia, and in the city women go about beating on cauldrons. When this happens, two free persons from each house, a man and a woman, are required to wear mourning, or incur heavy penalties if they fail to do so. ,The Lacedaemonians have the same custom at the deaths of their kings as the foreigners in Asia; most foreigners use the same custom at their kings' deaths. When a king of the Lacedaemonians dies, a fixed number of their subject neighbors must come to the funeral from all Lacedaemon, besides the Spartans. ,When these and the helots and the Spartans themselves have assembled in one place to the number of many thousands, together with the women, they zealously beat their foreheads and make long and loud lamentation, calling that king that is most recently dead the best of all their kings. Whenever a king dies in war, they make an image of him and carry it out on a well-spread bier. For ten days after the burial there are no assemblies or elections, and they mourn during these days. " '6.59. The Lacedaemonians also resemble the Persians in this: when one king is dead and another takes his office, this successor releases from debt any Spartan who owes a debt to the king or to the commonwealth. Among the Persians the king at the beginning of his reign forgives all cities their arrears of tribute. ' "6.60. The Lacedaemonians resemble the Egyptians in that their heralds and flute-players and cooks inherit the craft from their fathers, a flute-player's son being a flute-player, and a cook's son a cook, and a herald's son a herald; no others usurp their places, making themselves heralds by loudness of voice; they ply their craft by right of birth. Such is the way of these matters. " "
7.11. Thus spoke Artabanus. Xerxes answered angrily, “Artabanus, you are my father's brother; that will save you from receiving the fitting reward of foolish words. But for your cowardly lack of spirit I lay upon you this disgrace, that you will not go with me and my army against Hellas, but will stay here with the women; I myself will accomplish all that I have said, with no help from you. ,May I not be the son of Darius son of Hystaspes son of Arsames son of Ariaramnes son of Teispes son of Cyrus son of Cambyses son of Teispes son of Achaemenes, if I do not have vengeance on the Athenians; I well know that if we remain at peace they will not; they will assuredly invade our country, if we may infer from what they have done already, for they burnt Sardis and marched into Asia. ,It is not possible for either of us to turn back: to do or to suffer is our task, so that what is ours be under the Greeks, or what is theirs under the Persians; there is no middle way in our quarrel. ,Honor then demands that we avenge ourselves for what has been done to us; thus will I learn what is this evil that will befall me when I march against these Greeks—men that even Pelops the Phrygian, the slave of my forefathers, did so utterly subdue that to this day they and their country are called by the name of their conqueror.” " "
7.60. I cannot give the exact number that each part contributed to the total, for there is no one who tells us that; but the total of the whole land army was shown to be one million and seven hundred thousand. ,They were counted in this way: ten thousand men were collected in one place, and when they were packed together as closely as could be a line was drawn around them; when this was drawn, the ten thousand were sent away and a wall of stones was built on the line reaching up to a man's navel; ,when this was done, others were brought into the walled space, until in this way all were numbered. When they had been numbered, they were marshalled by nations. " "
7.70. The Ethiopians above Egypt and the Arabians had Arsames for commander, while the Ethiopians of the east (for there were two kinds of them in the army) served with the Indians; they were not different in appearance from the others, only in speech and hair: the Ethiopians from the east are straight-haired, but the ones from Libya have the woolliest hair of all men. ,These Ethiopians of Asia were for the most part armed like the Indians; but they wore on their heads the skins of horses' foreheads, stripped from the head with ears and mane; the mane served them for a crest, and they wore the horses' ears stiff and upright; for shields they had bucklers of the skin of cranes. " '
7.101. After he passed by all his fleet and disembarked from the ship, he sent for Demaratus son of Ariston, who was on the expedition with him against Hellas. He summoned him and said, “Demaratus, it is now my pleasure to ask you what I wish to know. You are a Greek, and, as I am told both by you and by the other Greeks whom I have talked to, a man from neither the least nor the weakest of Greek cities. ,So tell me: will the Greeks offer battle and oppose me? I think that even if all the Greeks and all the men of the western lands were assembled together, they are not powerful enough to withstand my attack, unless they are united. ,Still I want to hear from you what you say of them.” To this question Demaratus answered, “O king, should I speak the truth or try to please you?” Xerxes bade him speak the truth and said that it would be no more unpleasant for him than before. 7.102. Demaratus heard this and said, “O King, since you bid me by all means to speak the whole truth, and to say what you will not later prove to be false, in Hellas poverty is always endemic, but courage is acquired as the fruit of wisdom and strong law; by use of this courage Hellas defends herself from poverty and tyranny. ,Now I praise all the Greeks who dwell in those Dorian lands, yet I am not going to speak these words about all of them, but only about the Lacedaemonians. First, they will never accept conditions from you that bring slavery upon Hellas; and second, they will meet you in battle even if all the other Greeks are on your side. ,Do not ask me how many these men are who can do this; they will fight with you whether they have an army of a thousand men, or more than that, or less.” 7.103. When he heard this, Xerxes smiled and said, “What a strange thing to say, Demaratus, that a thousand men would fight with so great an army! Come now, tell me this: you say that you were king of these men. Are you willing right now to fight with ten men? Yet if your state is entirely as you define it, you as their king should by right encounter twice as many according to your laws. ,If each of them is a match for ten men of my army, then it is plain to me that you must be a match for twenty; in this way you would prove that what you say is true. But if you Greeks who so exalt yourselves are just like you and the others who come to speak with me, and are also the same size, then beware lest the words you have spoken be only idle boasting. ,Let us look at it with all reasonableness: how could a thousand, or ten thousand, or even fifty thousand men, if they are all equally free and not under the rule of one man, withstand so great an army as mine? If you Greeks are five thousand, we still would be more than a thousand to one. ,If they were under the rule of one man according to our custom, they might out of fear of him become better than they naturally are, and under compulsion of the lash they might go against greater numbers of inferior men; but if they are allowed to go free they would do neither. I myself think that even if they were equal in numbers it would be hard for the Greeks to fight just against the Persians. ,What you are talking about is found among us alone, and even then it is not common but rare; there are some among my Persian spearmen who will gladly fight with three Greeks at once. You have no knowledge of this and are spouting a lot of nonsense.” 7.104. To this Demaratus answered, “O king I knew from the first that the truth would be unwelcome to you. But since you compelled me to speak as truly as I could, I have told you how it stands with the Spartans. ,You yourself best know what love I bear them: they have robbed me of my office and the privileges of my house, and made me a cityless exile; your father received me and gave me a house and the means to live on. It is not reasonable for a sensible man to reject goodwill when it appears; rather he will hold it in great affection. ,I myself do not promise that I can fight with ten men or with two, and I would not even willingly fight with one; yet if it were necessary, or if some great contest spurred me, I would most gladly fight with one of those men who claim to be each a match for three Greeks. ,So is it with the Lacedaemonians; fighting singly they are as brave as any man living, and together they are the best warriors on earth. They are free, yet not wholly free: law is their master, whom they fear much more than your men fear you. ,They do whatever it bids; and its bidding is always the same, that they must never flee from the battle before any multitude of men, but must abide at their post and there conquer or die. If I seem to you to speak foolishness when I say this, then let me hereafter hold my peace; it is under constraint that I have now spoken. But may your wish be fulfilled, King.”
7.208. While they debated in this way, Xerxes sent a mounted scout to see how many there were and what they were doing. While he was still in Thessaly, he had heard that a small army was gathered there and that its leaders were Lacedaemonians, including Leonidas, who was of the Heracleid clan. ,Riding up to the camp, the horseman watched and spied out the place. He could, however, not see the whole camp, for it was impossible to see those posted inside the wall which they had rebuilt and were guarding. He did take note of those outside, whose arms lay in front of the wall, and it chanced that at that time the Lacedaemonians were posted there. ,He saw some of the men exercising naked and others combing their hair. He marvelled at the sight and took note of their numbers. When he had observed it all carefully, he rode back in leisure, since no one pursued him or paid him any attention at all. So he returned and told Xerxes all that he had seen.
8.144.2. For there are many great reasons why we should not do this, even if we so desired; first and foremost, the burning and destruction of the adornments and temples of our gods, whom we are constrained to avenge to the utmost rather than make pacts with the perpetrator of these things, and next the kinship of all Greeks in blood and speech, and the shrines of gods and the sacrifices that we have in common, and the likeness of our way of life, to all of which it would not befit the Athenians to be false.
8.144. Such was their answer to Alexander, but to the Spartan envoys they said, “It was most human that the Lacedaemonians should fear our making an agreement with the barbarian. We think that it is an ignoble thing to be afraid, especially since we know the Athenian temper to be such that there is nowhere on earth such store of gold or such territory of surpassing fairness and excellence that the gift of it should win us to take the Persian part and enslave Hellas. ,For there are many great reasons why we should not do this, even if we so desired; first and foremost, the burning and destruction of the adornments and temples of our gods, whom we are constrained to avenge to the utmost rather than make pacts with the perpetrator of these things, and next the kinship of all Greeks in blood and speech, and the shrines of gods and the sacrifices that we have in common, and the likeness of our way of life, to all of which it would not befit the Athenians to be false. ,Know this now, if you knew it not before, that as long as one Athenian is left alive we will make no agreement with Xerxes. Nevertheless we thank you for your forethought concerning us, in that you have so provided for our wasted state that you offer to nourish our households. ,For your part, you have given us full measure of kindness, yet for ourselves, we will make shift to endure as best we may, and not be burdensome to you. But now, seeing that this is so, send your army with all speed, ,for as we guess, the barbarian will be upon us and invade our country in no long time as soon as the message comes to him that we will do nothing that he requires of us; therefore, before he comes into Attica, now is the time for us to march first into Boeotia.” At this reply of the Athenians the envoys returned back to Sparta.
