Scytha

Anacharsis was not the first to come from Scythia to Athens out of a longing for Greek culture. Before him there was Toxaris, a wise man, who loved beauty and was eager in pursuit of the best styles of living. At home he was not a member of the royal family or of the aristocracy [*](Literally “those who wear the πῖλος,” or felt cap, a mark of rank among the Scythians.) ; he belonged to the general run of the people—called “eight feet” in Scythia, meaning the owner of two oxen and a cart. This Toxaris never went back to Scythia, but died in Athens, where not long after his death he came to be considered a hero, and the Athenians sacrifice to him as “The Foreign Physician”—this was the name they gave him when they made him a hero. The reason for this designation, and the events which brought about his enrolment among the heroes, and his reputation as one of the sons of Asclepius are perhaps worth relating. Then you may see that to confer immortality on someone and send him to Zamolxis [*](The Thracian Getae regarded Zamolxis (or Zalmoxis) as the only true god; they believed in the immortality of the soul and looked on death as “going to Zamolxis.” See Herodotus iv, 94, and Harmon’s note, vol. V, pp. 430 f.) is a custom not of the Scythians only—it is also possible for Athenians to deify Scythians in Greece.

At the time of the great plague [*](430–429 B.C.) the wife of Archetiles the Areopagite dreamed that the Scythian

My reason for mentioning the story was this: Toxaris was still alive when Anacharsis, who had recently put in at Piraeus, went up to Athens. A stranger and a foreigner he experienced considerable confusion of mind, for everything was strange and there were the many sounds which frightened him;

Toxaris addressed him in Scythian. “Are you not perchance Anacharsis the son of Daucetas?” he asked. Anacharsis wept for joy at having found one who spoke his tongue and knew who he was back home in Scythia. “How is it that you know me, my friend?” he asked. “I myself am from your country. My name is Toxaris; no aristocrat, so you wouldn’t recognise it.” “Surely you’re not the same Toxaris as the one who, as I heard, out of love for Greece left his wife and young children in Scythia and went to Athens and now spends his life there honoured by the men of rank?” “I am that man,” he said, “if there is still some word of me at home.” “Well,” said Anacharsis, “you may know that I am

“Your words,” said Toxaris, “betray little affection if you mean to come to the very doors and then go back again. Cheer up now! You won’t go away, in the way you suggest, and the city will not readily let you go: she has more charms than that to captivate the stranger. She will grip your heart so tightly that you will not remember wife or children, if you have any, any more. Now I’ll show you the quickest way of seeing the whole city of Athens and more—all Greece and the glories of the Greek nation. There is a certain wise man in Athens. He is Athenian by birth but has travelled abroad widely to Asia and Egypt and has mixed with the cream of mankind. But for all that he is not one of the rich; actually he is quite poor. You’ll see he is an old man dressed in very humble fashion. Nevertheless he is held in great honour for his wisdom and other qualities. As

“Let us not delay then, Toxaris,” said Anacharsis, “take me with you to him, though I’m afraid of one thing, that he may be difficult to approach and not consider your representations on my behalf as of any importance.” “Hush now,” replied Toxaris, “I fancy I shall be showing him a great kindness by giving him the chance to show good-will to a stranger. You just follow on. You’ll see his reverence for Zeus the God of Strangers as well as his general goodness and kindness. Well, that’s a piece of luck! Here he is coming in our direction, that fellow deep in thought, the one muttering to himself.” He addressed Solon at once: “I’ve come,” he said, “with the greatest of gifts for you, a stranger in need of your friendship.

He is one of our Scythian nobility, but that hasn’t prevented him from leaving all his possessions there to visit you men of Greece and to see the fairest things that Greece can offer, I’ve discovered a short way of enabling him to see everything easily in person and to become known to the cream of your nation: this was to bring him to you. If I know Solon, you’ll do this and look after him and make him a true son of Greece. Anacharsis, as I told you just now, having seen Solon you have seen everything: here is Athens, here is Greece; you’re no longer a stranger, everybody knows you, everybody

It would be a long business to tell how Solon was pleased by the gift, what he said, and how they kept company afterwards, Solon, the educator, instilling the noblest lessons, making Anacharsis friends with everyone, introducing him to the noblest Greeks, and looking after him in every way, so that his time in Greece might pass most pleasantly, and Anacharsis, in admiration of Solon’s wisdom, unwilling to leave his side for a moment. So just as Toxaris had promised him, from one person, Solon, he quickly learnt everything, became known to everyone, and won respect through him. For Solon’s praise carried no small weight, and in this too men obeyed him as a lawgiver, and they made friends with those to whom he showed respect, accepting them as men of worth. In the end, if we are to believe Theoxenus, who tells this story as well about him, Anacharsis alone of barbarians was even initiated into the mysteries after being made an Athenian citizen; nor I fancy would he have returned to Scythia, had not Solon died.

Would you like me to complete my story so that it should not roam about in a headless condition? It’s high time to find out what Anacharsis and Toxaris from Scythia are still doing here at this time in Macedon bringing old Solon with them from Athens.

1. “Blossoming with all good things whereby a city
2. flourisheth.”

In this plight then I was already considering what steps I should take next. I had some time since decided to show you something of my oratory, for who else would deserve it if I had passed by such a city in silence? To tell the truth, I enquired who were the leading citizens and who might be approached and enlisted as patrons and general supporters. My case was better than that of Anacharsis—he had but one patron, Toxaris, and that one a barbarian, while I have many, and what is more they have all told me the same thing in about the same words: “There are many good and knowledgeable persons in our city, friend—nowhere else will you find such quality—, but we have two men of outstanding merit,

“To excite your wonder still more, they belong to one and the same household. They are in fact father and son. The father you may imagine to be a Solon, a Pericles, or an Aristides, while the son will win your heart as soon as you see him, so tall is he and handsome with his manly grace; and let him but speak and he will leave you with your ears enchained, such charm is there in the young man’s tongue. Whenever he comes forward to speak in public the entire city listen to him open-mouthed—it is the story of the Athenians and the son of Clinias over again with this difference: the Athenians quite soon repented of their affection for Alcibiades, while here there is not only love for the young man but a ready reverence already and in short the well-being and happiness of our state are summed up in this one man. If he and his father were to take you in and make you their friend, then the whole city is yours. Let them but lift a finger and any doubts you may have will be no more.” This by Zeus (if I must