The history of Herodotus — Volume 1 by Herodotus (an ebook reader TXT) 📖
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of the army of the Massagetai: but if thou shalt not do so, I swear to thee by the Sun, who is lord of the Massagetai, that surely I will give thee thy fill of blood, insatiable as thou art." 213. When these words were reported to him Cyrus made no account of them; and the son of the queen Tomyris, Spargapises, when the wine left him and he learnt in what evil case he was, entreated Cyrus that he might be loosed from his chains and gained his request, and then so soon as he was loosed and had got power over his hands he put himself to death. 214. He then ended his life in this manner; but Tomyris, as Cyrus did not listen to her, gathered together all her power and joined battle with Cyrus. This battle of all the battles fought by Barbarians I judge to have been the fiercest, and I am informed that it happened thus:-first, it is said, they stood apart and shot at one another, and afterwards when their arrows were all shot away, they fell upon one another and engaged in close combat with their spears and daggers; and so they continued to be in conflict with one another for a long time, and neither side would flee; but at last the Massagetai got the better in the fight: and the greater part of the Persian army was destroyed there on the spot, and Cyrus himself brought his life to an end there, after he had reigned in all thirty years wanting one. Then Tomyris filled a skin with human blood and had search made among the Persian dead for the corpse of Cyrus: and when she found it, she let his head down into the skin and doing outrage to the corpse she said at the same time this: "Though I yet live and have overcome thee in fight, nevertheless thou didst undo me by taking my son with craft: but I according to my threat will give thee thy fill of blood." Now as regards the end of the life of Cyrus there are many tales told, but this which I have related is to my mind the most worthy of belief.
215. As to the Massagetai, they wear a dress which is similar to that of the Scythians, and they have a manner of life which is also like theirs; and there are of them horsemen and also men who do not ride on horses (for they have both fashions), and moreover there are both archers and spearmen, and their custom it is to carry battle- axes;[220] and for everything they use either gold or bronze, for in all that has to do with spear-points or arrow-heads or battle-axes they use bronze, but for head-dresses and girdles and belts round the arm-pits[221] they employ gold as ornament: and in like manner as regards their horses, they put breast-plates of bronze about their chests, but on their bridles and bits and cheek-pieces they employ gold. Iron however and silver they use not at all, for they have them not in their land, but gold and bronze in abundance. 216. These are the customs which they have:-Each marries a wife, but they have their wives in common; for that which the Hellenes say that the Scythians do, is not in fact done by the Scythians but by the Massagetai, that is to say, whatever woman a man of the Massagetai may desire he hangs up his quiver in front of the waggon and has commerce with her freely. They have no precise limit of age laid down for their life, but when a man becomes very old, his nearest of kin come together and slaughter him solemnly[222] and cattle also with him; and then after that they boil the flesh and banquet upon it. This is considered by them the happiest lot; but him who has ended his life by disease they do not eat, but cover him up in the earth, counting it a misfortune that he did not attain to being slaughtered. They sow no crops but live on cattle and on fish, which last they get in abundance from the river Araxes; moreover they are drinkers of milk. Of gods they reverence the Sun alone, and to him they sacrifice horses: and the rule[223] of the sacrifice is this:-to the swiftest of the gods they assign the swiftest of all mortal things. -----
NOTES TO BOOK I
[1] {'Erodotou 'Alikarnesseos istories apodexis ede, os k.t.l.} The
meaning of the word {istorie} passes gradually from "research" or
"inquiry" to "narrative," "history"; cp. vii. 96. Aristotle in
quoting these words writes {Thouriou} for {'Alikarnesseos}
("Herodotus of Thurii"), and we know from Plutarch that this
reading existed in his time as a variation.
[2] Probably {erga} may here mean enduring monuments like the pyramids
and the works at Samos, cp. i. 93, ii. 35, etc.; in that case {ta
te alla} refers back to {ta genomena}, though the verb
{epolemesan} derives its subject from the mention of Hellenes and
Barbarians in the preceding clause.
[3] Many Editors have "with the Phenicians," on the authority of some
inferior MSS. and of the Aldine edition.
[4] {arpages}.
[4a] "thus or in some other particular way."
[5] {Surion}, see ch. 72. Herodotus perhaps meant to distinguish
{Surioi} from {Suroi}, and to use the first name for the
Cappadokians and the second for the people of Palestine, cp. ii.
104; but they are naturally confused in the MSS.
[6] {ex epidromes arpage}.