9.122. This Artayctes who was crucified was the grandson of that Artembares who instructed the Persians in a design which they took from him and laid before Cyrus; this was its purport: ,“Seeing that Zeus grants lordship to the Persian people, and to you, Cyrus, among them, let us, after reducing Astyages, depart from the little and rugged land which we possess and occupy one that is better. There are many such lands on our borders, and many further distant. If we take one of these, we will all have more reasons for renown. It is only reasonable that a ruling people should act in this way, for when will we have a better opportunity than now, when we are lords of so many men and of all Asia?” ,Cyrus heard them, and found nothing to marvel at in their design; “Go ahead and do this,” he said; “but if you do so, be prepared no longer to be rulers but rather subjects. Soft lands breed soft men; wondrous fruits of the earth and valiant warriors grow not from the same soil.” ,The Persians now realized that Cyrus reasoned better than they, and they departed, choosing rather to be rulers on a barren mountain side than dwelling in tilled valleys to be slaves to others.''. None |
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4. Diodorus Siculus, Historical Library, 1.28-1.29, 1.43, 1.69-1.72, 1.69.7, 2.36-2.38, 2.47.1, 2.47.3, 3.9.1-3.9.2, 3.10-3.33, 5.32.7, 40.3.2-40.3.3, 40.3.5 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE)
Tagged with subjects: • Agatharcides of Cnidus, ethnography of • Diodorus Siculus,, Indian ethnography of • Diodorus Siculus,, featuring of diet in his ethnographic descriptions • Egypt, ethnographies of • Greek. See also ethnography education • Hecataeus of Abdera, structure of ethnographies • Histories (Herodotus),, and the ethnography of Scythia • Jews, ethnographies on • ethnographies/ethnographers • ethnographies/ethnographers,, environmental culture and centralized power in • ethnography • ethnography, • ethnography, Diodorus and • ethnography, Hecataeus's contributions to • ethnography, Hellenistic • ethnography, and Ethiopians • ethnography, structure of • ethnography, utopian • ethnography/ethnographic • geography, in Greek ethnographies • history, in Greek ethnographies
Found in books: Bar Kochba (1997) 13, 16, 17, 18, 22, 151, 153, 195, 197, 198, 200, 201, 203, 205, 207, 208, 210, 211; Bosak-Schroeder (2020) 3, 23, 93, 99, 124, 144, 145; Gagné (2020) 349; Gera (2014) 215; Gruen (2011) 144, 204, 205; Hau (2017) 148, 149, 151, 152, 153; Morrison (2020) 32; Phang (2001) 266; Piotrkowski (2019) 263, 274
| 1.28. 1. \xa0Now the Egyptians say that also after these events a great number of colonies were spread from Egypt over all the inhabited world. To Babylon, for instance, colonists were led by Belus, who was held to be the son of Poseidon and Libya; and after establishing himself on the Euphrates river he appointed priests, called Chaldaeans by the Babylonians, who were exempt from taxation and free from every kind of service to the state, as are the priests of Egypt; and they also make observations of the stars, following the example of the Egyptian priests, physicists, and astrologers.,2. \xa0They say also that those who set forth with Danaus, likewise from Egypt, settled what is practically the oldest city in Greece, Argos, and that the nation of the Colchi in Pontus and that of the Jews, which lies between Arabia and Syria, were founded as colonies by certain emigrants from their country;,3. \xa0and this is the reason why it is a long-established institution among these two peoples to circumcise their male children, the custom having been brought over from Egypt.,4. \xa0Even the Athenians, they say, are colonists from Saïs in Egypt, and they undertake to offer proofs of such a relationship; for the Athenians are the only Greeks who call their city "Asty," a name brought over from the city Asty in Egypt. Furthermore, their body politic had the same classification and division of the people as found in Egypt, where the citizens have been divided into three orders:,5. \xa0the first Athenian class consisted of the "eupatrids," as they were called, being those who were such as had received the best education and were held worthy of the highest honour, as is the case with the priests of Egypt; the second was that of the "geomoroi," who were expected to possess arms and to serve in defence of the state, like those in Egypt who are known as husbandmen and supply the warriors; and the last class was reckoned to be that of the "demiurgoi," who practise the mechanical arts and render only the most menial services to the state, this class among the Egyptians having a similar function.,6. \xa0Moreover, certain of the rulers of Athens were originally Egyptians, they say. Petes, for instance, the father of that Menestheus who took part in the expedition against Troy, having clearly been an Egyptian, later obtained citizenship at Athens and the kingship. .\xa0.\xa0.,7. \xa0He was of double form, and yet the Athenians are unable from their own point of view to give the true explanation of this nature of his, although it is patent to all that it was because of his double citizenship, Greek and barbarian, that he was held to be of double form, that is, part animal and part man. 1.29. 1. \xa0In the same way, they continue, Erechtheus also, who was by birth an Egyptian, became king of Athens, and in proof of this they offer the following considerations. Once when there was a great drought, as is generally agreed, which extended over practically all the inhabited earth except Egypt because of the peculiar character of that country, and there followed a destruction both of crops and of men in great numbers, Erechtheus, through his racial connection with Egypt, brought from there to Athens a great supply of grain, and in return those who had enjoyed this aid made their benefactor king.,2. \xa0After he had secured the throne he instituted the initiatory rites of Demeter in Eleusis and established the mysteries, transferring their ritual from Egypt. And the tradition that an advent of the goddess into Attica also took place at that time is reasonable, since it was then that the fruits which are named after her were brought to Athens, and this is why it was thought that the discovery of the seed had been made again, as though Demeter had bestowed the gift.,3. \xa0And the Athenians on their part agree that it was in the reign of Erechtheus, when a lack of rain had wiped out the crops, that Demeter came to them with the gift of grain. Furthermore, the initiatory rites and mysteries of this goddess were instituted at Eleusis at that time.,4. \xa0And their sacrifices as well as their ancient ceremonies are observed by the Athenians in the same way as by the Egyptians; for the Eumolpidae were derived from the priests of Egypt and the Ceryces from the pastophoroi. They are also the only Greeks who swear by Isis, and they closely resemble the Egyptians in both their appearance and manners.,5. \xa0By many other statements like these, spoken more out of a love for glory than with regard for the truth, as I\xa0see the matter, they claim Athens as a colony of theirs because of the fame of that city. In general, the Egyptians say that their ancestors sent forth numerous colonies to many parts of the inhabited world, the pre-eminence of their former kings and their excessive population;,6. \xa0but since they offer no precise proof whatsoever for these statements, and since no historian worthy of credence testifies in their support, we have not thought that their accounts merited recording. So far as the ideas of the Egyptians about the gods are concerned, let what we have said suffice, since we are aiming at due proportion in our account, but with regard to the land, the Nile, and everything else worth hearing about we shall endeavour, in each case, to give the several facts in summary.
1.43. 1. \xa0As for their means of living in primitive times, the Egyptians, they say, in the earliest period got their food from herbs and the stalks and roots of the plants which grew in the marshes, making trial of each one of them by tasting it, and the first one eaten by them and the most favoured was that called Agrostis, because it excelled the others in sweetness and supplied sufficient nutriment for the human body;,2. \xa0for they observed that this plant was attractive to the cattle and quickly increased their bulk. Because of this fact the natives, in remembrance of the usefulness of this plant, to this day, when approaching the gods, hold some of it in their hands as they pray to them; for they believe that man is a creature of swamp and marsh, basing this conclusion on the smoothness of his skin and his physical constitution, as well as on the fact that he requires a wet rather than a dry diet.,3. \xa0A\xa0second way by which the Egyptians subsisted was, they say, by the eating of fish, of which the river provided a great abundance, especially at the time when it receded after its flood and dried up.,4. \xa0They also ate the flesh of some of the pasturing animals, using for clothing the skins of the beasts that were eaten, and their dwellings they built out of reeds. And traces of these customs still remain among the herdsmen of Egypt, all of whom, they say, have no other dwelling up to this time than one of reeds, considering that with this they are well enough provided for.,5. \xa0After subsisting in this manner over a long period of time they finally turned to the edible fruits of the earth, among which may be included the bread made from the lotus. The discovery of these is attributed by some to Isis, but by others to one of their early kings called Menas.,6. \xa0The priests, however, have the story that the discoverer of the branches of learning and of the arts was Hermes, but that it was their kings who discovered such things as are necessary for existence; and that this was the reason why the kingship in early times was bestowed, not upon the sons of their former rulers, but upon such as conferred the greatest and most numerous benefits upon the peoples, whether it be that the inhabitants in this way sought to provoke their kings to useful service for the benefit of all, or that they have in very truth received an account to this effect in their sacred writings.
1.69.7. \xa0Now as for the stories invented by Herodotus and certain writers on Egyptian affairs, who deliberately preferred to the truth the telling of marvellous tales and the invention of myths for the delectation of their readers, these we shall omit, and we shall set forth only what appears in the written records of the priests of Egypt and has passed our careful scrutiny.
