The Boys' and Girls' Herodotus · Herodotus
CHAPTER V.
Astyages thus sent Cyrus away, and, upon his arrival at the house of Cambyses, his parents received him with the greatest tenderness and joy, having been assured that he had died immediately after his birth; and they inquired of him by what means his life had been preserved. He told them, that till that time he believed he was the son of Astyages' herdsman. He related that he had been brought up by the herdsman's wife; and he went on constantly praising her. When Cyrus had reached man's estate, and proved the most manly and beloved of his equals in age, Harpagus paid great court to him, sending him presents, from his desire to be avenged on Astyages; for he did not see that he himself, who was but a private man, could be able to take vengeance on Astyages; perceiving, therefore, that Cyrus was growing up to be his avenger, he contracted a friendship with him, comparing the sufferings of Cyrus with his own. And before this he had made the following preparations. Seeing Astyages severe in his treatment of the Medes, Harpagus holding intercourse with the chief persons of the nation, one after another, persuaded them that they ought to place him at their head, and depose Astyages. When he had effected his purpose, and all was ready, Harpagus, wishing to discover his designs to Cyrus, who resided in Persia, and having no other way left, because the roads were all guarded, contrived the following artifice.
Having cunningly contrived a hare, by opening its belly, and tearing off none of the hair, he put a letter, containing what he thought necessary to write, into the body; and having sewed up the belly of the hare, he gave it with some nets to the most trusty of his servants, dressed as a hunter, and sent him to Persia; having by word of mouth commanded him to bid Cyrus, as he gave him the hare, to open it with his own hand, and not to suffer any one to be present when he did so. This was accordingly done, and Cyrus having received the hare, opened it; and found the letter which was in it, to the following purport: "Son of Cambyses, seeing the gods watch over you, (for otherwise you could never have arrived at your present fortune), do you now avenge yourself on your murderer Astyages; for as far as regards his purpose you are long since dead, but by the care of the gods and of me you survive. I suppose you have been long since informed both what was done regarding yourself, and what I suffered at the hands of Astyages, because I did not put you to death, but gave you to the herdsman. Then, if you will follow my counsel, you shall rule over the whole territory that Astyages now governs. Persuade the Persians to revolt, and invade Media; and whether I or any other illustrious Mede be appointed to command the army opposed to you, every thing will turn out as you wish; for they, on the first onset, having revolted from him, and siding with you, will endeavor to depose him. Since, then, every thing is ready here, do as I advise, and do it quickly."
Cyrus, upon receiving this intelligence, began to consider by what measures he could best persuade the Persians to revolt. Having written such a letter as he thought fit, he called an assembly of the Persians, read the letter and said that Astyages had appointed him general of the Persians: "Now," he continued, "I require you to attend me, every man with a sickle." When all had come with their sickles, as had been ordered, Cyrus selected a tract of land in Persia, about eighteen or twenty stadia square (nearly two and one half miles), which was overgrown with briers, and directed them to clear it during the day: when the Persians had finished the appointed task, he bade them come again on the next day, washed and well attired. In the meantime Cyrus collected all his father's flocks and herds, had them killed and dressed, to entertain the Persian forces, and provided wine and bread in abundance. The next day, when the Persians had assembled, he made them lie down on the turf, and feasted them; and, after the repast was over, asked them whether the treatment they had received the day before, or the present, was preferable. They answered, that the difference was great; for on the preceding day they had every hardship, but on the present everything that was good. Then Cyrus discovered his intentions, and said: "Men of Persia, the case stands thus; if you will hearken to me, you may enjoy these, and numberless other advantages, without any kind of servile labor; but if you will not hearken to me, innumerable hardships, like those of yesterday, await you. Now, therefore, obey me, and be free; for I am persuaded I am born by divine providence to undertake this work; and I deem you to be men in no way inferior to the Medes, either in other respects or in war; then revolt with all speed from Astyages."
The Persians under such a leader, gladly asserted their freedom, having for a long time felt indignant at being governed by the Medes. Astyages, informed of what Cyrus was doing, sent a messenger and summoned him; but Cyrus bade the messenger take back word, "that he would come to him sooner than Astyages desired." When Astyages heard this, he armed all the Medes; and, as if the gods had deprived him of understanding, made Harpagus their general, utterly forgetting the outrage he had done him. And when the Medes came to an engagement with the Persians, such of them as knew nothing of the plot, fought; but others went over to the Persians; and the far greater part purposely behaved as cowards and fled. As soon as the news was brought to Astyages that the Medes were thus shamefully dispersed, he exclaimed: "Not even so shall Cyrus have occasion to rejoice." His first act was to impale the Magi, who had interpreted his dream, and advised him to let Cyrus go; then he armed all the Medes that were left in the city, old and young; and leading them out, engaged the Persians, and was defeated. Astyages himself was made prisoner, and lost all the Medes whom he had led out. Harpagus, standing by Astyages after he was taken, exulted over him and jeered at him; and among other galling words, he asked him about the supper, at which he had feasted him with his son's flesh, and inquired, "how he liked slavery in exchange for a kingdom." Astyages, looking steadfastly on Harpagus, asked in return, whether he thought himself the author of Cyrus's success. Harpagus said, he did, for, as he had written, the achievement was justly due to himself. Astyages thereupon proved him to be "the weakest and most unjust of all men; the weakest, in giving the kingdom to another, which he might have assumed to himself, if indeed he had effected this change; and the most unjust, because he had enslaved the whole nation of the Medes on account of the supper."
