Wandering Sage Anacharsis
Scythian · mortal · historical/legendary; early 6th c. BCE, of the royal Scythian house · Recorded classification
Mortal culture-bearer / sage tier. Included as the human face of Scythian religion in Herodotos: his death dramatises Scythian rejection of foreign cult and frames the cult of the great goddess (Cybele/Mother) the Greeks paired with Argimpasa.
Domains
- wisdom
Relations
- sibling: King SauliosReciprocal of scythian_saulios.sibling (alphabetical family sweep). (auto reciprocal)
- enemy: King SauliosReciprocal of scythian_saulios.enemy (alphabetical family sweep). (auto reciprocal)
- descendant of: Sun-King KolaxaisSage of the royal Scythian house (son of Gnurus); the royal Scythians (Paralatae) descend from the first king Kolaxais, recorded as lineage descent parallel to King Idanthyrsus.Herodotus, Histories 4.76 (Anacharsis of the royal Scythian house; uncle of King Idanthyrsus) (primary)
Sources
- Anacharsis, a Scythian of the royal line who travelled widely among the Greeks, was killed by the Scythian king Saulios for adopting the Greek rites of the Mother of the Gods (Cybele) at Kyzikos; the Scythians shun foreign customs.: Herodotos, Histories 4.76-77 (Godley) (primary)
- He became a Greek byword for the wise 'noble savage' and was later counted among the Seven Sages by some traditions.: Diogenes Laertius 1.101-105; J.F. Kindstrand, Anacharsis: The Legend and the Apophthegmata (1981) (secondary)