§1Οὐ πρῶτος Ἀνάχαρσις ἀφίκετο ἐκ Σκυθίας Ἀθήναζε παιδείας ἐπιθυμίᾳ τῆς Ἑλληνικῆς, ἀλλὰ καὶ Τόξαρις πρὸς αὐτοῦ, σοφὸς μὲν καὶ φιλόκαλος ἀνὴρ καὶ ἐπιτηδευμάτων φιλομαθὴς τῶν ἀρίστων, οἴκοι δὲ οὐ τοῦ βασιλείου γένους ὢν οὐδὲ τῶν πιλοφορικῶν, ἀλλὰ Σκυθῶν τῶν πολλῶν καὶ δημοτικῶν, οἷοί εἰσι παρ' αὐτοῖς οἱ ὀκτάποδες καλούμενοι, τοῦτο δέ ἐστι, δύο βοῶν δεσπότην εἶναι καὶ ἁμάξης μιᾶς.
Anacharsis was not the first to arrive from Scythia at Athens out of a desire for Greek education, but Toxaris had also come before him, a wise man who loved the beautiful and was eager to learn the best practices, though at home he was not of the royal race nor of the hat-wearers, but one of the many and common Scythians, of the class called among them the 'eight-footed,' which means owning two oxen and one wagon.
οὗτος ὁ Τόξαρις οὐδὲ ἀπῆλθεν ἔτι ὀπίσω ἐς Σκύθας, ἀλλ’ Ἀθήνησιν ἀπέθανεν, καὶ μετ' οὐ πολὺ καὶ ἥρως ἔδοξεν καὶ ἐντέμνουσιν αὐτῷ Ξένῳ Ἰατρῷ οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι· τοῦτο γὰρ τοὔνομα ἥρως γενόμενος ἐπεκτήσατο.
This Toxaris never went back to the Scythians but died at Athens, and not long after he was even deemed a hero, and the Athenians offer sacrifices to him as the "Foreign Physician"; for he acquired this name after becoming a hero.
τὴν δ’ αἰτίαν τῆς ἐπωνυμίας καὶ ἀνθ' ὅτου ἐς τοὺς ἥρωας κατελέγη καὶ τῶν Ἀσκληπιαδῶν εἷς ἔδοξεν, οὐ χεῖρον ἴσως διηγήσασθαι, ὡς μάθητε οὐ Σκύθαις μόνον ἐπιχώριον ὂν ἀπαθανατίζειν καὶ πέμπειν παρὰ τὸν Ζάμολξιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἀθηναίοις ἐξεῖναι θεοποιεῖν τοὺς Σκύθας ἐπὶ τῆς Ἑλλάδος.
The reason for this title and why he was enrolled among the heroes and deemed one of the sons of Asclepius is perhaps not worse to relate, so that you may learn that it is not only customary for Scythians to immortalize people and send them to Zamolxis, but that it is also permitted for Athenians to deify Scythians in Greece.
§2Κατὰ τὸν λοιμὸν τὸν μέγαν ἔδοξεν ἡ Ἀρχιτέλους γυνή, Ἀρεοπαγίτου ἀνδρός, ἐπιστάντα οἱ τὸν Σκύθην κελεῦσαι εἰπεῖν Ἀθηναίοις ὅτι παύσονται τῷ λοιμῷ ἐχόμενοι, ἢν τοὺς στενωποὺς οἴνῳ πολλῷ ῥαίνωσι.
During the great plague, the wife of Architeles, an Areopagite, seemed to have the Scythian stand over her and command her to tell the Athenians that they would cease to be possessed by the plague if they sprinkled the narrow streets with plenty of wine.
τοῦτο συχνάκις γενόμενον—οὐ γὰρ ἠμέλησαν οἱ Ἀθηναῖοι ἀκούσαντες—ἔπαυσε μηκέτι λοιμώττειν αὐτούς, εἴτε ἀτμούς τινας πονηροὺς ὁ οἶνος σβέσας τῇ ὀδμῇ, εἴτε ἄλλο τι πλέον εἰδὼς ὁ ἥρως ὁ Τόξαρις, ἅτε ἰατρικὸς ὤν, συνεβούλευσεν.
This, being done frequently—for the Athenians did not neglect it upon hearing—stopped them from being plagued anymore, whether the wine quenched some evil vapors with its odor, or whether the hero Toxaris, knowing something more as a medical man, advised it.
ὁ δ’ οὖν μισθὸς τῆς ἰάσεως ἔτι καὶ νῦν ἀποδίδοται αὐτῷ λευκὸς ἵππος καταθυόμενος ἐπὶ τῷ μνήματι, ὅθεν ἔδειξεν ἡ Δειμαινέτη προσελθόντα αὐτὸν ἐντείλασθαι ἐκεῖνα τὰ περὶ τοῦ οἴνου· καὶ εὑρέθη κεῖθι ὁ Τόξαρις τεθαμμένος τῇ τε ἐπιγραφῇ γνωσθείς, εἰ καὶ μὴ πᾶσα ἔτι ἐφαίνετο, καὶ μάλιστα, ὅτι ἐπὶ τῇ στήλῃ Σκύθης ἀνὴρ ἐγκεκόλαπτο, τῇ λαιᾷ μὲν τόξον ἔχων ἐντεταμένον, τῇ δεξιᾷ δὲ βιβλίον, ὡς ἐδόκει.
