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Herodotus · Histories §4.29.1

Hornless Cattle in Scythian Cold and Homer's Verse

Passage 593 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Herodotus attributes the lack of horns in Scythian cattle to the cold climate, supporting his view by quoting Homer's description of sheep rapidly growing horns in warm Libya.

§4.29.1δοκέει 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, " 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.
It seems to me that the hornless breed of cattle also does not grow horns there for this reason; and my opinion is also supported by a line of Homer in the Odyssey, which runs thus: "and Libya, where lambs quickly become horned, "this being rightly said, namely that in warm climates horns grow quickly, whereas in severe cold, beasts either do not grow horns at all, or, if they do grow them, they grow them with difficulty.

Notes

  1. §4.29.1ὀρθῶς εἰρημένον — An accusative absolute construction of a participle from an impersonal verb (εἴρηται), expressing a judgment on the correctness of Homer's line, with the explanatory content developed in the subsequent accusative with infinitive clauses (παραγίνεσθαι and φύειν).
  2. §4.29.1ἀρχὴν — An adverbial accusative, used in combination with the negative οὐ to mean "at all" or "altogether (not)."
  3. §4.29.1φύοντα — A present participle expressing concession (neuter plural accusative, agreeing with κτήνεα), combined with the subsequent infinitive φύειν to express the concessive meaning "even if they do grow them (they grow them with difficulty)."

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §4.29.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.29.1

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