1.69. 1. \xa0Now that we have discussed sufficiently the deeds of the kings of Egypt from the very earliest times down to the death of Amasis, we shall record the other events in their proper chronological setting;,2. \xa0but at this point we shall give a summary account of the customs of Egypt, both those which are especially strange and those which can be of most value to our readers. For many of the customs obtained in ancient days among the Egyptians have not only been accepted by the present inhabitants but have aroused no little admiration among the Greeks;,3. \xa0and for that reason those men who have won the greatest repute in intellectual things have been eager to visit Egypt in order to acquaint themselves with its laws and institutions, which they considered to be worthy of note.,4. \xa0For despite the fact that for the reasons mentioned above strangers found it difficult in early times to enter the country, it was nevertheless eagerly visited by Orpheus and the poet Homer in the earliest times and in later times by many others, such as Pythagoras of Samos and Solon the lawgiver.,5. \xa0Now it is maintained by the Egyptians that it was they who first discovered writing and the observation of the stars, who also discovered the basic principles of geometry and most of the arts, and established the best laws.,6. \xa0And the best proof of all this, they say, lies in the fact that Egypt for more than four thousand seven hundred years was ruled over by kings of whom the majority were native Egyptians, and that the land was the most prosperous of the whole inhabited world; for these things could never have been true of any people which did not enjoy most excellent customs and laws and the institutions which promote culture of every kind.,7. \xa0Now as for the stories invented by Herodotus and certain writers on Egyptian affairs, who deliberately preferred to the truth the telling of marvellous tales and the invention of myths for the delectation of their readers, these we shall omit, and we shall set forth only what appears in the written records of the priests of Egypt and has passed our careful scrutiny.
1.69. < 1.70. 1. \xa0In the first place, then, the life which the kings of the Egyptians lived was not like that of other men who enjoy autocratic power and do in all matters exactly as they please without being held to account, but all their acts were regulated by prescriptions set forth in laws, not only their administrative acts, but also those that had to do with the way in which they spent their time from day to day, and with the food which they ate.,2. \xa0In the matter of their servants, for instance, not one was a slave, such as had been acquired by purchase or born in the home, but all were sons of the most distinguished priests, over twenty years old and the best educated of their fellow-countrymen, in order that the king, by virtue of his having the noblest men to care for his person and to attend him throughout both day and night, might follow no low practices; for no ruler advances far along the road of evil until he has those about him who will minister to his passions.,3. \xa0And the hours of both the day and night were laid out according to a plan, and at the specified hours it was absolutely required of the king that he should do what the laws stipulated and not what he thought best.,4. \xa0For instance, in the morning, as soon as he was awake, he first of all had to receive the letters which had been sent from all sides, the purpose being that he might be able to despatch all administrative business and perform every act properly, being thus accurately informed about everything that was being done throughout his kingdom. Then, after he had bathed and bedecked his body with rich garments and the insignia of his office, he had to sacrifice to the gods.,5. \xa0When the victims had been brought to the altar it was the custom for the high priest to stand near the king, with the common people of Egypt gathered around, and pray in a loud voice that health and all the other good things of life be given the king if he maintains justice towards his subjects.,6. \xa0And an open confession had also to be made of each and every virtue of the king, the priest saying that towards the gods he was piously disposed and towards men most kindly; for he was self-controlled and just and magimous, truthful, and generous with his possessions, and, in a word, superior to every desire, and that he punished crimes less severely than they deserved and rendered to his benefactors a gratitude exceeding the benefaction.,7. \xa0And after reciting much more in a similar vein he concluded his prayer with a curse concerning things done in error, exempting the king from all blame therefor and asking that both the evil consequences and the punishment should fall upon those who served him and had taught him evil things.,8. \xa0All this he would do, partly to lead the king to fear the gods and live a life pleasing to them, and partly to accustom him to a proper manner of conduct, not by sharp admonitions, but through praises that were agreeable and most conductive to virtue.,9. \xa0After this, when the king had performed the divination from the entrails of a calf and had found the omens good, the sacred scribe read before the assemblage from out of the sacred books some of the edifying counsels and deeds of their most distinguished men, in order that he who held the supreme leadership should first contemplate in his mind the most excellent general principles and then turn to the prescribed administration of the several functions.,10. \xa0For there was a set time not only for his holding audiences or rendering judgments, but even for his taking a walk, bathing, and sleeping with his wife, and, in a word, for every act of his life.,11. \xa0And it was the custom for the kings to partake of delicate food, eating no other meat than veal and duck, and drinking only a prescribed amount of wine, which was not enough to make them unreasonably surfeited or drunken.,12. \xa0And, speaking generally, their whole diet was ordered with such continence that it had the appearance of having been drawn up, not by a lawgiver, but by the most skilled of their physicians, with only their health in view. 1.71. 1. \xa0Strange as it may appear that the king did not have the entire control of his daily fare, far more remarkable still was the fact that kings were not allowed to render any legal decision or transact any business at random or to punish anyone through malice or in anger or for any other unjust reason, but only in accordance with the established laws relative to each offence.,2. \xa0And in following the dictates of custom in these matters, so far were they from being indigt or taking offence in their souls, that, on the contrary, they actually held that they led a most happy life;,3. \xa0for they believed that all other men, in thoughtlessly following their natural passions, commit many acts which bring them injuries and perils, and that oftentimes some who realize that they are about to commit a sin nevertheless do base acts when overpowered by love or hatred or some other passion, while they, on the other hand, by virtue of their having cultivated a manner of life which had been chosen before all others by the most prudent of all men, fell into the fewest mistakes.,4. \xa0And since the kings followed so righteous a course in dealing with their subjects, the people manifested a goodwill towards their rulers which surpassed even the affection they had for their own kinsmen; for not only the order of the priests but, in short, all the inhabitants of Egypt were less concerned for their wives and children and their other cherished possessions than for the safety of their kings.,5. \xa0Consequently, during most of the time covered by the reigns of the kings of whom we have a record, they maintained an orderly civil government and continued to enjoy a most felicitous life, so long as the system of laws described was in force; and, more than that, they conquered more nations and achieved greater wealth than any other people, and adorned their lands with monuments and buildings never to be surpassed, and their cities with costly dedications of every description. 1.72. 1. \xa0Again, the Egyptian ceremonies which followed upon the death of a king afforded no small proof of the goodwill of the people towards their rulers; for the fact that the honour which they paid was to one who was insensible of it constituted an authentic testimony to its sincerity.,2. \xa0For when any king died all the inhabitants of Egypt united in mourning for him, rending their garments, closing the temples, stopping the sacrifices, and celebrating no festivals for seventy-two days; and plastering their heads with mud and wrapping strips of linen cloth below their breasts, women as well as men went about in groups of two or three hundred, and twice each day, reciting the dirge in a rhythmic chant, they sang the praises of the deceased, recalling his virtues; nor would they eat the flesh of any living thing or food prepared from wheat, and they abstained from wine and luxury of any sort.,3. \xa0And no one would ever have seen fit to make use of baths or unguents or soft bedding, nay more, would not even have dared to indulge in sexual pleasures, but every Egyptian grieved and mourned during those seventy-two days as if it were his own beloved child that had died.,4. \xa0But during this interval they had made splendid preparations for the burial, and on the last day, placing the coffin containing the body before the entrance to the tomb, they set up, as custom prescribed, a tribunal to sit in judgment upon the deeds done by the deceased during his life.,5. \xa0And when permission had been given to anyone who so wished to lay complaint against him, the priests praised all his noble deeds one after another, and the common people who had gathered in myriads to the funeral, listening to them, shouted their approval if the king had led a worthy life,,6. \xa0but if he had not, they raised a clamour of protest. And in fact many kings have been deprived of the public burial customarily accorded them because of the opposition of the people; the result was, consequently, that the successive kings practised justice, not merely for the reasons just mentioned, but also because of their fear of the despite which would be shown their body after death and of eternal obloquy. of the customs, then, touching the early kings these are the most important.
