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Herodotus · Histories §4.76.1-4.76.6

The Death of Anacharsis for Foreign Rituals

Passage 640 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The text illustrates the Scythians' extreme rejection of foreign customs through the tragic story of Anacharsis, who was killed by his own brother (the king) for performing a foreign ritual after returning from Greece.

§4.76.1ξεινικοῖσι δὲ νομαίοισι καὶ οὗτοι φεύγουσι αἰνῶς χρᾶσθαι, μήτε τεῶν ἄλλων, Ἑλληνικοῖσι δὲ καὶ ἥκιστα, ὡς διέδεξαν Ἀνάχαρσις τε καὶ δεύτερα αὖτις Σκύλης.
And these people also avoid exceedingly the adoption of foreign customs, neither using those of any other nation, and least of all those of the Greeks, as Anacharsis and again secondly Scyles demonstrated.
§4.76.2τοῦτο μὲν γὰρ Ἀνάχαρσις ἐπείτε γῆν πολλὴν θεωρήσας καὶ ἀποδεξάμενος κατʼ αὐτὴν σοφίην πολλὴν ἐκομίζετο ἐς ἤθεα τὰ Σκυθέων, πλέων διʼ Ἑλλησπόντου προσίσχει ἐς Κύζικον.
On the one hand, when Anacharsis, after having visited many lands and displayed much wisdom throughout them, was returning to the dwellings of the Scythians, sailing through the Hellespont, he put in at Cyzicus.
§4.76.3καὶ εὗρε γὰρ τῇ μητρὶ τῶν θεῶν ἀνάγοντας τοὺς Κυζικηνοὺς ὁρτὴν μεγαλοπρεπέως κάρτα, εὔξατο τῇ μητρὶ ὁ Ἀνάχαρσις, ἢν σῶς καὶ ὑγιὴς ἀπονοστήσῃ ἐς ἑωυτοῦ, θύσειν τε κατὰ ταὐτὰ κατὰ ὥρα τοὺς Κυζικηνοὺς ποιεῦντας καὶ παννυχίδα στήσειν.
And because he found the Cyzicenes celebrating a festival to the Mother of the Gods very magnificently, Anacharsis made a vow to the Mother, that if he should return safe and sound to his own home, he would both sacrifice in the same manner as he saw the Cyzicenes doing, in due season, and establish a night-festival.
§4.76.4ὡς δὲ ἀπίκετο ἐς τὴν Σκυθικήν καταδὺς ἐς τὴν καλεομένην Ὑλαίην (ἡ δʼ ἔστι μὲν παρὰ τὸν Ἀχιλλήιον δρόμον, τυγχάνει δὲ πᾶσα ἐοῦσα δενδρέων παντοίων πλέη), ἐς ταύτην δὴ καταδὺς ὁ Ἀνάχαρσις τὴν ὁρτὴν ἐπετέλεε πᾶσαν τῇ θεῷ, τύμπανον τε ἔχων καὶ ἐκδησάμενος ἀγάλματα.
And when he arrived in Scythia, having gone down into the country called Hylaea (which is beside the Racecourse of Achilles, and happens to be all full of trees of every kind), having gone down into this, Anacharsis performed the whole festival to the goddess, holding a drum and having images bound about him.
§4.76.5καὶ τῶν τις Σκυθέων καταφρασθεὶς αὐτὸν ταῦτα ποιεῦντα ἐσήμηνε τῷ βασιλέι Σαυλίω· ὁ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ἀπικόμενος ὡς εἶδε τὸν Ἀνάχαρσιν ποιεῦντα ταῦτα, τοξεύσας αὐτὸν ἀπέκτεινε.
And one of the Scythians, having observed him doing these things, made it known to the king Saulius; and he, having come in person also, when he saw Anacharsis doing these things, shot him with an arrow and killed him.
καὶ νῦν ἤν τις εἴρηται περὶ Ἀναχάρσιος, οὐ φασί μιν Σκύθαι γινώσκειν, διὰ τοῦτο ὅτι ἐξεδήμησέ τε ἐς τὴν Ἑλλάδα καὶ ξεινικοῖσι ἔθεσι διεχρήσατο.
And now if anyone asks about Anacharsis, the Scythians say they do not know him, for this reason, that he both went abroad into Greece and adopted foreign customs.
§4.76.6ὡς δʼ ἐγὼ ἤκουσα Τύμνεω τοῦ Ἀριαπείθεος ἐπιτρόπου, εἶναι αὐτὸν Ἰδανθύρσου τοῦ Σκυθέων βασιλέος πάτρων, παῖδα δὲ εἶναι Γνούρου τοῦ Λύκου τοῦ Σπαργαπείθεος.
But as I heard from Tymnes the guardian of Ariapithes, he was the paternal uncle of Idanthyrsus, the king of the Scythians, and he was the son of Gnurus, the son of Lycus, the son of Spargapithes.
εἰ ὦν ταύτης ἦν τῆς οἰκίης ὁ Ἀνάχαρσις, ἴστω ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀδελφεοῦ ἀποθανών· Ἰδάνθυρσος γὰρ ἦν παῖς Σαυλίου, Σαύλιος δὲ ἦν ὁ ἀποκτείνας Ἀνάχαρσιν.
If then Anacharsis was of this house, let it be known that he died by the hand of his brother; for Idanthyrsus was the son of Saulius, and Saulius was he who killed Anacharsis.

Notes

  1. §4.76.1τεῶν ἄλλων — τεῶν ἄλλων is the Ionic genitive form of the indefinite pronoun τινῶν ἄλλων. Following the negative particle μήτε, it functions in an elliptical construction meaning '[the customs] of any others'.
  2. §4.76.2τοῦτο μὲν — τοῦτο μὲν... is a correlative formula (anticipating a contrasting clause, here comparing Anacharsis in 4.76.2 with Scyles in 4.78.1), meaning 'on the one hand...'.
  3. §4.76.3καὶ εὗρε γὰρ — The particle γάρ introduces a causal explanation within the narrative: 'for when he found the Cyzicenes celebrating..., [he made a vow]'.
  4. §4.76.5ἤν τις εἴρηται — εἴρηται is the perfect passive subjunctive of ἐρωτάω. With the subject τις, it literally means 'if anyone is asked [about Anacharsis]', functioning practically as 'if anyone inquires'.
  5. §4.76.6ἴστω ... ἀποθανών — ἴστω is the third-person singular imperative of οἶδα. Combined with the participle ἀποθανών, it functions as 'let [one] know that he died' by the hand of his brother.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §4.76.1-4.76.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.76.1-4.76.6

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