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Herodotus · Histories §4.2.1-4.2.2

Scythian milking customs and blinding of slaves

Passage 566 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The passage describes how the Scythians blind their slaves for milk production and process the milk according to their nomadic way of life.

§4.2.1τοὺς δὲ δούλους οἱ Σκύθαι πάντας τυφλοῦσι τοῦ γάλακτος εἵνεκεν τοῦ πίνουσι ποιεῦντες ὧδε.
The Scythians blind all their slaves for the sake of the milk which they drink, doing as follows.
ἐπεάν φυσητῆρας λάβωσι ὀστεΐνους αὐλοῖσι προσεμφερεστάτους, τούτους ἐσθέντες ἐς τῶν θηλέων ἵππων τά ἄρθρα φυσῶσι τοῖσι στόμασι, ἄλλοι δὲ ἄλλων φυσώντων ἀμέλγουσι.
When they have taken bone blowpipes very much resembling flutes, they insert them into the passages of the mare and blow with their mouths, while others milk while those blow.
φασὶ δὲ τοῦδε εἵνεκα τοῦτο ποιέειν· τὰς φλέβας τε πίμπλασθαι φυσωμένας τῆς ἵππου καὶ τὸ οὖθαρ κατίεσθαι.
And they say they do this for this reason: that the veins of the mare are filled when blown into, and the udder is let down.
§4.2.2ἐπεὰν δὲ ἀμέλξωσι τὸ γάλα, ἐσχέαντες ἐς ξύλινα ἀγγήια κοῖλα καὶ περιστίξαντες κατὰ τὰ ἀγγήια τοὺς τυφλοὺς δονέουσι τὸ γάλα, καὶ τὸ μὲν αὐτοῦ ἐπιστάμενον ἀπαρύσαντες ἡγεῦνται εἶναι τιμιώτερον, τό δʼ ὑπιστάμενον ἧσσον τοῦ ἑτέρου.
When they have milked the milk, they pour it into hollow wooden vessels, and having stationed the blind men around the vessels, they stir the milk; and that which stands on the surface of it they skim off and consider to be more valuable, while that which sinks to the bottom they deem less valuable than the other.
τούτων μὲν εἵνεκα ἅπαντα τὸν ἂν λάβωσι οἱ Σκύθαι ἐκτυφλοῦσι.
For these reasons the Scythians blind every one whom they take captive.
οὐ γὰρ ἀρόται εἰσὶ ἀλλὰ νομάδες.
For they are not tillers of the soil, but nomads.

Notes

  1. §4.2.1τοῦ πίνουσι — An example of 'attraction of the relative pronoun,' where the genitive case of the relative pronoun is attracted by its antecedent τοῦ γάλακτος. It would otherwise be in the accusative case as the direct object of the transitive verb πίνουσι.
  2. §4.2.1τὰ ἄρθρα — Usually meaning 'joints' or 'limbs,' here used as a euphemism for the genital organs or passages of the mare.
  3. §4.2.1ἄλλων φυσώντων — A genitive absolute construction. It expresses a simultaneous action carried out by a different group of people ('others blowing') while the main subject (ἄλλοι, 'others milking') performs the action of the main verb.
  4. §4.2.2ἐπιστάμενον ... ὑπιστάμενον — Present participles of ἐφίσταμαι ('to stand upon') and ὑφίσταμαι ('to stand under'), respectively. They refer to 'that which floats on top' (cream or butter) and 'that which sinks to the bottom' (whey or skimmed milk), describing the separation process in nomadic dairy production.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §4.2.1-4.2.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.2.1-4.2.2

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