[7] {tes anoigomenes thures}, "the door that is opened."
[8] Or "because she was ashamed."
[9] {phoitan}.
[10] {upeisdus}: Stein adopts the conjecture {upekdus}, "slipping out
of his hiding-place.
[11] This last sentence is by many regarded as an interpolation. The
line referred to is {Ou moi ta Gugeo tou polukhrosou melei}.
[12] See v. 92.
[13] i.e. like other kings of Lydia who came after him.
[14] {Kolophonos to astu}, as opposed apparently to the acropolis, cp.
viii. 51.
[15] See ch. 73.
[16] {o kai esballon tenikauta es ten Milesien ten stratien}: an
allusion apparently to the invasions of the Milesian land at
harvest time, which are described above. All the operations
mentioned in the last chapter have been loosely described to
Alyattes, and a correction is here added to inform the reader that
they belong equally to his father. It will hardly mend matters
much if we take {o Audos} in ch. 17 to include both father and
son.
[17] {didaxanta}.
[18] This name is applied by Herodotus to the southern part of the
peninsula only.
[19] Tarentum.
[20] {en toisi edolioisi}: properly "benches," but probably here the
raised deck at the stern.
[21] {ou mega}: many of the MSS. have {mega}.
[22] {stadioi}: furlongs of about 606 English feet.
[23] {to epilogo}.
[24] This list of nations is by some suspected as an interpolation;
see Stein's note on the passage.
[25] {sophistai}: cp. ii. 49, and iv. 95.
[26] {etheto}.
[27] {olbiotaton}.
[28] {stadious}.
[29] {romen}: many of the MSS. have {gnomen}, "good disposition."
[30] i.e. their mother: but some understand it to mean the goddess.
[31] {en telei touto eskhonto}.
[32] {anolbioi}.
[33] {eutukhees}.
[34] {aperos}: the MSS. have {apeiros}.
[35] {aikhme sideree blethenta}.
[36] "in the house of Crœsus."
[37] {'Epistion}.
[38] {'Etaireion}.
[39] {suggrapsamenous}, i.e. have it written down by the {propsetes}
(see vii. 111 and viii. 37), who interpreted and put into regular
verse the inspired utterances of the prophetess {promantis}.
[40] {es to megaron}.
[41] {oida d' ego}: oracles often have a word of connection such as
{de} or {alla} at the beginning (cp. ch. 55, 174, etc.), which may
indicate that they are part of a larger connected utterance.
[42] Cp. vii. 178 and ix. 91 ("I accept the omen.")
[43] See viii. 134.
[44] {kai touton}, i.e. Amphiaraos: many Editors retain the readings
of the Aldine edition, {kai touto}, "that in this too he had found
a true Oracle."
[45] {emiplinthia}, the plinth being supposed to be square.
[46] {exapalaiota}, the palm being about three inches, cp. ii. 149.
[47] {apephthou khrusou}, "refined gold."
[48] {triton emitalanton}: the MSS. have {tria emitalanta}, which has
been corrected partly on the authority of Valla's translation.
[49] "white gold."
[50] Arranged evidently in stages, of which the highest consisted of
the 4 half-plinths of pure gold, the second of 15 half-plinths,
the third of 35, the fourth of 63, making 117 in all: see Stein's
note.
[51] {elkon stathmon einaton emitalanton kai eti duodeka mneas}. The
{mnea} (mina) is 15.2 oz., and 60 of them go to a talent.
[52] {epi tou proneiou tes gonies}, cp. viii. 122: the use of {epi}
seems to suggest some kind of raised corner-stone upon which the
offerings stood.
[53] The {amphoreus} is about 9 gallons.
[54] Cp. iii. 41.
[55] {perirranteria}.
[56] {kheumata}, which some translate "jugs" or "bowls."
[57] {umin}, as if both Oracles were being addressed together.
[58] i.e. Delphi.
[59] {enephoreeto}, "he filled himself with it."
[60] {Krestona}: Niebuhr would read {Krotona} (Croton or Cortona in
Etruria), partly on the authority of Dionysius: see Stein's note.
Two of the best MSS. are defective in this part of the book.
[61] See ii. 51 and vi. 137.
[62] {auxetai es plethos ton ethneon pollon}: "has increased to a
multitude of its races, which are many." Stein and Abicht both
venture to adopt the conjecture {Pelasgon} for {pollon},
"Pelasgians especially being added to them, and also many other
Barbarian nations."
