Weekly Journal Entry Update Six

Aria Williams

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Feb 23, 2017 · 7 min read

This past week I had a much more positive mindset going into the readings and studying. I think that may have been the fact that I finally didn’t do so bad on the weekly quiz. I was beginning to get down on myself because I just couldn’t seem to succeed in this class. Hopefully it’ll go up from here.

I didn’t have as much time as I would have liked to spread out my reading so I was forced to cram. On the plus side, this weather has helped me stay in a good space so I decided to go back to the coffee shop to work on this.

Book Four

Notes:

• Following King Darius’ revolt of pseudo-Smerdis and conquering Babylon as well as Samos Darius decides to make another attack
• The next attack is on the Scythian tribes

Those tribes were located in what are now known as Ukraine

• “Asia abounding in men, and vast sums flowing into the treasury, the desire seized him to exact vengeance from the Scyths, who had once in days gone by invaded Media, defeated those who met them in the field, and so begun the quarrel.”
• Book Four talks about the true way of life for the people of the Scythian tribes
• At first Herodotus goes in detail about how the country is, features, landscape, what the nature is like, etc.

which he knows as “a green pasture, bordered in the north by large stretches of snow.”

• Herodotus goes into detail about the Greek cities which are located on the shores of the Black Sea. Living is okay there but going more towards North, the way of living changes.
• In the north there are …
• Callipides and the Alizones — the farmer tribes
• the Neuri
• the Man-eaters.

Questions/Comments:

• the “man-eaters” is just something that is discussed so casually as if it was something normal.

Notes continued:

• We then are given a description of some people who live more east
• this is home to The Thyssagetes and the Iyrcans (they are hunters)
• the Argippeans (known to be brave and daring)
• and the Issedones.
• Of course Herodotus had to speak on the size related to Asia, Europe, and Asia as well as a Phoenician expidition

Herodotus talks a crap ton!

• Herodotus starts to tell describe the rivers located in Scythia but shortly transitions to describing the customs of the people of Scythia regarding religious beliefs, royal burial procedures, marijuana, and more.

external notes found below

• the Sakâ haumavargâ (“haoma-drinking Saka”) who were subjected by Cyrus and who are called Amyrgian Scythians by Herodotus;
• the Sakâ tigrakhaudâ (“Saka with pointed hats”) who were defeated by Darius and are visible on the relief at Behistun;
• the Apâ Sakâ (“Water Saka”; or Pausikoi as Herodotus prefers to call them); later, they are known as the Abian Scythians (in books like Arrian’s Anabasisand Ammianus’ Res Gestae);
• the Ma-Sakâ, who are called “Massagetes” by Herodotus and were responsible for the death of Cyrus;
• the Sakâ paradryâ (“Saka across the sea”), living in Ukraine.

Notes continued:

• Multiple tribes invaded Asia.
• “They entered Asia in pursuit of the Cimmerians, and overthrew the empire of the Medes, who till they came possessed the sovereignty.”
• The Cimmerians (whose name Gimirru means “people traveling back and forth” and who gave this name to the Crimea)destroyed the kingdoms of Urartu and Phrygia
• Other Scythians had reached Ascalon in Palestine and ruled Media for 28 years.
• “On their return to their homes after the long absence of twenty-eight years, a task awaited them little less troublesome than their struggle with the Medes. They found an army of no small size prepared to oppose their entrance”
• According to other sources, as of now, there is nothing to discredit what Herodotus described Scythia to be like
• The Scythias were now the slaves and were put up to tasks such as milking the cows blinded
• “Now the Scythians blind all their slaves, to use them in preparing their milk. The plan they follow is to thrust tubes made of bone, not unlike our musical pipes, up the vulva of the mare, and then to blow into the tubes with their mouths, some milking while the others blow. They say that they do this because when the veins of the animal are full of air, the udder is forced down. The milk thus obtained is poured into deep wooden casks, about which the blind slaves are placed, and then the milk is stirred round.”
• Identify the Neuri with the so-called Milograd-culture, the archaeological remains of which have been found on the confluence of the Dnjepr and Pripyat.
• The slave children grew up and quickly learned what they had to do to avoid being in the army that was returning from Media
• “When the Scythians tried to force an entrance, they marched out and engaged them. Many battles were fought, and the Scythians gained no advantage, until at last one of them thus addressed the remainder”

Questions/Comments:

• There are a lot of names that are compound words like “Milograd”.
• What exactly influenced the names, terms, etc. back in this time?