2.36. 1. \xa0The same is true of the inhabitants also, the abundant supply of food making them of unusual height and bulk of body; and another result is that they are skilled in the arts, since they breathe a pure air and drink water of the finest quality.,2. \xa0And the earth, in addition to producing every fruit which admits of cultivation, also contains rich underground veins of every kind of ore; for there are found in it much silver and gold, not a little copper and iron, and tin also and whatever else is suitable for adornment, necessity, and the trappings of war.,3. \xa0In addition to the grain of Demeter there grows throughout India much millet, which is irrigated by the abundance of running water supplied by the rivers, pulse in large quantities and of superior quality, rice also and the plant called bosporos, and in addition to these many more plants which are useful for food; and most of these are native to the country. It also yields not a\xa0few other edible fruits, that are able to sustain animal life, but to write about them would be a long task.,4. \xa0This is the reason, they say, why a famine has never visited India or, in general, any scarcity of what is suitable for gentle fare. For since there are two rainy seasons in the country each year, during the winter rains the sowing is made of the wheat crop as among other peoples, while in the second, which comes at the summer solstice, it is the general practice to plant the rice and bosporos, as well as sesame and millet; and in most years the Indians are successful in both crops, and they never lose everything, since the fruit of one or the other sowing comes to maturity.,5. \xa0The fruits also which flourish wild and the roots which grow in the marshy places, by reason of their remarkable sweetness, provide the people with a great abundance of food. For practically all the plains of India enjoy the sweet moisture from the rivers and from the rains which come with astonishing regularity, in a kind of fixed cycle, every year in the summer, since warm showers fall in abundance from the enveloping atmosphere and the heat ripens the roots in the marshes, especially those of the tall reeds.,6. \xa0Furthermore, the customs of the Indians contribute towards there never being any lack of food among them; for whereas in the case of all the rest of mankind their enemies ravage the land and cause it to remain uncultivated, yet among the Indians the workers of the soil are let alone as sacred and inviolable, and such of them as labour near the battle-lines have no feeling of the dangers.,7. \xa0For although both parties to the war kill one another in their hostilities, yet they leave uninjured those who are engaged in tilling the soil, considering that they are the common benefactors of all, nor do they burn the lands of their opponents or cut down their orchards. 2.37. 1. \xa0The land of the Indians has also many large navigable rivers which have their sources in the mountains lying to the north and then flow through the level country; and not a\xa0few of these unite and empty into the river known as the Ganges.,2. \xa0This river, which is thirty stades in width, flows from north to south and empties into the ocean, forming the boundary towards the east of the tribe of the Gandaridae, which possesses the greatest number of elephants and the largest in size.,3. \xa0Consequently no foreign king has ever subdued this country, all alien nations being fearful of both the multitude and the strength of the beasts. In fact even Alexander of Macedon, although he had subdued all Asia, refrained from making war upon the Gandaridae alone of all peoples; for when he had arrived at the Ganges river with his entire army, after his conquest of the rest of the Indians, upon learning that the Gandaridae had four thousand elephants equipped for war he gave up his campaign against them.,4. \xa0The river which is nearly the equal of the Ganges and is called the Indus rises like the Ganges in the north, but as it empties into the ocean forms a boundary of India; and in its course through an expanse of level plain it receives not a\xa0few navigable rivers, the most notable being the Hypanis, Hydaspes, and Acesinus.,5. \xa0And in addition to these three rivers a vast number of others of every description traverse the country and bring it about that the land is planted in many gardens and crops of every description. Now for the multitude of rivers and the exceptional supply of water the philosophers and students of nature among them advance the following cause:,6. \xa0The countries which surround India, they say, such as Scythia, Bactria, and Ariana, are higher than India, and so it is reasonable to assume that the waters which come together from every side into the country lying below them, gradually cause the regions to become soaked and to generate a multitude of rivers.,7. \xa0And a peculiar thing happens in the case of one of the rivers of India, known as the Silla, which flows from a spring of the same name; for it is the only river in the world possessing the characteristic that nothing cast into it floats, but that everything, strange to say, sinks to the bottom. 2.38. 1. \xa0Now India as a whole, being of a vast extent, is inhabited, as we are told, by many other peoples of every description, and not one of them had its first origin in a foreign land, but all of them are thought to be autochthonous; it never receives any colony from abroad nor has it ever sent one to any other people.,2. \xa0According to their myths the earliest human beings used for food the fruits of the earth which grew wild, and for clothing the skins of the native animals, as was done by the Greeks. Similarly too the discovery of the several arts and of all other things which are useful for life was made gradually, necessity itself showing the way to a creature which was well endowed by nature and had, as its assistants for every purpose, hands and speech and sagacity of mind.,3. \xa0The most learned men among the Indians recount a myth which it may be appropriate to set forth in brief form. This, then, is what they say: In the earliest times, when the inhabitants of their land were still dwelling in scattered clan-villages, Dionysus came to them from the regions to the west of them with a notable army; and he traversed all India, since there was as yet no notable city which would have been able to oppose him.,4. \xa0But when an oppressive heat came and the soldiers of Dionysus were being consumed by a pestilential sickness, this leader, who was conspicuous for his wisdom, led his army out of the plains into the hill-country; here, where cool breezes blew and the spring waters flowed pure at their very sources, the army got rid of its sickness. The name of this region of the hill-country, where Dionysus relieved his forces of the sickness, is Meros; and it is because of this fact that the Greeks have handed down to posterity in their account of this god the story that Dionysus was nourished in a thigh (meros).,5. \xa0After this he took in hand the storing of the fruits and shared this knowledge with the Indians, and he communicated to them the discovery of wine and of all the other things useful for life. Furthermore, he became the founder of notable cities by gathering the villages together in well-situated regions, and he both taught them to honour the deity and introduced laws and courts; and, in brief, since he had been the introducer of many good works he was regarded as a god and received immortal honours.,6. \xa0They also recount that he carried along with his army a great number of women, and that when he joined battle in his wars he used the sounds of drums and cymbals, since the trumpet had not yet been discovered. And after he had reigned over all India for fifty-two years he died of old age. His sons, who succeeded to the sovereignty, passed the rule on successively to their descendants; but finally, many generations later, their sovereignty was dissolved and the cities received a democratic form of government.
2.47.1. \xa0Now for our part, since we have seen fit to make mention of the regions of Asia which lie to the north, we feel that it will not be foreign to our purpose to discuss the legendary accounts of the Hyperboreans. of those who have written about the ancient myths, Hecataeus and certain others say that in the regions beyond the land of the Celts there lies in the ocean an island no smaller than Sicily. This island, the account continues, is situated in the north and is inhabited by the Hyperboreans, who are called by that name because their home is beyond the point whence the north wind (Boreas) blows; and the island is both fertile and productive of every crop, and since it has an unusually temperate climate it produces two harvests each year.
2.47.3. \xa0Furthermore, a city is there which is sacred to this god, and the majority of its inhabitants are players on the cithara; and these continually play on this instrument in the temple and sing hymns of praise to the god, glorifying his deeds.
3.9.1. \xa0With regard to the gods, the Ethiopians who dwell above Meroë entertain two opinions: they believe that some of them, such as the sun and the moon and the universe as a whole, have a nature which is eternal and imperishable, but others of them, they think, share a mortal nature and have come to receive immortal honours because of their virtue and the benefactions which they have bestowed upon all mankind; 3.9.2. \xa0for instance, they revere Isis and Pan, and also Heracles and Zeus, considering that these deities in particular have been benefactors of the race of men. But a\xa0few of the Ethiopians do not believe in the existence of any gods at all; consequently at the rising of the sun they utter imprecations against it as being most hostile to them, and flee to the marshes of those parts.
3.10. 1. \xa0In that part of the country which lies along the Nile in Libya there is a section which is remarkable for its beauty; for it bears food in great abundance and of every variety and provides convenient places of retreat in its marshes where one finds protection against the excessive heat; consequently this region is a bone of contention between the Libyans and the Ethiopians, who wage unceasing warfare with each other for its possession.,2. \xa0It is also a gathering-place for a multitude of elephants from the country lying above it because, as some say, the pasturage is abundant and sweet; for marvellous marshes stretch along the banks of the river and in them grows food in great plenty and of every kind.,3. \xa0Consequently, whenever they taste of the rush and the reed, they remain there because of the sweetness of the food and destroy the means of subsistence of the human beings; and because of this the inhabitants are compelled to flee from these regions, and to live as nomads and dwellers in tents â\x80\x94 in a word, to fix the bounds of their country by their advantage.,4. \xa0The herds of the wild beasts which we have mentioned leave the interior of the country because of the lack of food, since every growing thing in the ground quickly dries up; for as a result of the excessive heat and the lack of water from springs and rivers it comes to pass that the plants for food are rough and scanty.,5. \xa0There are also, as some say, in the country of the wild beasts, as it is called, serpents which are marvellous for their size and multitude; these attack the elephants at the water-holes, pit their strength against them, and winding themselves in coils about their legs continue squeezing them tighter and tighter in their bands until at last the beasts, covered with foam, fall to the ground from their weight. Thereupon the serpents gather and devour the flesh of the fallen elephant, overcoming the beast with ease because it moves only with difficulty.,6. \xa0But since it still remains a puzzle why, in pursuit of their accustomed food, they do not follow the elephants into the region along the river, which I\xa0have mentioned, they say that the serpents of such great size avoid the level part of the country and continually make their homes at the foot of mountains in ravines which are suitable to their length and in deep caves; consequently they never leave the regions which are suitable to them and to which they are accustomed, Nature herself being the instructor of all the animals in such matters. As for the Ethiopians, then, and their land, this is as much as we have to say. 3.11. 