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Herodotus · Histories §4.79.1-4.79.5

Scyles' Bacchic Initiation and Its Discovery

Passage 643 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

Despite an ominous portent, Scyles undergoes initiation into the Bacchic rites, but a Borysthenite betrays him to the Scythian leaders, who witness his Bacchic frenzy.

§4.79.1ἐπείτε δὲ ἔδεέ οἱ κακῶς γενέσθαι, ἐγίνετο ἀπὸ προφάσιος τοιῆσδε.
But when it was fated for misfortune to befall him, it came about from the following pretext.
ἐπεθύμησε Διονύσῳ Βακχείῳ τελεσθῆναι· μέλλοντι δέ οἱ ἐς χεῖρας ἄγεσθαι τὴν τελετὴν ἐγένετο φάσμα μέγιστον.
He desired to be initiated into the rites of Bacchus Dionysus; and as he was about to take the initiation in hand, a greatest portent occurred.
§4.79.2ἦν οἱ ἐν Βορυσθενεϊτέων τῇ πόλι οἰκίης μεγάλης καὶ πολυτελέος περιβολή, τῆς καὶ ὀλίγῳ τι πρότερον τούτων μνήμην εἶχον, τὴν πέριξ λευκοῦ λίθου σφίγγες τε καὶ γρῦπες ἕστασαν· ἐς ταύτην ὁ θεὸς ἐνέσκηψε βέλος.
He had in the city of the Borysthenites the enclosure of a large and costly house, of which I also made mention a little before this, around which stood sphinxes and gryphons of white stone; upon this the god cast a thunderbolt.
καὶ ἣ μὲν κατεκάη πᾶσα, Σκύλης δὲ οὐδὲν τούτου εἵνεκα ἧσσον ἐπετέλεσε τὴν τελετήν.
And though it was entirely burnt down, Scyles none the less completed the initiation.
§4.79.3Σκύθαι δὲ τοῦ βακχεύειν πέρι Ἕλλησι ὀνειδίζουσι· οὐ γὰρ φασὶ οἰκὸς εἶναι θεὸν ἐξευρίσκειν τοῦτον ὅστις μαίνεσθαι ἐνάγει ἀνθρώπους.
Now the Scythians reproach the Greeks on account of Bacchic revelry; for they say it is not reasonable to acknowledge a god of this kind, who leads men to go mad.
§4.79.4ἐπείτε δὲ ἐτελέσθη τῷ Βακχείῳ ὁ Σκύλης, διεπρήστευσε τῶν τις Βορυσθενειτέων πρὸς τοὺς Σκύθας λέγων ἡμῖν γὰρ καταγελᾶτε, ὦ Σκύθαι, ὅτι βακχεύομεν καὶ ἡμέας ὁ θεὸς λαμβάνει· νῦν οὗτος ὁ δαίμων καὶ τὸν ὑμέτερον βασιλέα λελάβηκε, καὶ βακχεύει τε καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ μαίνεται.
And when Scyles had been initiated into the Bacchic rites, one of the Borysthenites ran to the Scythians as a messenger, saying: "You laugh at us, O Scythians, because we play the Bacchanal and the god seizes us; now this deity has seized your king also, and he both plays the Bacchanal and is driven mad by the god.
εἰ δέ μοι ἀπιστέετε, ἕπεσθε, καὶ ὑμῖν ἐγὼ δέξω. §4.79.5εἵποντο τῶν Σκύθεων οἱ προεστεῶτες, καὶ αὐτοὺς ἀναγαγὼν ὁ Βορυσθενεΐτης λάθρῃ ἐπὶ πύργον κατεῖσε.
If you do not believe me, follow, and I will show you." The leading men of the Scythians followed, and the Borysthenite, leading them up secretly, seated them upon a tower.
ἐπείτε δὲ παρήιε σὺν τῷ θιάσῳ ὁ Σκύλης καὶ εἶδόν μιν βακχεύοντα οἱ Σκύθαι, κάρτα συμφορὴν μεγάλην ἐποιήσαντο, ἐξελθόντες δὲ ἐσήμαινον πάσῃ τῇ στρατιῇ τὰ ἴδοιεν.
And when Scyles passed by with his sacred band and the Scythians saw him playing the Bacchanal, they regarded it as a very great calamity, and going out they made known to the whole army what they had seen.

Notes

  1. §4.79.1ἔδεέ οἱ κακῶς γενέσθαι — The impersonal verb `δεῖ` (here in the Ionic imperfect form `ἔδεε`) is combined with the dative of the third-person pronoun `οἱ` (equivalent to `αὐτῷ`, indicating disadvantage) and the infinitive `κακῶς γενέσθαι` ("to fare ill"). This is a formulaic expression in Herodotus indicating that a tragic fate was destined to happen. Although `δεῖ` typically takes an accusative with infinitive, Herodotus frequently uses the dative.
  2. §4.79.2τῆς καὶ ὀλίγῳ τι πρότερον τούτων μνήμην εἶχον — The relative pronoun `τῆς` (genitive feminine singular, with `οἰκίης` or `περιβολή` as its antecedent) is in the genitive case because it is governed by the verbal phrase `μνήμην εἶχον` ("made mention of"). The phrase `ὀλίγῳ τι πρότερον τούτων` ("a little before these things"), featuring the dative of measure of difference `ὀλίγῳ`, refers back to the mention of the house in the previous section (4.78.5).
  3. §4.79.3οὐ γὰρ φασὶ οἰκὸς εἶναι θεὸν ἐξευρίσκειν τοῦτον ὅστις μαίνεσθαι ἐνάγει ἀνθρώπους — `οὐ φασὶ` ("they say ... not", negative raising) introduces the impersonal infinitive construction `οἰκὸς εἶναι` ("to be reasonable"; `οἰκός` is the Ionic form of `εἰκός`), which in turn takes the infinitive `ἐξευρίσκειν` ("to invent, acknowledge") as its subject. The direct object of `ἐξευρίσκειν` is the phrase `θεὸν τοῦτον ὅστις...` ("such a god who..."), modified by the relative clause.
  4. §4.79.5τὰ ἴδοιεν — Since the main verb `ἐσήμαινον` is in a secondary tense (imperfect), the verb in the relative clause (which would originally be an indicative aorist `εἶδον`) is changed into the optative of oblique sequence (`ἴδοιεν`). It represents the content of their report ("what they had seen") from a past perspective.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §4.79.1-4.79.5. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.79.1-4.79.5

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