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Herodotus · Histories §4.78.1-4.78.5

The Heritage of Scyles and His Love of Greek Ways

Passage 642 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

After the death of Anacharsis, it is told how the Scythian king Scyles, who had a Greek mother, loved Greek customs and secretly lived like a Greek in the city of the Borysthenites.

§4.78.1οὗτος μέν νυν οὕτω δὴ ἔπρηξε διὰ ξεινικά τε νόμαια καὶ Ἑλληνικὰς ὁμιλίας.
Thus, then, did this man fare because of foreign customs and Greek associations.
πολλοῖσι δὲ κάρτα ἔτεσι ὕστερον Σκύλης ὁ Ἀριαπείθεος ἔπαθε παραπλήσια τούτῳ.
But many years later, Scyles, the son of Ariapeithes, suffered a fate very similar to his.
Ἀριαπείθεϊ γὰρ τῷ Σκυθέων βασιλέι γίνεται μετʼ ἄλλων παίδων Σκύλης· ἐξ Ἰστριηνῆς δὲ γυναικὸς οὗτος γίνεται καὶ οὐδαμῶς ἐγχωρίης·
For to Ariapeithes, the king of the Scythians, was born Scyles, among other children; and he was born of a woman from Istria and by no means a native of the country.
τὸν ἡ μήτηρ αὕτη γλῶσσάν τε Ἑλλάδα καὶ γράμματα ἐδίδαξε.
This mother taught him the Greek language and letters.
§4.78.2μετὰ δὲ χρόνῳ ὕστερον Ἀριαπείθης μὲν τελευτᾷ δόλῳ ὑπὸ Σπαργαπείθεος τοῦ Ἀγαθύρσων βασιλέος, Σκύλης δὲ τήν τε βασιληίην παρέλαβε καὶ τὴν γυναῖκα τοῦ πατρός, τῇ οὔνομα ἦν Ὀποίη· ἦν δὲ αὕτη ἡ Ὀποίη ἀστή, ἐξ ἧς ἦν Ὄρικος Ἀριαπείθεϊ παῖς.
But some time afterwards, Ariapeithes met his end by treachery at the hands of Spargapeithes, the king of the Agathyrsoi, and Scyles took over the kingdom and also the wife of his father, whose name was Opoia; now this Opoia was a native woman, from whom a son, Oricos, had been born to Ariapeithes.
§4.78.3βασιλεύων δὲ Σκυθέων ὁ Σκύλης διαίτῃ οὐδαμῶς ἠρέσκετο Σκυθικῇ, ἀλλὰ πολλὸν πρὸς τὰ Ἑλληνικὰ μᾶλλον τετραμμένος ἦν ἀπὸ παιδεύσιος τῆς ἐπεπαίδευτο, ἐποίεέ τε τοιοῦτο· εὖτε ἀγάγοι τὴν στρατιὴν τὴν Σκυθέων ἐς τὸ Βορυσθενειτέων ἄστυ (οἱ δὲ Βορυσθενεῗται οὗτοι λέγουσι σφέας αὐτοὺς εἶναι Μιλησίους), ἐς τούτους ὅκως ἔλθοι ὁ Σκύλης, τὴν μὲν στρατιὴν καταλίπεσκε ἐν τῷ προαστείῳ, §4.78.4αὐτὸς δὲ ὅκως ἔλθοι ἐς τὸ τεῖχος καὶ τὰς πύλας ἐγκλῄσειε, τὴν στολὴν ἀποθέμενος τὴν Σκυθικὴν λάβεσκε ἂν Ἑλληνίδα ἐσθῆτα, ἔχων δʼ ἂν ταύτην ἠγόραζε οὔτε δορυφόρων ἑπομένων οὔτε ἄλλου οὐδενός· τὰς δὲ πύλας ἐφύλασσον, μή τίς μιν Σκυθέων ἴδοι ἔχοντα ταύτην τὴν στολήν· καὶ τά τε ἄλλα ἐχρᾶτο διαίτῃ Ἑλληνικῇ καὶ θεοῖσι ἱρὰ ἐποίεε κατὰ νόμους τοὺς Ἑλλήνων.
Now Scyles, though ruling over the Scythians, was by no means pleased with the Scythian lifestyle, but was turned much more towards Greek ways because of the education in which he had been brought up, and he used to do as follows: whenever he led the Scythian army to the city of the Borysthenites (and these Borysthenites say that they themselves are Milesians), as soon as Scyles came among them, he would leave his army in the suburb, and he himself, whenever he entered within the wall and shut the gates, would put off his Scythian dress and take Greek clothing, and wearing this he would walk about the market-place with neither bodyguards following him nor anyone else; and they would guard the gates, lest any of the Scythians should see him wearing this dress; and in other respects he adopted the Greek way of life and offered sacrifices to the gods according to the customs of the Greeks.
§4.78.5ὅτε δὲ διατρίψειε μῆνα ἢ πλέον τούτου, ἀπαλλάσσετο ἐνδὺς τὴν Σκυθικὴν στολήν.
And when he had spent a month or more than this, he would depart, putting on his Scythian dress.
ταῦτα ποιέεσκε πολλάκις καὶ οἰκία τε ἐδείματο ἐν Βορυσθένεϊ καὶ γυναῖκα ἔγημε ἐς αὐτὰ ἐπιχωρίην.
This he did many times, and he even built a house in Borysthenes and married a local wife to place in it.

Notes

  1. 4.78.1ἔπρηξε — The verb πράσσω (πρήσσω) is used intransitively with an adverb (οὕτω) to mean 'to fare' or 'to meet such an end.' Here, it refers to Anacharsis meeting his death.
  2. 4.78.3παιδεύσιος τῆς ἐπεπαίδευτο — This phrase exhibits the assimilation (or attraction) of the relative pronoun. The relative pronoun, which would normally be in the accusative case (ἣν), has been attracted to the genitive case of its antecedent παιδεύσιος, appearing as τῆς (Ionic form). ἐπεπαίδευτο is the third-person singular pluperfect passive of παιδεύω, with Scyles as the subject.
  3. 4.78.4λάβεσκε ἂν ... ἔχων δʼ ἂν ... ἠγόραζε — Expressions representing iterative or habitual action in the past. It combines the iterative verb formation characteristic of the Ionic dialect (λάβεσκε with the suffix -σκ-) and the use of ἂν with the imperfect indicative (ἂν ἠγόραζε) to express past habit.
  4. 4.78.5ἐς αὐτά — The pronoun αὐτά (neuter plural) refers back to οἰκία, which is used here as a neuter plural noun meaning 'house' or 'mansion.' The prepositional phrase ἐς αὐτά means 'into it' or 'for it (the house).'

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §4.78.1-4.78.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.78.1-4.78.5

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