1. \xa0Concerning the historians, we must distinguish among them, to the effect that many have composed works on both Egypt and Ethiopia, of whom some have given credence to false report and others have invented many tales out of their own minds for the delectation of their readers, and so may justly be distrusted.,2. \xa0For example, Agatharchides of Cnidus in the second Book of his work on Asia, and the compiler of geographies, Artemidorus of Ephesus, in his eighth Book, and certain others whose homes were in Egypt, have recounted most of what I\xa0have set forth above and are, on the contrary, accurate in all they have written.,3. \xa0Since, to bear witness ourselves, during the time of our visit to Egypt, we associated with many of its priests and conversed with not a\xa0few ambassadors from Ethiopia as well who were then in Egypt; and after inquiring carefully of them about each matter and testing the stories of the historians, we have composed our account so as to accord with the opinions on which they most fully agree.,4. \xa0Now as for the Ethiopians who dwell in the west, we shall be satisfied with what has been said, and we shall discuss in turn the peoples who live to the South and about the Red Sea. However, we feel that it is appropriate first to tell of the working of the gold as it is carried on in these regions. 3.12. 1. \xa0At the extremity of Egypt and in the contiguous territory of both Arabia and Ethiopia there lies a region which contains many large gold mines, where the gold is secured in great quantities with much suffering and at great expense. For the earth is naturally black and contains seams and veins of a marble which is unusually white and in brilliancy surpasses everything else which shines brightly by its nature, and here the overseers of the labour in the mines work recover the gold with the aid of a multitude of workers.,2. \xa0For the kings of Egypt gather together and condemn to the mining of the gold such as have been found guilty of some crime and captives of war, as well as those who have been accused unjustly and thrown into prison because of their anger, and not only such persons but occasionally all their relatives as well, by this means not only inflicting punishment upon those found guilty but also securing at the same time great revenues from their labours.,3. \xa0And those who have been condemned in this way â\x80\x94 and they are a great multitude and are all bound in chains â\x80\x94 work at their task unceasingly both by day and throughout the entire night, enjoying no respite and being carefully cut off from any means of escape; since guards of foreign soldiers who speak a language different from theirs stand watch over them, so that not a man, either by conversation or by some contact of a friendly nature, is able to corrupt one of his keepers.,6. \xa0Now these men, working in darkness as they do because of the bending and winding of the passages, carry lamps bound on their foreheads; and since much of the time they change the position of their bodies to follow the particular character of the stone they throw the blocks, as they cut them out, on the ground; and at this task they labour without ceasing beneath the sternness and blows of an overseer. 3.13. 1. \xa0The boys there who have not yet come to maturity, entering through the tunnels into the galleries formed by the removal of the rock, laboriously gather up the rock as it is cast down piece by piece and carry it out into the open to the place outside the entrance. Then those who are above thirty years of age take this quarried stone from them and with iron pestles pound a specified amount of it in stone mortars, until they have worked it down to the size of a vetch.,2. \xa0Thereupon the women and older men receive from them the rock of this size and cast it into mills of which a\xa0number stand there in a row, and taking their places in groups of two or three at the spoke or handle of each mill they grind it until they have worked down the amount given them to the consistency of the finest flour. And since no opportunity is afforded any of them to care for his body and they have no garment to cover their shame, no man can look upon unfortunate wretches without feeling pity for them because of the exceeding hardships they suffer.,3. \xa0For no leniency or respite of any kind is given to any man who is sick, or maimed, or aged, or in the case of a woman for her weakness, but all without exception are compelled by blows to persevere in their labours, until through ill-treatment they die in the midst of their tortures. Consequently the poor unfortunates believe, because their punishment is so excessively severe, that the future will always be more terrible than the present and therefore look forward to death as more to be desired than life. 3.14. 1. \xa0In the last steps the skilled workmen receive the stone which has been ground to powder and take it off for its complete and final working; for they rub the marble which has been worked down upon a broad board which is slightly inclined, pouring water over it all the while; whereupon the earthy matter in it, melted away by the action of the water, runs down the inclined board, while that which contains the gold remains on the wood because of its weight.,2. \xa0And repeating this a\xa0number of times, they first of all rub it gently with their hands, and then lightly pressing it with sponges of loose texture they remove in this way whatever is porous and earthy, until there remains only the pure gold-dust.,3. \xa0Then at last other skilled workmen take what has been recovered and put it by fixed measure and weight into earthen jars, mixing with it a lump of lead proportionate to the mass, lumps of salt and a little tin, and adding thereto barley bran; thereupon they put on it a close-fitting lid, and smearing it over carefully with mud they bake it in a kiln for five successive days and as many nights;,4. \xa0and at the end of this period, when they have let the jars cool off, of the other matter they find no remains in the jars, but the gold they recover in pure form, there being but little waste. This working of the gold, as it is carried on at the farthermost borders of Egypt, is effected through all the extensive labours here described;,5. \xa0for Nature herself, in my opinion, makes it clear that whereas the production of gold is laborious, the guarding of it is difficult, the zest for it is very great, and that its use is half-way between pleasure and pain. Now the discovery of these mines is very ancient, having been made by the early kings.,6. \xa0But we shall undertake to discuss the peoples which inhabit the coast of the Arabian Gulf and that of the Trogodytes and the part of Ethiopia that faces the noon-day sun and the south wind. 3.15. 1. \xa0The first people we shall mention are the Ichthyophagi who inhabit the coast which extends from Carmania and Gedrosia to the farthest limits of the arm of the sea which is found at the Arabian Gulf, which extends inland an unbelievable distance and is enclosed at its mouth by two continents, on the one side by Arabia Felix and on the other by the land of the Trogodytes.,2. \xa0As for these barbarians, certain of them go about entirely naked and have the women and children in common like their flocks and herds, and since they recognize only the physical perception of pleasure and pain they take no thought of things which are disgraceful and those which are honourable.,3. \xa0They have their dwellings not far from the sea along the rocky shores, where there are not only deep valleys but also jagged ravines and very narrow channels which Nature has divided by means of winding side-branches. These branches being by their nature suited to their need, the natives close up the passages and outlets with heaps of great stones, and by means of these, as if with nets, they carry on the catching of the fish.,4. \xa0For whenever the flood-tide of the sea sweeps violently over the land, which happens twice daily and usually about the third and ninth hour, the sea covers in its flood all the rocky shore and together with the huge and violent billow carries to the land an incredible multitude of fish of every kind, which at first remain along the coast, wandering in search of food among the sheltered spots and hollow places; but whenever the time of ebb comes, the water flows off little by little through the heaps of rocks and ravines, but the fish are left behind in the hollow places.,5. \xa0At this moment the multitude of the natives with their children and women gather, as if at a single word of command, at the rocky shores. And the barbarians, dividing into several companies, rush in bands each to its respective place with a hideous shouting, as if they had come unexpectedly upon some prey.,6. \xa0Thereupon the women and children, seizing the smaller fish which are near the shore, throw them on the land, and the men of bodily vigour lay hands upon the fish which are hard to overcome because of their size; for there are driven out of the deep creatures of enormous size, not only sea-scorpions and sea-eels and dog-fish, but also seals and many other kinds which are strange both in appearance and in name.,7. \xa0These animals they subdue without the assistance of any skilful device of weapons but by piercing them through with sharp goathorns and by gashing them with the jagged rocks; for necessity teaches Nature everything, as Nature, in her own fashion, by seizing upon the opportunities which lie at hand adapts herself to their hoped-for utilization.' "3.16. 1. \xa0Whenever they have collected a multitude of all kinds of fish they carry off their catch and bake the whole of it upon the rocks which are inclined towards the south. And since these stones are red-hot because of the very great heat, they leave the fish there for only a short time and then turn them over, and then, picking them up bodily by the tail, they shake them.,2. \xa0And the meat, which has become tender by reason of the warmth, falls away, but backbones are cast into a single spot and form a great heap, being collected for a certain use of which we shall speak a little later. Then placing the meat upon a smooth stone they carefully tread upon it for a sufficient length of time and mix with it the fruit of the Christ's thorn;,3. \xa0for when this has been thoroughly worked into the meat the whole of it becomes a glutinous mass, and it would appear that this takes the place among them of a relish. Finally, when this has been well trodden, they mould it into little oblong bricks and place them in the sun; and after these have become thoroughly dry they sit down and feast upon them, eating not according to any measure or weight but according to every man's own wish, inasmuch as they make their physical desire the bounds of their indulgence.,4. \xa0For they have at all times stores which are unfailing and ready for use, as though Poseidon had assumed the task of Demeter. But at times a tidal wave of such size rolls in from the sea upon the land, a violent wave that for many days submerges the rocky shores, that no one can approach those regions.,5. \xa0Consequently, being short of food at such times, they at first gather the mussels, which are of so great a size that some of them are found that weigh four minas; that is, they break their shells by throwing huge stones at them and then eat the meat raw, its taste resembling somewhat that of oysters.,6. \xa0And whenever it comes to pass that the ocean is high for a considerable period because of the continued winds, and the impossibility of coping with that state of affairs prevents them from making their usual catch of fish, they turn, as has been said, to the mussels. But if the food from the mussels fails them, they have recourse to the heap of backbones;,7. \xa0that is, they select from this heap such backbones as are succulent and fresh and take them apart joint by joint, and then they grind some at once with their teeth, though the hard ones they first crush with rocks and thus prepare them before they eat them, their level of life being much the same as that of the wild beasts which make their homes in dens." '3.17. 