The Old and the Restless - The Egyptians and the Scythians in Herodotus' Histories by Robert J. Hagan

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they wear (2.04), need to learn anything from the Greeks? However, there are signs that this
sentiment was not universally held. Herodotus uses touto phulassousi to say that the Egyptians
are careful not to observe foreign ways, giving the sense that there is a need to restrain oneself
from doing so (2.91). This seems to imply that there might be an underlying desire among the
people to explore the ways of the outside world, but they are prevented from doing so due to
social pressure or state law.
Whatever the reasons the Egyptians had for their xenophobia, Amasis rejects them
outright. Herodotus has already established Amasis as an unconventional king (2.172-4), and his
philhellenism puts him over the top. However, Amasis' love of all things Greek is portrayed as
nothing but beneficial for Egypt, as Naucratis is the first trading center in Egypt and grows to be
a vital city. It is so important that, "If someone fetched up at any of the other mouths of the Nile,
he had to swear that he had not done so deliberately, and then after making this statement under
oath bring his ship round to the Canobic mouth" (2.179).
Herodotus' passages on Amasis are filled with praise for the philhellene king, so why
does philhellenism go so wrong for his Scythian counterpart, Scyles? The differences we have
observed between the two cultures will ultimately help us to answer the question. Scyles is born
to a Scythian father, the king, and a Greek mother, who teaches him Greek. He has a natural
inclination towards things Greek, and is not content with the newness and simplicity of Scythian
culture, so he slips away occasionally to the Borysthenite city of Olbia, near the Black Sea
(4.78). While at his Greek residence, an ominous lightning bolt burns down his house as he
performs a Bacchic ceremony. This is an especially grievous offense given that the Scythians
loathe Dionysian worship because "it is unreasonable to seek out a god who drives people out of
their minds" (4.79). A Greek witness to Scyles' ritual runs off to the Scythians, and tells them of