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Herodotus · Histories §5.6.1-5.6.2

Thracian Customs of Marriage, Tattoos, and Labor

Passage 775 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The passage describes various customs of other Thracians, including the sale of children, the treatment of women, and their social values regarding tattoos, labor, and warfare.

§5.6.1τῶν δὲ δὴ ἄλλων Θρηίκων ἐστὶ ὅδε νόμος· πωλεῦσι τὰ τέκνα ἐπʼ ἐξαγωγῇ, τὰς δὲ παρθένους οὐ φυλάσσουσι, ἀλλʼ ἐῶσι τοῖσι αὐταὶ βούλονται ἀνδράσι μίσγεσθαι·
Among the other Thracians, this is the custom: they sell their children for export, and they do not keep watch over their maidens, but allow them to consort with whatever men they themselves wish.
τὰς δὲ γυναῖκας ἰσχυρῶς φυλάσσουσι καὶ ὠνέονται τὰς γυναῖκας παρὰ τῶν γονέων χρημάτων μεγάλων.
However, they keep a strict watch over their wives, and purchase their wives from their parents for great sums of money.
§5.6.2καὶ τὸ μὲν ἐστίχθαι εὐγενὲς κέκριται, τὸ δὲ ἄστικτον ἀγεννές.
And to be tattooed is judged noble, but to be untattooed is ignoble.
ἀργὸν εἶναι κάλλιστον, γῆς δὲ ἐργάτην ἀτιμότατον·
To be idle is most honorable, but to be a tiller of the soil is most disgraceful.
τὸ ζῆν ἀπὸ πολέμου καὶ ληιστύος κάλλιστον.
To live by war and plunder is most honorable.

Notes

  1. 5.6.1τοῖσι αὐταὶ βούλονται ἀνδράσι — An instance of relative attraction (assimilation), where the antecedent is drawn into the relative clause: equivalent to τούτοις τοῖς ἀνδράσιν οἷς αὐαι βούλονται, with the noun attracted to the dative required by the verb μίσγεσθαι.
  2. 5.6.1χρημάτων μεγάλων — Genitive of price, used with the verb ὠνέονται (purchase) to indicate the price paid for buying wives.
  3. 5.6.2ἀργὸν εἶναι — Infinitive functioning as the subject of the clause (with an implied copula ἐστί), where the predicate adjective κάλλιστον is in the neuter singular.

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §5.6.1-5.6.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:5.6.1-5.6.2

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