- Source
- Herodotus. Godley, Alfred Denis, editor. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1920-1925 (printing).
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.64.1-4.64.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-10
The ruthless military customs of the Scythians are described. They drink the blood of the first enemy slain, present severed heads to the king to claim booty, and use human skins and scalps to make hand-wipes, cloaks, and quiver covers.
τὰ δʼ ἐς πόλεμον ἔχοντα1 ὧδέ σφι διακέαται· ἐπεὰν τὸν πρῶτον ἄνδρα καταβάλῃ ἀνὴρ Σκύθης, τοῦ αἵματος2 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.3
The matters concerning war are established for them in this way. When a Scythian man strikes down his first man, he drinks of his blood; and of all those whom he slays in battle, he carries their heads to the king. For if he brings a head, he shares in the booty which they may take, but if he does not bring one, he does not.
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.
And he flays it in the following manner: making a cut in a circle around the ears, and grasping the head, he shakes it out; then, after scraping off the flesh with the rib of an ox, he tames it with his hands, and having worked it soft, he keeps it as a hand-wipe, and hangs it from the bridle of the horse which he himself rides, and takes pride in it; for whoever has the greatest number of skins for hand-wipes is judged to be the best man.
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 ὄνυξι4 καλύπτρας τῶν φαρετρέων ποιεῦνται. δέρμα δὲ ἀνθρώπου καὶ παχὺ καὶ λαμπρὸν ἦν ἄρα,5 σχεδὸν δερμάτων πάντων λαμπρότατον λευκότητι.
Many of them even make cloaks to clothe themselves with from these flayed skins, sewing them together like shepherd’s coats. And many flay the right hands of their dead enemies, together with the very nails, and make covers for their quivers. Now the skin of a man turns out to be both thick and shining, perhaps the brightest of all skins in its whiteness.
πολλοὶ δὲ καὶ ὅλους ἄνδρας ἐκδείραντες καὶ διατείναντες ἐπὶ ξύλων ἐπʼ ἵππων περιφέρουσι.
Many also flay whole men, and stretching the skins upon pieces of wood, they carry them about on horseback.
- 4.64.1τὰ δʼ ἐς πόλεμον ἔχοντα
The verb ἔχω used intransitively with the prepositional phrase ἐς πόλεμον means 'matters pertaining to war.' τὰ ... ἔχοντα functions as a neuter plural subject.
- 4.64.1τοῦ αἵματος
A partitive genitive serving as the object of the verb ἐμπίνει (to drink). It implies 'drinking some of the blood.'
- 4.64.1ἀπενείκας μὲν γὰρ ... μὴ ἐνείκας δὲ οὔ
The aorist participles ἀπενείκας and ἐνείκας (from ἀποφέρω) function conditionally ('if he brings,' 'if he does not bring'). The negative μή is used with the latter due to its conditional force. The final οὔ negates the omitted main verb μεταλαμβάνει.
- 4.64.3αὐτοῖσι ὄνυξι
The dative plural of the pronoun αὐτός combined with the dative noun ὄνυξι expresses accompaniment or inclusion ('together with the very nails').
- 4.64.3ἦν ἄρα
The combination of the imperfect ἦν and the particle ἄρα is an idiomatic usage expressing the sudden realization or confirmation of a fact ('turns out to be,' 'is after all').