At any rate, the reward for the healing is still even now paid to him, a white horse being sacrificed upon his tomb, the place where Deimainete showed that he had approached and commanded those things about the wine; and Toxaris was found buried there, recognized by the inscription, even if not all of it was still visible, and especially because a Scythian man was carved upon the stele, holding a drawn bow in his left hand and a book in his right, as it seemed.
ἔτι καὶ νῦν ἴδοις ἂν αὐτοῦ ὑπὲρ ἥμισυ καὶ τὸ τόξον ὅλον καὶ τὸ βιβλίον· τὰ δὲ ἄνω τῆς στήλης καὶ τὸ πρόσωπον ὁ χρόνος ἤδη ἐλυμήνατό που·
Even now you may see more than half of him, the entire bow, and the book; but time has already ruined the upper parts of the stele and the face.
ἔστιν δὲ οὐ πολὺ ἀπὸ τοῦ Διπύλου, ἐν ἀριστερᾷ εἰς Ἀκαδημίαν ἀπιόντων, οὐ μέγα τὸ χῶμα καὶ ἡ στήλη χαμαί· πλὴν ἀλλ’ ἔστεπταί γε ἀεί, καί φασι πυρεταίνοντάς τινας ἤδη πεπαῦσθαι ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, καὶ μὰ τὸν Δί' οὐδὲν ἄπιστον, ὃς ὅλην ποτὲ ἰάσατο τὴν πόλιν.
It is not far from the Dipylon, on the left as one goes to the Academy, the mound is not large and the stele lies on the ground; nevertheless, it is always crowned, and they say some who had a fever have already been cured by him, and by Zeus, it is not at all incredible, since he once healed the whole city.
§3Ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὗπερ ἕνεκα ἐμνήσθην αὐτοῦ, ἔζη μὲν ἔτι ὁ Τόξαρις, ὁ Ἀνάχαρσις δὲ ἄρτι καταπεπλευκὼς ἀνῄει ἐκ Πειραιῶς, οἷα δὴ ξένος καὶ βάρβαρος οὐ μετρίως τεταραγμένος ἔτι τὴν γνώμην, πάντα ἀγνοῶν, ψοφοδεὴς πρὸς τὰ πολλά, οὐκ ἔχων ὅ τι χρήσαιτο ἑαυτῷ· καὶ γὰρ συνίει καταγελώμενος ὑπὸ τῶν ὁρώντων ἐπὶ τῇ σκευῇ, καὶ ὁμόγλωσσον οὐδένα εὕρισκεν, καὶ ὅλως μετέμελεν αὐτῷ ἤδη τῆς ὁδοῦ, καὶ ἐδέδοκτο ἰδόντα μόνον τὰς Ἀθήνας ἐπὶ πόδα εὐθὺς ὀπίσω χωρεῖν καὶ πλοίῳ ἐπιβάντα πλεῖν αὖθις ἐπὶ Βοσπόρου, ὅθεν οὐ πολλὴ ἔμελλεν αὐτῷ ὁδὸς ἔσεσθαι οἴκαδε ἐς Σκύθας.
But indeed, the reason why I mentioned him: Toxaris was still living, and Anacharsis, having just landed, was coming up from Piraeus, as a stranger and barbarian not moderately disturbed still in his mind, ignorant of everything, easily frightened by most things, not knowing what to do with himself; for he understood that he was being laughed at by those who saw him because of his attire, and he found no one of the same language, and on the whole he already regretted his journey, and it had been decided by him, having only seen Athens, to turn back immediately on foot and, embarking on a ship, to sail again toward the Bosporus, from where his journey home to Scythia would not be long.
οὕτως ἔχοντι τῷ Ἀναχάρσιδι ἐντυγχάνει δαίμων τις ἀγαθὸς ὡς ἀληθῶς ὁ Τόξαρις ἤδη ἐν τῷ Κεραμεικῷ.
To Anacharsis, being in this state, Toxaris met him in the Ceramicus, like a truly good deity.
καὶ τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἡ στολὴ αὐτὸν ἐπεσπάσατο πατριῶτις οὖσα, εἶτα μέντοι οὐ χαλεπῶς ἔμελλε καὶ αὐτὸν γνώσεσθαι τὸν Ἀνάχαρσιν ἅτε γένους τοῦ δοκιμωτάτου ὄντα καὶ ἐν τοῖς πρώτοις Σκυθῶν.
At first his native dress attracted him, but then it was not going to be difficult to recognize Anacharsis himself, since he was of the most distinguished race and among the first of the Scythians.
ὁ Ἀνάχαρσις δὲ πόθεν ἂν ἐκεῖνον ἔγνω ὁμοεθνῆ ὄντα, Ἑλληνιστὶ ἐσταλμένον, ἐν χρῷ κεκαρμένον τὸ γένειον, ἄζωστον, ἀσίδηρον, ἤδη στωμύλον, αὐτῶν τῶν Ἀττικῶν ἕνα τῶν αὐτοχθόνων;
But how could Anacharsis have recognized him as a compatriot, dressed in the Greek fashion, with his beard shaved close, ungirded, without weapons, and already talkative, like one of the indigenous Attic people themselves?
οὕτω μετεπεποίητο ὑπὸ τοῦ χρόνου.
So much had he been transformed by time.