Anacharsis

Came to Athens tn the 47th Olympiad, and waa killed shortly after his return to his own country. Hence, we may conclude, that he was contemporary with the majority of the Philosophers already mentioned.

ANACHARSIS the Scythian holds no inconsiderable rank among the Sages. He was the brother of Cadnidas, King of Scythia, and the son of Ouurus by a Greek mother, to which circumstance he was indebted for equal facility in the language of both countries. He was eloquent and vivacious— 4)rave and steadfast in every thing he undertook. He was always habited in a coarse woollen tunic, and he lived entirely on milk and cheese.

His mode of speaking was concise and enei^getic; and, as he never concealed any thing, he generally gained whatever point he wished to carry. His bold and eloquent manner of delivering his sentiments procured the reputation of proverbs for his sentences, and it became conunon to observe of any one who affected to imitate him, that he adopted the Scythian style.

Anacharsis left his native country, in order to

ANACHAR8IS. 10^ take up his abode at Athens. As sood as he arrived k that city, he went to Simon's house, and Icnocked at the door i on ^ts being opened to him, he told the serraBt to inform his master that he had come on imvpose to see him, and meant to stay with him some time. Solon sent him word that a man ought to play the host only in his own country, or in • places connected with it. Anacharsis marched hi on hearing this: '* Well," said he to Solon, *' you, at any rftte, arfr in your own country and in your owi» ho«se^^-^d therefore, you ought to play the host; begin then your hospitality, by showing me that ymi are willing we should be friends." Sur f|tis6d at the vivadty of his self-in^ted guest, Solon dmiseiited with pleasure to his domesticating with hhn, and they Entered into habits of friendship, from Ihal' timei which remained unbrolceu for the remainder efthcdr lives.

• Anaohar^ was fond of poetry, and wrote the Laws of <Scythia, and a Treatise on War, in verse. He used to say, that the vine bore three different Icinds of grapes,-^pleasure, intoxication, and repentance. He was surprised to see, that in all the public meetings which took place at Athens, wise men opened the business, but left it for fools to deddeupon. Neither could he compi-ehend why slanderers, and others who uttered injurious expressions, should be punished, whilst boxers and wrestlers, who frequently injui-ed each other by the force and rudeness of their blows, should be often mmufioently rewarded. He was no less surprised that the Greeks should use small cups at the commencement of their banquets, and lai-ge ones to*

wai'ds the end, when they were beginning Co be inebriated. He could not brook the licence of public feasts. Being asked what was the best method to prevent persons from giving way to a love of wine, he replied, ' Place a drunken man befi>re their eyes, and let them contemplate him at their leisure." He was asked if there were musical instruments in Scythia. ** ITiere are not even vines,* be replied. He called the oil which the Atblets used for anointing themselves before they.began their combats, the preparation to make a madman. One day calculating the thickness of the planks of a vessel, '' Alas!" he exclaimed, < so it is, that those who trust themselves upon the water are only four inches from death.' He was asked, what vessel he deemed the safest: ^'lliat which lias arrived in poit,'* he replied. He used often to say, that every man ought to endeavour to the utmost to obtain complete mastery over his tongue and bis appetite. He always kept his light hand on his mouth whilst be was asleep, in order to show that there is nothing which we ought to watch with so much vigilance as the tongue. One day, an Athenian, reproached him with his being a Scythian. ^* My country may be a dishonour to me,' he replied, " bat you are a dishonour to your country.* He was asked what was the best and worst faculty of man: "The tongue,'* he replied. "It is better," said he, " to have one friend whose fidelity may be relied on, than several whose attachment will change with every change of fortune.** Being asked whether he thought the number of the living equalled that of the dead — ** Let me know first," suid he, ** in which class I am to reckon those who are at sea." Markets he defined to be places established by man for the purpose of defrauding each other. One day, as he was walking in the street, a young man insulted him as he passed; Anacharsis looked him in the fiEu:e, and then coolly said to him, '< Young man, if you cannot carry wine in your youth, you wHI not be able to cairy water in your old age." It was he who compared laws to spiders' webs, and laughed at Solon for thinking to restrain the passions of men by written injunctions. To Anacharsis we owe the invention of making earthen vessels. He went one day to consult the priestess of Apollo, in order to ascertain if there were any person wiser than himself. 'I'Tie Oracle replied, that one Myson of Cheres was wiser. Anacharsis was astonished at this — ^never having heard of any such person. He went immediately to a village, to which he was informed he had retu'ed, in order to inquire for him. He found him mending his plough. ** Myson," cried he, ** this is not the proper time for turning up the earth." "Very Ilkriy not," replied Myson; " but the proper time for memUng any thing, is as soon as it is broken." Myson has been ranked by Plato amongst the wise men. Hei passed all his life in solitude, with^ out having any intercourse with mankind^ having an aversion from his own species. He was one day seen in a sequestered nook, laughing with all his might. Being asked why he laughed so heartily, when he was all alone 5 ** For that very reason," he Implied.

no ANACHARSIS.

Croesus having heard much of Anacharsis^ made him an offer of money, and invited him to Sardis. Anacharsis returned him this answer: '* I came to Greece, O King of the Lydians, to learn the language, the customs, and the laws of the coimtry. 1 have no need of either gold or silver, and I shi^ be quite contented if I retmn to Scythia better informed than when I left it; nevertheless I shall pay you a visit, for I am desirous of being enrolled in the number of your friends.'.'

After a long stay in Greece, Anacharsis prepared for his return. In his way home he touched at Cyzicus, and found the inhabitants engaged in celebrating a solemn festival in honour of Cybele, the mother of the gods. He made a tow to the god-* dess to offer up the same sacrifices, and establish the same worship of her, in his own country, in case of his safe arrival there. Accordingly, on his return, he endeavoured to substitute the laws of Greece in place of the ancient ones of his native country, by which he much displeased the Scythians.

One day, Anacharsis &i%>cretly went into the recesses of a thicli forest, in the country of Hylaea, in order that he might, unperceived, fulfil the vow he had made to Cybele. He went through all the ceremonies, holding in his hand a tambarine before the statue of the goddess, according to the manner of the Greeks. He was observed, however, by a Scythian, who went straight to the king to inform him of all he bed seen. The king immediately went into the forest, and surprised his brother Anacharsis in the act of woi-ship. He drew his bowy and pierced him to the heart with an arrow. Anacharsis expired, exclaiming, '' In Greece, whither I only went to instruct myself in the learning and manners of the country, I was suffered to remain unmolested; in my native land, ignorance and envy have aimed at me a mortal wound!" After his deaths many statues were erected in different countries in honour of his memory.