So Astyages, after he had reigned thirty-five years, was deposed. But Cyrus kept him with him till he died, without doing him any further injury. Thus did Cyrus come to the throne, conquer Crœsus, and become master of all Asia. The Persians, according to my own knowledge, observe the following customs:—It is not their practice to erect statues, or temples, or altars, but they charge those with folly who do so; because, as I conjecture, they do not think the gods have human forms, as the Greeks do. They are accustomed to ascend the highest parts of the mountains, and offer sacrifice to Jupiter, and they call the whole circle of the heavens by the name of Jupiter. They sacrifice to the sun and moon, to the earth, fire, water, and the winds. To these alone they sacrificed in the earliest times: but they have since learnt from the Arabians and Assyrians to sacrifice to Venus Urania, whom the Assyrians call Venus Mylitta, the Arabians, Alitta, and the Persians Mitra. They do not erect altars nor kindle fires when about to sacrifice; they do not use libations, or flutes, or fillets, or cakes; but, when any one wishes to offer sacrifice to any one of these deities, he leads the victim to a clean spot, and invokes the god, usually having his tiara decked with myrtle.
He that sacrifices is not permitted to pray for blessings for himself alone; but he is obliged to offer prayers for the prosperity of all the Persians, and the king, for he is himself included in the Persians. When he has cut the victim into small pieces, and boiled the flesh, he strews under it a bed of tender grass, generally trefoil, and then lays all the flesh upon it; when he has put every thing in order, one of the Magi standing by sings an ode concerning the original of the gods, which they say is the incantation; and without one of the Magi it is not lawful for them to sacrifice. After having waited a short time, he that has sacrificed carries away the flesh and disposes of it as he thinks fit. It is their custom to honor their birthday above all other days; and on this day they furnish their table in a more plentiful manner than at other times. The rich then produce an ox, a horse, a camel, and an ass, roasted whole in an oven; but the poor produce smaller cattle. They are moderate at their meals, but eat of many after-dishes, and those not served up together.
On this account the Persians say, "that the Greeks rise hungry from the table, because nothing worth mentioning is brought in after dinner, and that if anything were brought in, they would not leave off eating." The Persians are much addicted to wine. They are accustomed to debate the most important affairs when intoxicated; but whatever they have determined on in such deliberation, is on the following day, when they are sober, proposed to them by the master of the house where they have met to consult; and if they approve of it when sober also, then they adopt it; if not, they reject it. And whatever they have first resolved on when sober, they reconsider when intoxicated. When they meet one another in the streets, one may discover by the following custom, whether those who meet are equals. For instead of accosting one another, they kiss on the mouth; if one be a little inferior to the other, they kiss the cheek; but if he be of a much lower rank, he prostrates himself before the other. The Persians are of all nations the most ready to adopt foreign customs; for they wear the Medic costume, thinking it handsomer than their own; and in war they use the Egyptian cuirass. From the age of five years to twenty, they instruct their sons in three things only: to ride, to use the bow, and to speak the truth. Before he is five years of age, a son is not admitted to the presence of his father, but lives entirely with the women: the reason of this custom is, that if he should die in childhood, he may occasion no grief to his father.
Now I much approve of the above custom, as also of the following, that not even the king is allowed to put any one to death for a single crime, nor any private Persian exercise extreme severity against any of his domestics for one fault, but if on examination he should find that his misdeeds are more numerous and greater than his services, he may in that case give vent to his anger. They say that no one ever yet killed his own father or mother. To tell a lie is considered by them the greatest disgrace; next to that, to be in debt; for the reason that one who is in debt must of necessity tell lies. Whosoever of the citizens has the leprosy or scrofula, is not permitted to stay within a town, nor to have communication with other Persians; and they say that a man is afflicted with these diseases from having committed some offence against the sun. Every stranger that is seized with these distempers they drive out of the country; and they do the same to white pigeons, making the same charge against them. They neither spit, nor wash their hands in a river, but pay extreme veneration to all rivers.
Another circumstance is also peculiar to them which has escaped the notice of the Persians themselves, but not of us. Their names, which correspond with their personal forms and their rank, all terminate in the same letter (s) which the Dorians call _San_, and the Ionians _Sigma_. If you inquire into this you will find, that all Persian names, without exception, end in the same letter. These things I can with certainty affirm to be true, since I myself know them. But what follows, relating to the dead, is only secretly mentioned, viz.: that the dead body of a Persian is never buried until it has been torn by some bird or dog; but I know for a certainty that the Magi do this, for they do it openly. The Persians then, having covered the body with wax, conceal it in the ground. The Magi differ very much from all other men, and particularly from the Egyptian priests, for the latter hold it matter of religion not to kill any thing that has life, except such things as they offer in sacrifice; whereas the Magi kill every thing with their own hands, except a dog or a man; and they think they do a meritorious thing, when they kill ants, serpents, and other reptiles and birds.
Ideas discussed in this chapter
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.