Sacrifices of Captives to Ares in Scythia — Herodotus, Histories Book 4 (4.62.1–4.62.4), Greek & English

§4.62.1

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 συννενέαται¹ 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.

Thus they sacrifice to the other gods, and these are the beasts they offer, but to Ares in this manner. In each district of their governments, a sanctuary of Ares is established for them: of this kind: bundles of brushwood are piled up to about three stades in length and breadth, but less in height; and on top of this a square platform is made, and three of its sides are steep, but on one side it is accessible.

§4.62.2

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 τοῖσιδʼ² ἔτι πλέω θύουσι ἢ τοῖσι ἄλλοισι θεοῖσι·

Every year they heap on it a hundred and fifty wagon-loads of brushwood; for it always sinks down because of the winter weather. On top of this mound an ancient iron akinakes is set up for each district, and this is the image of Ares. To this akinakes they bring annual sacrifices of sheep and horses, and indeed they sacrifice even more to these than to the other gods;

§4.62.3

ὅσους ἂν τῶν πολεμίων ζωγρήσωσι, ἀπὸ τῶν ἑκατὸν ἀνδρῶν ἄνδρα θύουσι τρόπῳ οὐ τῷ αὐτῷ καὶ τὰ πρόβατα,³ 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.

whomsoever of their enemies they take alive, they sacrifice one man out of every hundred, not in the same manner as the sheep, but in a different way. For when they have poured libations of wine upon their heads, they slaughter the men into a vessel, and then, having carried it up onto the top of the pile of brushwood, they pour the blood over the akinakes.

§4.62.4

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 ἀπέρξαντες⁴ ἱρήια ἀπαλλάσσονται. χεὶρ δὲ τῇ ἂν πέσῃ κέεται, καὶ χωρὶς ὁ νεκρός.

This they carry up, but below, beside the sanctuary, they do as follows: having cut off all the right shoulders of the slaughtered men along with the arms, they fling them into the air, and then, having performed the other sacrifices, they depart. And where the arm happens to fall, there it lies, and the corpse apart from it.

Syntax notes4 items

4.62.1συννενέαται
Meaning 'are piled up.' It is the third-person plural perfect passive indicative of συννέω (to heap up). The Ionic ending -αται is used here, equivalent to the Attic συννενημένοι εἰσί.
4.62.2τοῖσιδʼ
Dative plural of the demonstrative pronoun ὅδε. Here it refers to 'these [swords/monuments of Ares]' set up in each district, or the sanctuaries themselves.
4.62.3οὐ τῷ αὐτῷ καὶ τὰ πρόβατα
The conjunction καί is placed after ὁ αὐτός (indicating identity) to express comparison or equivalence ('the same as...'). Here it means 'not in the same manner as [they sacrifice] the sheep.'
4.62.4ἀπέρξαντες
Aorist active participle (nominative masculine plural) of the verb ἀφέρδω / ἀφέρζω (to perform a sacrifice, to complete a rite), though some manuscripts have the variant reading ἀπέρσαντες. It means 'having completed/performed the other sacrifices.'

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25)urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.62.1-4.62.4