selected from the Oikoumenes Periegesis

This Good Works Translation renders selected Greek lines from the geographical poem attributed to Dionysius Periegetes.

The selected passage belongs on the Scythian shelf because it joins the Tanais and Maeotian horizon to the Caspian, Sauromatae, Scythians, Huns, Bactrians, Massagetae, Chorasmians, Sogdiana, Oxus, Jaxartes, Saka, Tochari, Seres, and the far northern Scythians in a single ancient map-poem.

The translation is limited to the selected lines printed below. It is not a claim that the whole Greek poem has been prepared for publication.

Translation

Lines 14-22 -- Tanais and the Continental Boundary

The Tanais divides Europe from the land of Asia,
running through the middle between them.
It winds through the country of the Sauromatae,
drawn onward into Scythia and into the Maeotian lake,
toward the north.
Southward the Hellespont stands as the middle mark,
and another sign stretches farther south
to the mouth of the Nile.

Others divide the continents by land.
High above, on the upper edge of Asian earth,
an isthmus lies between the Caspian
and the Euxine Sea;
that ridge they have called
the boundary of Europe and Asia.

Lines 652-679 -- Maeotis, Sauromatae, and the Tanais

Near the Maeotian lake dwell the Maeotians themselves
and the peoples of the Sauromatae,
a good warlike race of Ares.
They came from the fierce love of the Amazons,
who once, driven far from Thermodon and their fatherland,
mingled with Sauromatian men.
From them sprang high-hearted children,
dwelling in a measureless woodland.

Through the midst of that land
the Tanais is drawn down and falls
into the recess of Maeotis.
It cuts Europe away from Asian earth:
Europe toward sunset,
Asia toward the lights of dawn.
Its springs roar far off in the Caucasian mountains;
then the broad river, rushing this way and that,
runs through the Scythian plains.
When its boundless water rolls from the north,
one may see the stream fixed hard by cold.

Hard are the people who have their homes around it.
Cold snow is always theirs,
and bitter frost.
When the deepest cold comes from the winds,
you may see horses dying before your eyes,
and mules, and the race of field-fold sheep.
Nor would men themselves go unharmed
if they remained beneath those blasts.
They wander away instead,
harnessing their wagons for another land,
and leave the country to the winter winds,
which rush in evil storm,
shaking earth and pine-clad mountains.
So many peoples dwell about the river Tanais.

Lines 680-706 -- From the Euxine to the Caspian

Next after the Sauromatae stand, in order,
the Sindi, the Cimmerians,
and near the Euxine the Cercetae,
the Toretae, and the strong Achaeans,
whom once the south wind and the west wind
carried away from Xanthus and Idaean Simoeis,
following the son of Ares into war.
Beside them dwell the Heniochi and Zygi,
holding a neighboring land,
offspring of Pelasgian country.

In the inner bend of Pontus,
beyond the land of the Tyndaridae,
the Colchians dwell,
settlers from Egypt,
near Caucasus,
the mountain that rises with towering ridges
about the Hyrcanian sea.
There the Phasis,
winding along the back of the Circaean plain,
pours its swift foam into the stream of the Euxine,
after first beginning from an Armenian mountain.

Eastward and northward from that place
the isthmus leans,
the isthmus between the Caspian
and the Euxine Sea.
Upon it dwell the eastern people of the Iberians,
who once came from Pyrene toward the dawn,
bearing hostile strife against Hyrcanian men,
and the great tribe of the Camaritae,
who once received Bacchus returning from the Indian war
and entertained him as a guest,
and with the Lenaeans set up a sacred dance,
wearing belts and fawn-skins across their chests
and crying, Euoi, Bacchus.
The god loved the race of those men
and the customs of their land.
After these the Caspian rolls, open all around.

Lines 718-761 -- Caspian Peoples, Bactria, Massagetae, Sogdiana, and Saka

Let the shape of the whole great Caspian sea
be drawn for you as a circuit,
turning round upon itself.
You could not cross it by ship
in the circle of a third moon,
so great and unyielding is its passage.
It stretches back toward the Bear
and joins the outflow of Ocean.
Among men it breeds many wonders:
crystal, and dusky jasper,
hateful to phantoms and other apparitions.

I shall tell you all the peoples who dwell about it,
beginning from the western side and from the north.
The first are the Scythians,
all who live near the Cronian sea
along the shore at the mouth of the Caspian brine.
Next are the Huns.
After them are the Caspian men,
then the warlike Albanians,
and above the rough land the Cadusians.
Near them are the Mardi,
the Hyrcanians, and the Tapyri.
The Mardus bends its course among them,
drink for the Dercebians and the wealthy Bactrians;
for between both peoples it casts its middle stream
into the Hyrcanian sea.