1. \xa0Now as for dry food they get an abundance of it in the manner described, but their use of wet food is astonishing and quite incredible. For they devote themselves assiduously for four days to the sea-food they have caught, the whole tribe feasting upon it merrily while entertaining one another with inarticulate songs; and furthermore, they lie at this time with any women they happen to meet in order to beget children, being relieved of every concern because their food is easily secured and ready at hand.,2. \xa0But on the fifth day the whole tribe hurries off in search of drink to the foothills of the mountains, where there are springs of sweet water at which the pastoral folk water their flocks and herds.,3. \xa0And their journey thither is like that of herds of cattle, all of them uttering a cry which produces, not articulate speech, but merely a confused roaring. As for their children, the women carry the babies continually in their arms, but the fathers do this after they have been separated from their milk, while those above five years of age lead the way accompanied by their parents, playing as they go and full of joy, as though they were setting out for pleasure of the sweetest kind.,4. \xa0For the nature of this people, being as yet unperverted, considers the satisfying of their need to be the greatest possible good, desiring in addition none of the imported pleasures. And so soon as they arrive at the watering-places of the pastoral folk and have their bellies filled with the water, they return, scarcely able to move because of the weight of it.,5. \xa0On that day they taste no food, but everyone lies gorged and scarcely able to breathe, quite like a drunken man. The next day, however, they turn again to the eating of the fish; and their way of living follows a cycle after this fashion throughout their lives. Now the inhabitants of the coast inside the Straits lead the kind of life which has been described, and by reason of the simplicity of their food they rarely are subject to attacks of disease, although they are far shorter-lived than the inhabitants of our part of the world. 3.18. 1. \xa0But as for the inhabitants of the coast outside the gulf, we find that their life is far more astonishing than that of the people just described, it being as though their nature never suffers from thirst and is insensible to pain. For although they have been banished by fortune from the inhabited regions into the desert, they fare quite well from their catch of the fish, but wet food they do not require.,2. \xa0For since they eat the fish while it is yet juicy and not far removed from the raw state, they are so far from requiring wet food that they have not even a notion of drinking. And they are content with that food which was originally allotted to them by fortune, considering that the mere elimination of that pain which arises from want (of food) is happiness.,3. \xa0But the most surprising thing of all is, that in lack of sensibility they surpass all men, and to such a degree that what is recounted of them is scarcely credible. And yet many merchants of Egypt, who sail, as is their practice, through the Red Sea down to this day and have often sailed as far as the land of the Ichthyophagi, agree in their accounts with what we have said about the human beings who are insensible to pain.,4. \xa0The third Ptolemy also, who was passionately fond of hunting the elephants which are found in that region, sent one of his friends named Simmias to spy out the land; and he, setting out with suitable supplies, made, as the historian Agatharchides of Cnidus asserts, a thorough investigation of the nations lying along the coast. Now he says that the nation of the "insensible" Ethiopians makes no use whatsoever of drink and that their nature does not require it for the reasons given above.,5. \xa0And as a general thing, he relates, they have no intercourse with other nations nor does the foreign appearance of people who approach their shores have any effect upon the natives, but looking at them intently they show no emotion and their expressions remain unaltered, as if there were no one present. Indeed when a man drew his sword and brandished it at them they did not turn to flight, nor, if they were subjected to insult or even to blows, would they show irritation, and the majority were not moved to anger in sympathy with the victims of such treatment; on the contrary, when at times children or women were butchered before their eyes they remained "insensible" in their attitudes, displaying no sign of anger or, on the other hand, of pity.,6. \xa0In short, they remained unmoved in the face of the most appalling horrors, looking steadfastly at what was taking place and nodding their heads at each incident. Consequently, they say, they speak no language, but by movements of the hands which describe each object they point out everything they need.,7. \xa0And the most marvellous fact of all is that seals live with these tribes and catch the fish for themselves in a manner similar to that employed by the human beings. Likewise with respect to their lairs and the safety of their offspring these two kinds of beings place the greatest faith in one another; for the association with animals of a different species continues without any wrongdoing and with peace and complete observance of propriety. Now this manner of life, strange as it is, has been observed by these tribes from very early times, whether it has been fashioned by habit over the long space of time or by a need imposed by necessity because of stress of circumstances. 3.19. 1. \xa0As for their dwelling-places, those used by these tribes are not all similar, but they inhabit homes modified to suit the peculiar nature of their surroundings. For instance, certain of them make their home in caves which open preferably towards the north and in which they cool themselves, thanks to the deep shade and also to the breezes which blow about them; since those which face the south, having as they do a temperature like that of an oven, cannot be approached by human beings because of the excessive heat.,2. \xa0But others who can find no caves facing the north collect the ribs of the whales which are cast up by the sea; and then, since there is a great abundance of these ribs, they interweave them from either side, the curve outwards and leaning towards each other, and then weave fresh seaweed through them. Accordingly, when this vaulted structure is covered over, in it they gain relief from the heat when it is most intense, the necessity imposed by Nature suggesting to them a skill in which they were self-taught.,3. \xa0A\xa0third method by which the Ichthyophagi find a dwelling for themselves is as follows. Olive trees grow about these regions in very great numbers and their roots are washed by the sea, but they bear thick foliage and a fruit which resembles the sweet chestnut.,4. \xa0These trees they interlace, forming in this way a continuous shade, and live in tents of this peculiar kind; for passing their days as they do on land and in the water at the same time, they lead a pleasurable life, since they avoid the sun by means of the shade cast by the branches and offset the natural heat of the regions with the continual washing of the waves against them, giving their bodies comfort and ease by the pleasant breezes which blow about them. We must speak also about the fourth kind of habitation.,5. \xa0From time immemorial there has been heaped up a quantity of seaweed of tremendous proportions, resembling a mountain, and this has been so compacted by the unceasing pounding of the waves that it has become hard and intermingled with sand. Accordingly, the natives dig in these heaps tunnels the height of a man, leaving the upper portion for a roof, and in the lower part they construct passage-ways connected with each other by borings. As they cool themselves in these tunnels they free themselves from all troubles, and leaping forth from them at the times when the waves pour over the shore they busy themselves with the catching of the fish; then, when the ebb-tide sets in, they flee back together into these same passage-ways to feast upon their catch.,6. \xa0Their dead, moreover, they "bury" by leaving the bodies just as they are cast out at the ebb of the tide, and then when the flood-tide sets in they cast the bodies into the sea. Consequently, by making their own interment a nutriment of the fish, they have a life which follows in singular fashion a continuous cycle throughout all eternity. 3.20. 1. \xa0One tribe of the Ichthyophagi has dwellings so peculiar that they constitute a great puzzle to men who take a pride in investigating such matters; for certain of them make their home among precipitous crags which these men could not possibly have approached at the outset, since from above there overhangs a lofty rock, sheer at every point, while on the sides unapproachable cliffs shut off entrance, and on the remaining face the sea hems them in, which cannot be passed through on foot, and they do not use rafts at all, while of boats such as we have they have no notion.,2. \xa0Such being the puzzle concerning them, the only solution left to us is that they are autochthonous, and that they experienced no beginning of the race they originally sprang from, but existed always from the beginning of time, as certain natural philosophers have declared to be true of all the phenomena of nature.,3. \xa0But since the knowledge of such matters is unattainable by us, nothing prevents those who have the most to say about them from knowing the least, inasmuch as, while plausibility may persuade the hearing, it by no means discovers the truth. 3.21. 1. \xa0We must speak also about the Chelonophagi, as they are called, and the nature of their entire manner of life. There are islands in the ocean, which lie near the land, many in number, but small in size and low-lying, and bearing no food either cultivated or wild. Because these islands are so near to one another no waves occur among them, since the surf breaks upon the outermost islands, and so a great multitude of sea-turtles tarry in these regions, resorting thither from all directions to gain the protection afforded by the calm.,2. \xa0These animals spend the nights in deep water busied with their search for food, but during the days they resort to the sea which lies between the islands and sleep on the surface with their upper shells towards the sun, giving to the eye an appearance like that of overturned boats; for they are of extraordinary magnitude and not smaller than the smallest fishing skiffs.,3. \xa0And the barbarians who inhabit the islands seize the occasion and swim quietly out to the turtles; and when they have come near the turtle on both sides, those on the one side push down upon it while those on the other side lift it up, until the animal is turned over on its back.,4. \xa0Then the men, taking hold on both sides, steer the entire bulk of the creature, to prevent it from turning over and making its escape into the deep water by swimming with the means with which Nature has endowed it, and one man with a long rope, fastening it to its tail, swims towards the land, and drawing the turtle along after him he hauls it to the land, those who had first attacked it assisting him in bringing it in.,5. \xa0And when they have got the turtles upon the shore of their island, all the inside meat they bake slightly for a short time in the sun and then feast upon it, but the upper shells, which are shaped like a boat, they use both for sailing over to the mainland, as they do in order to get water, and for their dwellings, by setting them right side up on elevations, so that it would appear that Nature, by a single act of favour, had bestowed upon these peoples the satisfaction of many needs; for the same gift constitutes for them food, vessel, house and ship.,6. \xa0Not far distant from these people the coast is inhabited by barbarians who lead an irregular life. For they depend for their food upon the whales which are cast up by the land, at times enjoying an abundance of food because of the great size of the beasts which they discover, but at times, when interruptions of the supply occur, they suffer greatly from the shortage; and when the latter is the case they are forced by the scarcity of food to gnaw the cartilages of old bones and the parts which grow from the ends of the ribs. As for the Ichthyophagi, then this is the number of their tribes and such, speaking summarily, are the ways in which they live. 3.22. 