[62a] {pros de on emoige dokeei}: the MSS. have {emoi te}. Some
Editors read {os de on} (Stein {prosthe de on}) for {pros de on}.
This whole passage is probably in some way corrupt, but it can
hardly be successfully emended.
[63] i.e. as it is of the Hellenic race before it parted from the
Pelasgian and ceased to be Barbarian.
[64] {katekhomenon te kai diespasmenon . . . upo Peisistratou}.
Peisistratos was in part at least the cause of the divisions.
[65] {paralon}.
[66] {uperakrion}.
[67] {toutous}: some read by conjecture {triekosious}, "three
hundred," the number which he actually had according to Polyænus,
i. 21.
[68] {doruphoroi}, the usual word for a body-guard.
[69] {perielaunomenos de te stasi}: Stein says "harassed by attacks of
215. As to the Massagetai, they wear a dress which is similar to that of the Scythians, and they have a manner of life which is also like theirs; and there are of them horsemen and also men who do not ride on horses (for they have both fashions), and moreover there are both archers and spearmen, and their custom it is to carry battle- axes;[220] and for everything they use either gold or bronze, for in all that has to do with spear-points or arrow-heads or battle-axes they use bronze, but for head-dresses and girdles and belts round the arm-pits[221] they employ gold as ornament: and in like manner as regards their horses, they put breast-plates of bronze about their chests, but on their bridles and bits and cheek-pieces they employ gold. Iron however and silver they use not at all, for they have them not in their land, but gold and bronze in abundance. 216. These are the customs which they have:-Each marries a wife, but they have their wives in common; for that which the Hellenes say that the Scythians do, is not in fact done by the Scythians but by the Massagetai, that is to say, whatever woman a man of the Massagetai may desire he hangs up his quiver in front of the waggon and has commerce with her freely. They have no precise limit of age laid down for their life, but when a man becomes very old, his nearest of kin come together and slaughter him solemnly[222] and cattle also with him; and then after that they boil the flesh and banquet upon it. This is considered by them the happiest lot; but him who has ended his life by disease they do not eat, but cover him up in the earth, counting it a misfortune that he did not attain to being slaughtered. They sow no crops but live on cattle and on fish, which last they get in abundance from the river Araxes; moreover they are drinkers of milk. Of gods they reverence the Sun alone, and to him they sacrifice horses: and the rule[223] of the sacrifice is this:-to the swiftest of the gods they assign the swiftest of all mortal things. -----
NOTES TO BOOK I
[1] {'Erodotou 'Alikarnesseos istories apodexis ede, os k.t.l.} The
meaning of the word {istorie} passes gradually from "research" or
"inquiry" to "narrative," "history"; cp. vii. 96. Aristotle in
quoting these words writes {Thouriou} for {'Alikarnesseos}
("Herodotus of Thurii"), and we know from Plutarch that this
reading existed in his time as a variation.
[2] Probably {erga} may here mean enduring monuments like the pyramids
and the works at Samos, cp. i. 93, ii. 35, etc.; in that case {ta
te alla} refers back to {ta genomena}, though the verb
{epolemesan} derives its subject from the mention of Hellenes and
Barbarians in the preceding clause.
[3] Many Editors have "with the Phenicians," on the authority of some
inferior MSS. and of the Aldine edition.
[4] {arpages}.
[4a] "thus or in some other particular way."
[5] {Surion}, see ch. 72. Herodotus perhaps meant to distinguish
{Surioi} from {Suroi}, and to use the first name for the
Cappadokians and the second for the people of Palestine, cp. ii.
104; but they are naturally confused in the MSS.
[6] {ex epidromes arpage}.
[7] {tes anoigomenes thures}, "the door that is opened."
[8] Or "because she was ashamed."
[9] {phoitan}.
[10] {upeisdus}: Stein adopts the conjecture {upekdus}, "slipping out
of his hiding-place.
[11] This last sentence is by many regarded as an interpolation. The
line referred to is {Ou moi ta Gugeo tou polukhrosou melei}.
[12] See v. 92.
[13] i.e. like other kings of Lydia who came after him.
[14] {Kolophonos to astu}, as opposed apparently to the acropolis, cp.
viii. 51.
[15] See ch. 73.
[16] {o kai esballon tenikauta es ten Milesien ten stratien}: an
allusion apparently to the invasions of the Milesian land at
harvest time, which are described above. All the operations
mentioned in the last chapter have been loosely described to
Alyattes, and a correction is here added to inform the reader that
they belong equally to his father. It will hardly mend matters
much if we take {o Audos} in ch. 17 to include both father and
son.
