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Herodotus · Histories §4.116.1-4.116.2

Settlement of the Sauromatae and Customs of Their Women

Passage 680 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The young men agreed to the Amazons' proposal, crossed the Tanais, and journeyed east and north to settle in a new land. The women of the Sauromatae maintained their traditional lifestyle, riding horses, hunting, going to war, and wearing the same clothes as men.

§4.116.1ἐπείθοντο καὶ ταῦτα οἱ νεηνίσκοι, διαβάντες δὲ τὸν Τάναϊν ὁδοιπόρεον πρὸς ἥλιον ἀνίσχοντα τριῶν μὲν ἡμερέων ἀπὸ τοῦ Τανάιδος ὁδόν, τριῶν δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς λίμνης τῆς Μαιήτιδος πρὸς βορέην ἄνεμον.
The young men obeyed this as well, and having crossed the Tanais, they journeyed for a three days' distance from the Tanais toward the rising sun, and for a three days' distance from Lake Maeotis toward the north wind.
ἀπικόμενοι δὲ ἐς τοῦτον τὸν χῶρον ἐν τῷ νυν κατοίκηνται, οἴκησαν τοῦτον.
And having arrived in this territory in which they dwell now, they settled in it.
§4.116.2καὶ διαίτῃ ἀπὸ τούτου χρὲωνται τῇ παλαιῇ τῶν Σαυροματέων αἱ γυναῖκες, καὶ ἐπὶ θήρην ἐπʼ ἵππων ἐκφοιτῶσαι ἅμα τοῖσι ἀνδράσι καὶ χωρὶς τῶν ἀνδρῶν, καὶ ἐς πόλεμον φοιτῶσαι καὶ στολὴν τὴν αὐτὴν τοῖσι ἀνδράσι φορέουσαι.
And from that time on, the women of the Sauromatae have followed their ancient lifestyle, going out on horseback to hunt both with their husbands and without their husbands, and going to war, and wearing the same clothing as the men.

Notes

  1. 4.116.1τριῶν μὲν ἡμερέων ... ὁδόν — τριῶν ἡμερέων ('of three days') is a genitive of measure modifying ὁδόν ('way', 'distance'). ὁδόν itself is an accusative of extent of space after the intransitive verb ὁδοιπόρεον ('they journeyed').
  2. 4.116.2ἀπὸ τούτου — This phrase can be interpreted either temporally ('from that time on') or causally ('for this reason', 'as a result of this'). Given the context of migration and settlement in the new territory (§4.116.1), the temporal interpretation ('from that time on') is adopted here.
  3. 4.116.2ἐκφοιτῶσαι ... φοιτῶσαι ... φορέουσαι — These participles are all nominative feminine plural, agreeing with the subject αἱ γυναῖκες ('the women'). They function as circumstantial participles (of manner or attendant circumstance) modifying the main verb χρὲωνται ('they use/follow'), describing the specific activities of their lifestyle.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §4.116.1-4.116.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.116.1-4.116.2

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