Notes continued:

• There was a story mentioned about the Man-eaters who had developed a excavation of human remains that were gnawed at by human jaws
• the excavations were located along the river Sula.

Questions/Comments:

• Can you imagine witnessing a hole or pit full of human remains, bones, etc.? I am pretty sure that I would hurl right then and there.
• Was this something that was built to be some sort of storage or burial of the remains or is it a pile that eventually turned into a hole?

Notes continued:

• The story then goes into Darius’ “campaign”
• After he crosses the Bosporus (a waterway located in what is now known as Turkey that forms part of the continental boundary between Europe and Asia, and separates Asian Turkey from European Turkey) he approaches a tribe called Getes

This tribe called Getes is believed to be immortal

• Darius reaches the Danube ( Europe’s second-longest river, after the Volga River, and also the longest river in the European Union region. It’s located in Central and Eastern Europe)where it is discovered that the the allied Ionian Greeks have already built a bridge.
• Once the Persian army entered modern Romania the king gave orders to destroy the bridge immediately
• A Ionian Greek soldier by the name of Coes of Mytilene disagrees with this order because he believes it would be quiete stupid to cut off a possible escape route (the bridge)

Questions/Comments:

• I agree. What if they need to retreat? How else would they do so in a fast manner?
• At least someone is thinking before acting!
• His name was “Coes of Mytilene” what is the Coes? Is that similar to Leutinant or General?

Notes Continued

• Darius is about to engage in his plan to destory the bridge
• Herodotus begins to talk about a Persian envoy who demands that the Scythians surrender but of course they refuse and instead build a force to fight back
• They formed a force of three armies
• Two of the armies managed to bait the Persians deeper into Scythia as far as they can go before reaching the river Oaros (the Wolga?)

These next few parts are unclear to me, I researched to find a concise and clear explanation of what was happening at the point, find it below.

• “A certain Targitaus was the first man who ever lived in their country, which before his time was a desert without inhabitants. He was a child- I do not believe the tale, but it is told nevertheless- of Jove and a daughter of the Borysthenes. Targitaus, thus descended, begat three sons, Leipoxais, Arpoxais, and Colaxais, who was the youngest born of the three. While they still ruled the land, there fell from the sky four implements, all of gold- a plough, a yoke, a battle-axe, and a drinking-cup. The eldest of the brothers perceived them first, and approached to pick them up; when lo! as he came near, the gold took fire, and blazed. He therefore went his way, and the second coming forward made the attempt, but the same thing happened again. The gold rejected both the eldest and the second brother. Last of all the youngest brother approached, and immediately the flames were extinguished; so he picked up the gold, and carried it to his home. Then the two elder agreed together, and made the whole kingdom over to the youngest born.”

Questions/Comments:

• What is “the Wolga”? I saw this in one of my review summaries but I am not sure that I saw this in the reading unless I overlooked it.
• Is this just the name of the river other than Oaros?

Notes Continued

• When it comes time for Darius to join the fight, he quickly realizes that his chances of winning are very slim and decides to actually take Gobryes’ advice which was to return to the Danube.
• While this is happening, the sixty days have passed and the Ionians brainstorm on what to do
• The decision is to go with the original proposal by Histiaeus of Miletus to keep the bridge intact which is how Darius is able to return safely
• He leaves Megabazus behind as satrap (a governor? ruler?) of his European possessions.
• There is a Persian attack against the Greek towns in the Cyrenaica that is now discussed
• Herodotus goes into detail about the way the Greeks colonized this part of Africa and how they have lived their lives since the adventures of these first settlers.
• He transitions from this story to another short story about the desert tribes in the Sahara

Questions/Comments:

• Herodotus reminds me of those people who are talking and turn to the squirrel that they see in the corner of there eye in the mid sentence because they simply don’t have the attention span.

Notes

• Returning back to the original story, he speaks on how the Greek settlers are really divided
• He also discusses how one of the “quarreling factions” invites the Persians to take hold of the towns in Cyrenaica.

Questions/Comments:

• Here we go again with the casualties… “Oh yeah just take over this town, I think it’d be a good look for you!”
• I am still not understanding how such large decisions are made with such ease in this text.
• Is that just what the translation is giving off? Is it really more of a discussion then what is being perceived?

Notes

• When the new masters take charge, they manage to captivate many people and eventually ship them off to a place called Bactaria

Questions/Comments:

• Was this name “Bactaria” supposed to resemble Bacteria? Is there a relation??