[17] {didaxanta}.
[18] This name is applied by Herodotus to the southern part of the
peninsula only.
[19] Tarentum.
[20] {en toisi edolioisi}: properly "benches," but probably here the
raised deck at the stern.
[21] {ou mega}: many of the MSS. have {mega}.
[22] {stadioi}: furlongs of about 606 English feet.
[23] {to epilogo}.
[24] This list of nations is by some suspected as an interpolation;
see Stein's note on the passage.
[25] {sophistai}: cp. ii. 49, and iv. 95.
[26] {etheto}.
[27] {olbiotaton}.
[28] {stadious}.
[29] {romen}: many of the MSS. have {gnomen}, "good disposition."
[30] i.e. their mother: but some understand it to mean the goddess.
[31] {en telei touto eskhonto}.
[32] {anolbioi}.
[33] {eutukhees}.
[34] {aperos}: the MSS. have {apeiros}.
[35] {aikhme sideree blethenta}.
[36] "in the house of Crœsus."
[37] {'Epistion}.
[38] {'Etaireion}.
[39] {suggrapsamenous}, i.e. have it written down by the {propsetes}
(see vii. 111 and viii. 37), who interpreted and put into regular
verse the inspired utterances of the prophetess {promantis}.
[40] {es to megaron}.
[41] {oida d' ego}: oracles often have a word of connection such as
{de} or {alla} at the beginning (cp. ch. 55, 174, etc.), which may
indicate that they are part of a larger connected utterance.
[42] Cp. vii. 178 and ix. 91 ("I accept the omen.")
[43] See viii. 134.
[44] {kai touton}, i.e. Amphiaraos: many Editors retain the readings
of the Aldine edition, {kai touto}, "that in this too he had found
a true Oracle."
[45] {emiplinthia}, the plinth being supposed to be square.
[46] {exapalaiota}, the palm being about three inches, cp. ii. 149.
[47] {apephthou khrusou}, "refined gold."
[48] {triton emitalanton}: the MSS. have {tria emitalanta}, which has
been corrected partly on the authority of Valla's translation.
[49] "white gold."
[50] Arranged evidently in stages, of which the highest consisted of
the 4 half-plinths of pure gold, the second of 15 half-plinths,
the third of 35, the fourth of 63, making 117 in all: see Stein's
note.
[51] {elkon stathmon einaton emitalanton kai eti duodeka mneas}. The
{mnea} (mina) is 15.2 oz., and 60 of them go to a talent.
[52] {epi tou proneiou tes gonies}, cp. viii. 122: the use of {epi}
seems to suggest some kind of raised corner-stone upon which the
offerings stood.
[53] The {amphoreus} is about 9 gallons.
[54] Cp. iii. 41.
[55] {perirranteria}.
[56] {kheumata}, which some translate "jugs" or "bowls."
[57] {umin}, as if both Oracles were being addressed together.
[58] i.e. Delphi.
[59] {enephoreeto}, "he filled himself with it."
[60] {Krestona}: Niebuhr would read {Krotona} (Croton or Cortona in
Etruria), partly on the authority of Dionysius: see Stein's note.
Two of the best MSS. are defective in this part of the book.
[61] See ii. 51 and vi. 137.
[62] {auxetai es plethos ton ethneon pollon}: "has increased to a
multitude of its races, which are many." Stein and Abicht both
venture to adopt the conjecture {Pelasgon} for {pollon},
"Pelasgians especially being added to them, and also many other
Barbarian nations."
[62a] {pros de on emoige dokeei}: the MSS. have {emoi te}. Some
Editors read {os de on} (Stein {prosthe de on}) for {pros de on}.
This whole passage is probably in some way corrupt, but it can
hardly be successfully emended.
[63] i.e. as it is of the Hellenic race before it parted from the
Pelasgian and ceased to be Barbarian.
[64] {katekhomenon te kai diespasmenon . . . upo Peisistratou}.
Peisistratos was in part at least the cause of the divisions.
[65] {paralon}.
[66] {uperakrion}.
[67] {toutous}: some read by conjecture {triekosious}, "three
hundred," the number which he actually had according to Polyænus,
i. 21.
[68] {doruphoroi}, the usual word for a body-guard.
[69] {perielaunomenos de te stasi}: Stein says "harassed by attacks of
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