1. \xa0But the coast of Babylonia borders on a land which is civilized and well planted and there is such a multitude of fish for the natives that the men who catch them are unable readily to keep ahead of the abundance of them.,2. \xa0For along the beaches they set reeds close to one another and interwoven, so that their appearance is like that of a net which has been set up along the edge of the sea. And throughout the entire construction there are doors which are fixed close together and resemble basket-work in the way they are woven, but are furnished with hinges that easily yield to movements of the water in either direction. These doors are opened by the waves as they roll towards the shore at the time of flood-tide, and are closed at ebb-tide as they surge back.,3. \xa0Consequently it comes about that every day, when the sea is at flood-tide, the fish are carried in from the deep water with the tide and pass inside through the doors, but when the sea recedes they are unable to pass with the water through the interwoven reeds. As a result it is possible at times to see beside the ocean heaps being formed of gasping fish, which are being picked up unceasingly by those who have been appointed to this work, who have from their catch subsistence in abundance as well as large revenues.,4. \xa0And some of the inhabitants of these parts, because the country is both like a plain and low-lying, dig wide ditches leading from the sea over a distance of many stades to their private estates, and setting wicker gates at their openings they open these when the flood-tide is coming inland and close them when the tide changes to the opposite direction. Then, inasmuch as the sea pours out through the interstices of the gate but the fish are held back in the ditches, they have a controlled store of fish and can take of them as many as they choose and at whatever time they please. 3.23. 1. \xa0Now that we have discussed the peoples who dwell on the coast from Babylonia to the Arabian Gulf, we shall describe the nations who live next to them. For in the Ethiopia which lies above Egypt there dwells beside the river Asa the nation of the Rhizophagi. For the barbarians here dig up the roots of the reeds which grow in the neighbouring marshes and then thoroughly wash them; and after they have made them clean they crush them with stones until the stuff is without lumps and glutinous; and then, moulding it into balls as large as can be held in the hand, they bake it in the sun and on this as their food they live all their life long.,2. \xa0Enjoying as they do the unfailing abundance of this food and living ever at peace with one another, they are nevertheless preyed upon by a multitude of lions; for since the air about them is fiery hot, lions come out of the desert to them in search of shade and in some cases in pursuit of the smaller animals. Consequently it comes to pass that when the Ethiopians come out of the marshy lands they are eaten by these beasts; for they are unable to withstand the might of the lions, since they have no help in the form of weapons, and indeed in the end the race of them would have been utterly destroyed had not Nature provided them with an aid which acts entirely of itself.,3. \xa0For at the time of the rising of the dog-star, whenever a calm unexpectedly comes on, there swarms to these regions such a multitude of mosquitoes, surpassing in vigour those that are known to us, that while the human beings find refuge in the marshy pools and suffer no hurt, all the lions flee from those regions, since they not only suffer from their stings but are at the same time terrified by the sound of their humming. 3.24. 1. \xa0Next to these people are the Hylophagi and the Spermatophagi, as they are called. The latter gather the fruit as it falls in great abundance from the trees in the summer season and so find their nourishment without labour, but during the rest of the year they subsist upon the most tender part of the plant which grows in the shady glens; for this plant, being naturally stiff and having a stem like the bounias, as we call it, supplies the lack of the necessary food.,2. \xa0The Hylophagi, however, setting out with children and wives in search of food, climb the trees and subsist off the tender branches. And this climbing of theirs even to the topmost branches they perform so well as a result of their continued practice that a man can scarcely believe what they do; indeed they leap from one tree to another like birds and make their way up the weakest branches without experiencing dangers.,3. \xa0For being in body unusually slender and light, whenever their feet slip they catch hold instead with their hands, and if they happen to fall from a height they suffer no hurt by reason of their light weight; and every juicy branch they chew so thoroughly with their teeth that their stomachs easily digest them.,4. \xa0These men go naked all their life, and since they consort with their women in common they likewise look upon their offspring as the common children of all. They fight with one another for the possession of certain places, arming themselves with clubs, with which they also keep off enemies, and they dismember whomsoever they have overcome. Most of them die from becoming exhausted by hunger, when cataracts form upon their eyes and the body is deprived of the necessary use of this organ of sense. 3.25. 1. \xa0The next part of the country of the Ethiopians is occupied by the Cynegi, as they are called, who are moderate in number and lead a life in keeping with their name. For since their country is infested by wild beasts and is utterly worthless, and has few streams of spring water, they sleep in the trees from fear of the wild beasts, but early in the morning, repairing with their weapons to the pools of water, they secrete themselves in the woods and keep watch from their positions in the trees.,2. \xa0And at the time when the heat becomes intense, wild oxen and leopards and a multitude of every other kind of beast come to drink, and because of the excessive heat and their great thirst they greedily quaff the water until they are gorged, whereupon the Ethiopians, the animals having become sluggish and scarcely able to move, leap down from the trees, and by the use of clubs hardened in the fire and of stones and arrows easily kill them.,3. \xa0They hunt in this way in companies and feed upon the flesh of their prey, and although now and then they are themselves slain by the strongest animals, yet for the most part they master by their cunning the superior strength of the beasts.,4. \xa0And if at any time they find lack of animals in their hunt they soak the skins of some which they had taken at former times and then hold them over a low fire; and when they have singed off the hair they divide the hides among themselves, and on such fare as has been forced upon them they satisfy their want. Their boys they train in shooting at a mark and give food only to those who hit it. Consequently, when they come to manhood, they are marvellously skilled in marksmanship, being most excellently instructed by the pangs of hunger.' "3.26. 1. \xa0Far distant from this country towards the parts to the west are Ethiopians known as Elephant-fighters, hunters also. For dwelling as they do in regions close together, they carefully observe the places where the elephants enter and their favourite resorts, watching them from the tallest trees; and when they are in herds they do not set upon them, since they would have no hope of success, but they lay hands on them as they go about singly, attacking them in an astonishingly daring manner.,2. \xa0For as the beast in its wandering comes near the tree in which the watcher happens to be hidden, the moment it is passing the spot he seizes its tail with his hands and plants his feet against its left flank; he has hanging from his shoulders an axe, light enough to that a blow may be struck with one hand and yet exceedingly sharp, and seizing this in his right hand he hamstrings the elephant's right leg, raining blows upon it and maintaining the position of his own body with his left hand. And they bring an astonishing swiftness to bear upon the task, since there is a contest between the two of them for their very lives; for all that is left to the hunter is either to get the better of the animal or to die himself, the situation not admitting another conclusion.,3. \xa0As for the beast which has been hamstrung, sometimes being unable to turn about because it is hard for it to move and sinking down on the place where it has been hurt, it falls to the ground and causes the death of the Ethiopian along with its own, and sometimes squeezing the man against a rock or tree it crushes him with its weight until it has killed him.,4. \xa0In some cases, however, the elephant in the extremity of its suffering is far from thinking of turning on its attacker, but flees across the plain until the man who has set his feet upon it, striking on the same place with his axe, has severed the tendons and paralysed the beast. And as soon as the beast has fallen they run together in companies, and cutting the flesh off the hind-quarters of the elephant while it is still alive they hold a feast." '3.27. 1. \xa0But some of the natives who dwell near by hunt the elephants without exposing themselves to dangers, overcoming their strength by cunning. For it is the habit of this animal, whenever it has had its fill of grazing, to lie down to sleep, the manner in which it does this being different from that of all other four-footed animals;,2. \xa0for it cannot bring its whole bulk to the ground by bending its knees, but leans against a tree and thus gets the rest which comes from sleep. Consequently the tree, by reason of the frequent leaning against it by the animal, becomes both rubbed and covered with mud, and the place about it, furthermore, shows both tracks and many signs, whereby the Ethiopians who search for such traces discover where the elephants take their rest.,3. \xa0Accordingly, when they come upon such a tree, they saw it near the ground until it requires only a little push to make it fall; thereupon, after removing the traces of their own presence, they quickly depart in anticipation of the approach of the animal, and towards evening the elephant, filled with food, comes to his accustomed haunt. But as soon as he leans against the tree with his entire weight he at once rolls to the ground along with the tree, and after his fall he remains there lying on his back the night through, since the nature of his body is not fashioned for rising.,4. \xa0Then the Ethiopians who have sawn the tree gather at dawn, and when they have slain the beast without danger to themselves they pitch their tents at the place and remain there until they have consumed the fallen animal. 3.28. 1. \xa0The parts west of these tribes are inhabited by Ethiopians who are called Simi, but those towards the south are held by the tribe of the Struthophagi.,2. \xa0For there is found among them a kind of bird having a nature which is mingled with that of the land animal, and this explains the compound name it bears. This animal is not inferior in size to the largest deer and has been fashioned by Nature with a long neck and a round body, which is covered with feathers. Its head is weak and small, but it has powerful thighs and legs and its foot is cloven.,3. \xa0It is unable to fly in the air because of its weight, but it runs more swiftly than any other animal, barely touching the earth with the tips of its feet; and especially when it raises its wings adown the blasts of the wind it makes off like a ship under full sail; and it defends itself against its pursuers by means of its feet, hurling, as if from a sling, in an astonishing manner, stones as large as can be held in the hand.,4. \xa0But when it is pursued at a time of calm, its wings quickly collapse, it is unable to make use of the advantages given it by nature, and being easily overtaken it is made captive.,5. \xa0And since these animals abound in the land in multitude beyond telling, the barbarians devise every manner of scheme whereby to take them; moreover, since they are easily caught in large numbers, their meat is used for food and their skins for clothing and bedding.,6. \xa0But being constantly warred upon by the Ethiopians known as "Simi," they are in daily peril from their attackers, and they use as defensive weapons the horns of gazelles; these horns, being large and sharp, are of great service and are found in abundance throughout the land by reason of the multitude of the animals which carry them. 3.29. 