The Bactrians dwell inland,
holding a broader country
under the skirts of Parnesus,
while the Dercebians dwell on the other side
beside Caspian waters.
After them, eastward,
beyond the clamoring Araxes,
the Massagetae dwell,
drawers of swift arrows,
men whom neither I myself
nor any companion of mine would approach;
they are worse to guests than other peoples.
They have no food of honey-hearted grain,
nor any wine moving from people to people.
Instead, mixing white milk with horses' blood,
they make their feast.

North of them are the Chorasmians.
Above these lies Sogdiana,
through whose midst the holy Oxus winds;
leaving Mount Emodos behind,
it casts itself into the Caspian.
After them, by the streams of the Jaxartes,
dwell the Saka, bearing bows
that no other archer could put to shame;
for it is not their custom to shoot vain shafts.
Then come the Tochari, the Phruni,
and the barbarian peoples of the Seres,
who reject cattle and strong sheep,
but card the bright blossoms of a desert land
and make garments elaborate and precious,
like in color to the flowers of meadow grass.
No work of spiders could rival theirs.
There are other Scythians too, rank upon rank,
who dwell at the ends of the earth;
beside them stretches a land of bitter winds,
abandoned to winter storms and hail.
So many men live around the Caspian waves.

Colophon

This selected Good Works Translation renders the printed Greek lines below. It keeps the translation narrow because the entire Dionysius source text has not been prepared as a complete public edition here.

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Source Text: Dionysius Periegetes, Oikoumenes Periegesis

Greek Lines 14-22

  14  Εὐρώπην δʼ Ἀσίης Τάναϊς διὰ μέσσον ὁρίζει,
  15  ὅς ῥά θʼ ἑλισσόμενος γαίης διὰ Σαυροματάων
  16  σύρεται ἐς Σκυθίην τε καὶ ἐς Μαιώτιδα λίμνην,
  17  πρὸς βορέην· νότιον δὲ μεσούριον Ἑλλήσποντος·
  18  σῆμα δ ὑπερτέταται νοτιώτερον ἐς στόμα Νείλου·
  19  Ἄλλοι δʼ ἠπείροισι διὰ χθόνα νοσφίζουσιν.
  20  Ἰσθμὸς ἄνω τέταταί τις ὑπέρτατος Ἀσίδος αἴης,
  21  Κασπίης τε μεσηγὺ καὶ Εὐξείνοιο θαλάσσης
  22  κεῖνον δ᾿ Εὐρώπης Ἀσίης θ΄ ὅρον ηὐδάξαντο·

Greek Lines 652-679

 652  Ἤτοι μὲν λίμνης Μαιώτιδος ἄγχι νέμονται
 653  αὐτοὶ Μαιῶταί τε καὶ ἔθνεα Σαυροματάων,
 654  ἐσθλὸν ἐνυαλίου γένος Ἄρεος· ἐκ γὰρ ἐκείνης
 655  ἰφθίμης φιλότητος Ἀμαδονίδων ἐγένοντο,
 656  τήν ποτε Σαυρομάτῃσιν ἐπʼ ἀνθρώποισι μίγησαν,
 657  πλαγχθεῖσαι πάτρηθεν ἀπόπροθι Θερμώδοντος.
 658  Τοὔνεκα καὶ παῖδες μεγαλήτορες ἐξεγένοντο,
 659  ὕλην ναιετάοντες ἀπείριτον, ἧς διὰ μέσσης
 660  συρόμενος Τάναϊς Μαιώτιδος ἐς μυχὰ πίπτει,
 661  ὅστε καὶ Εὐρώπην ἀποτέμνεται Ἀσίδος αἴης,
 662  ἐς δύσιν Εὐρώπην, ἐς δʼ αὐγὰς Ἀσίδα γαῖαν.
 663  Τοῦ δʼ ἤτοι πηγαὶ μὲν ἐν οὔρεσι Καυκασίοισι
 664  τηλόθι μορμύρουσιν· ὁ δὲ πλατὺς ἔνθα καὶ ἔνθα
 665  ἐσσυμένος Σκυθικοῖσιν ἐπιτροχάει πεδίοισιν.
 666  Τοῦ δʼ ἂν, κυμαίνοντος ἀπείριτον ἐκ βορέαο,
 667  πηγετὸν ἀθρήσειας ἀπὸ κρυμοῖο παγέντα.
 668  Σχέτλιοι, οἳ περὶ κεῖνον ἐνοίκια χῶρον ἔχουσιν·
 669  αἰεί σφιν ψυχρή τε χιὼν κρυμός τε δυσαής·
 670  καὶ δέ κεν, ἐξ ἀνέμων ὁπόταν πλεῖστονκρύος ἔλθῃ,
 671  ἢ ἵππους θνήσκοντας ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖσιν ἶδοιο,
 672  ἠὲ καὶ ἡμιόνους ἢ ἀγραύλων γένος οἰῶν·
 673  οὐδὲ μὲν οὐδʼ αὐτοί κεν ἀπήμαντοι τελέθοιεν
 674  ἀνέρες, οἳ κείνχσιν ὑπαὶ ῥιπῆσι μένοιεν·
 675  ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἠλάσκουσιν, ὑποζεύξαντες ἀπήνας
 676  χώρην εἰς ἑτέρην, λείπουσι δὲ γαῖαν ἀήταις
 677  χειμερίοις, οἵτε σφι κακῇ θύοντες ἀέλλῃ
 678  γαῖάν τε κλονέουσι καὶ οὔρεα πευκήεντα.
 679  Τόσσοι μὲν Τάναϊν ποταμὸν περιναιετάουσιν.

