Barry Cunlife - The Scythians

of gods, beliefs, and art
to Scythes. In the version recorded in the Tabula Albana, it was Hercules who fathered
sons from Echidna (viper), the daughter of the river god, Araxes. The boys were
Agathyrsus and Scythes. These three later accounts echo the two sources known to
Herodotus, and may indeed have been taken either directly or indirectly from the
Histories: the differences are hardly significant.
The two traditions have in common the union between a god and a female, half
woman, half snake, who is a daughter of a river god or who lives in a cave. In both
cases she is a chthonic deity belonging to the earth. A number of sons are born—three
in both of Herodotus’ versions—and one becomes the king, or over-king, of Scythia.
The only significant difference between the stories is who is the father, Zeus or Hercules?
The version told by the Pontic Greeks, giving Hercules as the father, reflects
their desire to link the Scythian origin story to Greek mythology in a way that supported
the notion that the Scythians were a much younger nation than the Greeks.
Even so, the Scythian Hercules differs from the Greek hero in that he is a god and
rides in a chariot. It is conceivable that he has been conflated with Targitaos named in
Herodotus’ first story, a being intermediate between Zeus and the father of the Scythians,
Colaxais/Scythes. In other words the origin myth, which Herodotus specifically
stated to be the one told by the Scythians themselves, is most likely the original, while
the others are modified and simplified versions suited to a Greek audience.
As we have seen, the original myth, which accounts for the division of Scythia into
three kingdoms with the king of the Royal Scyths serving as high king, accords with
the hierarchy of leadership seen, for example, at the time of the Persian campaign led
by Darius. It was the king of the Royal Scythians who guarded the sacred gold and
each year made sacrifices in its honour (below, p. 270).
The Scythian Gods
Herodotus (Hist. iv. 58) says that all Scythians worship a pantheon of seven deities.
These he names, giving their Greek equivalents. It is clear from his presentation that
three ranks are to be recognized. In the first rank is Tabiti (Hestia). In the second are
Papaeus (Zeus) and Api (Gaia), while the third contains Goetosyrus (Apollo), Argimpasa
(Aphrodite Ourania), and two gods equivalent to the Greek Hercules and Ares.
Their Scythian names are not given but as we have suggested above, it is possible that
Scythian Hercules is Targitaos.
The structure of the Scythian pantheon is similar to that found elsewhere in the
Indo-Iranian tradition. At the head is Tabiti, the flaming one, goddess of heat, fire,
and the hearth. The flaming objects falling from the sky come from her realm and
they are kept in trust by the king. She, in turn, is guardian of the king and of his
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