1. \xa0A\xa0short distance from this tribe on the edge of the desert dwell the Acridophagi, men who are smaller than the rest, lean of body, and exceeding dark. For among them in the spring season strong west and south-west winds drive out of the desert a multitude beyond telling of locusts, of great and unusual size and with wings of an ugly, dirty colour.,2. \xa0From these locusts they have food in abundance all their life long, catching them in a manner peculiar to themselves. For along the border of their land over many stades there extends a ravine of considerable depth and width; this they fill with wood from the forests, which is found in plenty in their land; and then, when the winds blow which we have mentioned and the clouds of the locusts approach, they divide among themselves the whole extent of the ravine and set fire to the brush in it.,3. \xa0And since a great volume of pungent smoke rises, the locusts, as they fly over the ravine, are choked by the pungency of the smoke and fall to the ground after they have flown through it only a short space, and as the destruction of them continues over several days, great heaps of them are raised up; moreover, since the land contains a great amount of brine, all the people bring this to the heaps, after they have been gathered together, soak them to an appropriate degree with the brine and thus both give the locusts a palatable taste and make their storage free from rot and lasting for a long time.,4. \xa0Accordingly, the food of this people, at the moment and thereafter, consists of these animals; for they possess no herds nor do they live near the sea nor do they have at hand any other resources; and light in body and very swift of foot as they are, they are also altogether short-lived, the oldest among them not exceeding forty years of age.,5. \xa0As for the manner in which they end their lives, not only is it astounding but extremely pitiful. For when old age draws near there breed in their bodies winged lice, which not only have an unusual form but are also savage and altogether loathsome in aspect.,6. \xa0The affliction begins on the belly and the breast and in a short time spreads over the whole body. And the person so affected is at first irritated by a kind of itching and insists on scratching himself a bit, the disease at this point offering a satisfaction combined with pain; but after this stage the animals, which have been continuously engendered more and more in the body, break out to the surface and there is a heavy discharge of a thin humour, the sting of which is quite unbearable.,7. \xa0Consequently the man who is in the grip of the disease lacerates himself with his nails the more violently, groaning and moaning deeply. And as his hands tear at his body, such a multitude of the vermin pours forth that those who try to pick them off accomplish nothing, since they issue forth one after another, as from a kind of vessel that is pierced throughout with holes. And so these wretches end their lives in a dissolution of the body after this manner, a miserable fate, meeting with such a sudden reversal of fortune either by reason of the peculiar character of their food or because of the climate. 3.30. 1. \xa0Along the borders of this people there stretches a country great in size and rich in its varied pasturage; but it is without inhabitants and altogether impossible for man to enter; not that it has from the first never known the race of men, but in later times, as a result of an unseasonable abundance of rain, it brought forth a multitude of venomous spiders and scorpions.,2. \xa0For, as historians relate, so great a multitude of these animals came to abound that, although at the outset the human beings dwelling there united in killing the natural enemy, yet, because the multitude of them was not to be overcome and their bites brought swift death to their victims, they renounced both their ancestral land and mode of life and fled from these regions. Nor is there any occasion to be surprised at this statement or to distrust it, since we have learned through trustworthy history of many things more astonishing than this which have taken place throughout all the inhabited world.,3. \xa0In Italy, for instance, such a multitude of field-mice was generated in the plains that they drove certain people out of their native country; in Media birds, which came to abound beyond telling and made away with the seeds sown by the inhabitants, compelled them to remove into regions held by another people; and in the case of the Autariatae, as they are called, frogs were originally generated in the clouds, and when they fell upon the people in place of the customary rain, they forced them to leave their native homes and to flee for safety to the place where they now dwell.,4. \xa0And who indeed has not read in history, in connection with the Labours which Heracles performed in order to win his immortality, the account of the one Labour in the course of which he drove out of the Stymphalian Lake the multitude of birds which had come to abound in it? Moreover, in Libya certain cities have become depopulated because a multitude of lions came out of the desert against them. Let these instances, then, suffice in reply to those who adopt a sceptical attitude towards histories because they recount what is astonishing; and now we shall in turn pass on to what follows the subjects we have been treating. 3.31. 1. \xa0The borders of the parts to the south are inhabited by men whom the Greeks call "Cynamolgi," but who are known in the language of the barbarians who live near them as Agrii. They wear great beards and maintain packs of savage dogs which serve to meet the needs of their life.,2. \xa0For from the time of the beginning of the summer solstice until mid-winter, Indian cattle, in a multitude beyond telling, resort to their country, the reason for this being uncertain; for no man knows whether they are in flight because they are being attacked by a great number of carnivorous beasts, or because they are leaving their own regions by reason of a lack of food, or because of some other reversal of fortune which Nature, that engenders all astonishing things, devises, but which the mind of the race of men cannot comprehend.,3. \xa0However, since they have not the strength of themselves to get the better of the multitude of the cattle, they let the dogs loose on them, and hunting them by means of the dogs they overcome a very great number of the animals; and as for the beasts which they have taken, some of them they eat while fresh and some they pack down with salt and store up. Many also of the other animals they hunt, thanks to the courage of their dogs, and so maintain themselves by the eating of flesh.,4. \xa0Now the most distant tribes of those peoples who live to the south have indeed the forms of men but their life is that of the beasts; however, it remains for us to discuss two peoples, the Ethiopians and the Trogodytes. But about the Ethiopians we have written in other connections, and so we shall now speak of the Trogodytes. 3.32. 1. \xa0The Trogodytes, we may state, are called Nomads by the Greeks, and living as they do a nomadic life off their flocks, each group of them has its tyrant, and their women, like their children, they hold in common, with the single exception of the wife of the tyrant; but if any man goes in to this woman the ruler exacts of him a fine of a specified number of sheep.,2. \xa0At the time of the etesian winds, when there are heavy rains in their country, they live off blood and milk which they mix together and seethe for a short while. But after this season the pasturage is withered by the excessive heat, and they retreat into the marshy places and fight with each other for the pasturage of the land.,3. \xa0They eat the older animals of the flocks and such as are growing sick and maintain themselves on them at all times. Consequently they give the name of parents to no human being, but rather to a bull and a cow, and also to a ram and a sheep; these they call their fathers or their mothers, by reason of the fact that they ever secure their daily food from them, and not from those who had begotten them. And as a drink the common people make use of juice from the plant Christ\'s-thorn, but for the rulers there is prepared from a certain flower a beverage like the vilest of our sweet new wines. Following after their herds and flocks they move about from one land of the another, avoiding any stay in the same regions.,4. \xa0And they are all naked as to their bodies except for the loins, which they cover with skins; moreover, all the Trogodytes are circumcised like the Egyptians with the exception of those who, because of what they have experienced, are called "colobi"; for these alone of all who live inside the Straits have in infancy all that part cut completely off with the razor which among other peoples merely suffers circumcision.' "3.33. 1. \xa0As for the arms of the Trogodytes, those who bear the name of Megabari have round shields covered with raw ox-hide and a club with iron knobs, but the rest of them have bows and arrows and lances. Again, the burials practised by them differ entirely from all others;,2. \xa0for after binding the bodies of the dead with withes of Christ's-thorn they tie the neck to the legs, and then placing the corpse upon a mound they cast at it stones as large as can be held in the hand, making merry the while, until they have built up a heap of stones and have hidden the bodies from sight; and finally they set up a goat's horn on the heap and separate, having shown no fellow-feeling for the dead.,3. \xa0And they fight with one another, not, as the Greeks do, for possession of land or because of some alleged misdeeds, but for pasturage as it comes up at one time and another. In their quarrels they at first hurl stones at each other, until some are wounded, and the rest of the time they resort to the struggle with bows and arrows. And it is but a moment before many are dead, since they are accurate shooters by reason of their practice in archery and the object at which they are aiming is bare of protective armour.,4. \xa0The fighting is terminated by the older women, who rush into the fray and offer themselves as a protection to the fighters, and are the object of respect; for it is a custom with these people that they shall in no wise strike one of these women, and so at their appearance they cease shooting.,5. \xa0Those who can no longer accompany the flocks by reason of old age bind the tail of an ox about their own necks and so put an end to their lives of their own free will; and if a man postpones his death, anyone who wishes has the authority to fasten the noose about his neck, as an act of good-will, and, after admonishing the man, to take his life.,6. \xa0Likewise it is a custom of theirs to remove from life those who have become maimed or are in the grip of incurable diseases; for they consider it to be the greatest disgrace for a man to cling to life when he is unable to accomplish anything worth living for. Consequently, a man can see every Trogodyte sound in body and of vigorous age, since no one of them lives beyond sixty years.,7. \xa0But we have said enough about the Trogodytes; and if anyone of our readers shall distrust our histories because of what is strange and astonishing in the different manners of life which we have described, when he has considered and compared the climate of Scythia and that of the Trogodyte country and has observed the differences between them, he will not distrust what has been here related." '
5.32.7. \xa0Although their wives are comely, they have very little to do with them, but rage with lust, in outlandish fashion, for the embraces of males. It is their practice to sleep upon the ground on the skins of wild beasts and to tumble with a catamite on each side. And the most astonishing thing of all is that they feel no concern for their proper dignity, but prostitute to others without a qualm the flower of their bodies; nor do they consider this a disgraceful thing to do, but rather when anyone of them is thus approached and refuses the favour offered him, this they consider an act of dishonour.' '. None |
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