Greek Lines 680-706

 680  Σαυρομάτας δʼ ἐπέχουσιν ἐπασσύτεροι γεγαῶτες
 681  Σινδοὶ, Κιμμέριοί τε καὶ οἱ πέλας Εὐξείνοιο
 682  Κερκέτιοι Τορέται τε καὶ ἀλκήεντες Ἀχαιοί,
 683  τούς ποτʼ ἀπὸ Ξάνθοιο καὶ Ἰδαίου Σιμόεντος
 684  πνοιαὶ νοσφίσσαντο νότοιό τε καὶ ζεφύροιο,
 685  ἑσπομένους μετὰ δῆριν Ἀρητιάδῃ βασιλῆι.
 686  Τοῖς δʼ ἔπι ναιεταουσιν, ὁμούριον αἶαν ἔχοντες,
 687  Ἡνίοχοι Ζύγιοί τε, Πελασγίδος ἔκγονοι αἴης.
 688  Πὰρ δὲ μυχὸν Πόντοιο, μετὰ χθόνα Τυνδαριδάων,
 689  Κόλχοι ναιετάουσι, μετήλυδες Αἰγύπτοιο,
 690  Καυκάσου ἐγγὺς ἐόντες, ὃς Ὑρκάνιον περὶ πόντον
 691  οὔρεσιν ἠλιβάτοισιν ἀέξεται ἔνθα τε Φᾶσις,
 692  Κιρκαίου κατὰ νῶτον ἑλισσόμενος πεδίοιο,
 693  Εὐξείνου ποτὶ χεῦμα θοὴν ἀπερεύγεται ἄχνην,
 694  ἀρξάμενος τὸ πρῶτον ἀπʼ οὔρεος Ἀρμενίοιο.
 695  Τοῦ δὲ πρὸς ἀντολίην βορέην τ᾿ ἐπικέκλιται ἰσθμός,
 696  ἰσθμὸς Κασπίης τε καὶ Εὐξείνοιο θαλάσσης.
 697  Τῷ δʼ ἔπι ναιετάουσιν ἑωθινὸν ἔθνος Ἰβήρων,
 698  οἳ ποτε Πυρήνηθεν ἐπʼ ἀντολίην ἀφίκοντο,
 699  ἀνδράσιν Ὑρκανίοισιν ἀπεχθέα δῆριν ἔχοντες,
 700  καὶ Καμαριτάων φῦλον μέγα, τοι ποτε Βάκχον
 701  Ἰνδῶν ἐκ πολέμοιο δεδεγμένοι ἐξείνισσαν,
 702  καὶ μετὰ Ληνάων ἱερὸν χορὸν ἐστήσαντο,
 703  ζώματα καὶ νεβρῖδας ἐπὶ στήθεσσι βαλόντες,
 704  εὐοῖ Βάκχε λέγοντες· ὁ δὲ φρεσὶ φίλατο δαίμων
 705  κείνων ἀνθρώπων γενεὴν καὶ ἤθεα γαίης.
 706  Τοῖς δʼ ἔπι Κασπίη κυμαίνεται ἀμφιτρέτη.

Greek Lines 718-761

 718  Ἀλλʼ εἴη τοι σχῆμα περίδρομον, ἀμφιέλικτον,
 719  πάσης Κασπίης μεγάλης ἁλός· οὐκ ἂν ἐκείνην
 720  νηὶ περήσειας τριτάτης ἐπὶ κύκλα σελήνης·
 721  τόσσος γὰρ πόρος ἐστὶν ἀμείλιος· ἂψ δὲ μετ᾿ ἄρκτους
 722  ἐλκόμενος, προχοῆς ἐπιμίσγεται Ὠκεανοῖο·
 723  ἣ δὴ πολλὰ μὲν ἄλλα μετʼ ἀνδράσι θαύματʼ ἀέξει,
 724  φύει δὲ κρύσταλλον ἰδʼ ἠερόεσσαν ἴασπιν,
 725  ἐχθρὴν ἐμπούσησι καὶ ἄλλοις εἰδώλοισιν.
 726  Πάντα δέ τοι ἐρέω, ὅσα μιν πέρι φῦλα νέμονται,
 727  ἀρξάμενος πλευρῆς ζεφυρίτιδος ἐκ βορέαο.
 728  Πρῶτοι μὲν Σκύθαι εἰσὶν, ὅσοι Κρονίης ἁλὸς ἄγχι
 729  παραλίην ναίουσιν ἀνὰ στόμα Κασπίδος ἅλμης·
 730  Οὖννοι δʼ ἐξείης· ἐπὶ δʼ αὐτοῖς Κάσπιοι ἄνδρες,
 731  Ἀλβανοί τʼ ἐπὶ τοῖσιν ἀρήιοι, οἵ θʼ ὑπέρ αἶαν
 732  τρηχεῖαν ναίουσι Καδούσιοι ἄγχι δὲ Μάρδοι,
 733  Ὑρκάνιοι Τάπυροί τ᾿ · ἐκὶ δέ σφισιν ὁλκὸν ἑλίσσει
 734  Μάρδος, Δερκεβίων τε καὶ ἀφνειῶν πόμα Βάκτρων·
 735  ἀμφοτέρων γὰρ μέσσος ἐς Ὑρκανίην ἅλα βάλλει·
 736  ἀλλʼ ἤτοι Βάκτροι μὲν ἐπ’ ἡπείροιο νέμονται
 737  χώρην εὐρυτέρην κνημοῖς ὑπὸ Παρνησοῖο,
 738  Δερκέβιοι δ᾿ ἑτέρωθεν ἐφ᾿ ὕδασι Κασπίοισιν.
 739  Τοὺς μέτ᾿ ἀντολίηνδε, πέρην κελάδοντος Ἀράξεω
 740  Μασσαγέται ναίουσι, θοῶν ῥυτῆρες ὀῖστῶν,
 741  ἀνέρες, οἷς μήτʼ αὐτὸς ἐγὼ, μήθʼ ὅστις ἑταῖρος
 742  ἐμπελάσαι· μάλα γάρ τε κακοξεινώτεροι ἄλλων·
 743  οὐ γάρ σφιν σίτοιο μελίφρονός ἐστιν ἐδωδή,
 744  οὐδὲ μὲν οὐδʼ οἶνος μεταδήμιος· ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἵππων
 745  αἵματι μίσγοντες λευκὸν γάλα, δαῖτα τίθενται.
 746  Τοῖς δʼ ἔπι πρὸς βορέην Χωράσμιοι, οἶς ἔπι γαῖα
 747  Σουγδιάς, ἧς ἀνὰ μέσσον ἑλίσσεται ἱερὸς Ὦξος,
 748  ὅστε λιπὼν Ἠμωδὸν ὄρας μετὰ Κασπίδα βάλλει.
 749  Τὸν μέτʼ ἐπὶ προχοῇσιν Ἰαξάρταο νέμονται
 750  τόξα Σάκαι φορέοντες, ἃ μή κέ τις ἄλλος ἐλέγχοι
 751  τοξευτής οὐ γάρ σφι θέμις ἀνεμώλια βάλλειν·
 752  καὶ Τόχαροι Φροῦνοί τε καὶ ἔθνεα βάρβαρα Σηρῶν,
 753  οἵτε βόας μὲν ἀναίνονται καὶ ἴφια μῆλα,
 754  αἰόλα δὲ ξαίνοντες ἐρήμης ἄνθεα γαίης,
 755  εἳματα τευχουσιν πολυδαίδαλα, τιμήεντα,
 756  εἰδόμενα χροιῇ λειμωνίδος ἄνθεσι ποίης·
 757  κείνοις οὔ τί κεν ἔργον ἀραχνάων ἐρίσειεν.
 758  Ἄλλοι δὲ Σκύθαι εἰσὶν ἐπήτριμοι, οἵτε νέμονται
 759  ἐσχατιάς· παρὰ δέ σφι δυσήνεμος ἐκτέταταιχθών,
 760  χειμερίοις ἀνέμοισι λελειμμένη ἠδὲ χαλάζαις.
 761  Τόσσοι μὲν φῶτες περὶ Κάσπια κύματʼ ἔασιν·

Source Colophon

The Greek text printed here is drawn from the local First1KGreek extraction of Dionysius Periegetes' Oikoumenes Periegesis, checked for these selected lines against the local Bernhardy 1828 OCR witness. The broader Greek source page remains a separate source-control file; this page translates only the selected Scythian and Caspian passages printed above.

Compiled and translated for the Good Works Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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