QuoteProject
The Scythians take kannabis seed, creep in under the felts, and throw it on the red-hot stones. It smolders and sends up such billows of steam-smoke that no Greek vapor bath can surpass it. The Scythians howl with joy in these vapor-baths, which serve them instead of bathing, for they never wash their bodies with water.
Herodotus
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote describes the unique bathing habits of the Scythians using cannabis seeds to create steam. It highlights their unconventional approach to hygiene and enjoyment.

Herodotus illustrates the bathing practices of the Scythians, a nomadic people who utilized cannabis seeds to create vapor baths by throwing them on heated stones. This method produced a dense steam that provided them with an experience they found more enjoyable than conventional bathing, emphasizing their cultural differences and the significance of steam in their rituals for both cleansing and pleasure.

Themes

ScythiansCannabisVapor BathsHerodotusCulture

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in discussions about ancient cultures during a history lecture.

More from Herodotus

The man who has planned badly, if fortune is on his side, may have had a stroke of luck; but his plan was a bad one nonetheless.
HerodotusRead
Men trust their ears less than their eyes.
HerodotusRead
Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks.
HerodotusRead
The worst pain a man can have is to know much and be impotent to act.
HerodotusRead
All men's gains are the fruit of venturing.
HerodotusRead
Illness strikes men when they are exposed to change.
HerodotusRead

Similar quotes

Tourism is a very big economic benefit to the Sherpa people, and also, they have very strong ties to their own social attitudes and their own religion, so fortunately, they're not too influenced by many of our Western attitudes.
Edmund HillaryRead
We are so fortunate, as Australians, to have among us the oldest continuing cultures in human history. Cultures that link our nation with deepest antiquity. We have Aboriginal rock art in the Kimberley that is as ancient as the great Palaeolithic cave paintings at Altamira and Lascaux in Europe.
Kevin RuddRead
When I look at the system here and look at my position - not just as a basketball player, but when I look around me at the values of the people and the culture and compare them with the values of where I came from - I feel so blessed to be from Africa.
Hakeem OlajuwonRead
If you read a lot of Chinese literature, there has always been very strong women figures - warriors, swordswomen - who defended honor and loyalty with the men. So, it's not new to our culture - it's always been very much a part of it. It's good that now the Western audience would have a different image of the Chinese women.
Michelle YeohRead
What are the symbols of American strength, wealth, power and modernity? Certainly not jazz and rock and roll, not chewing-gum or hamburgers, Broadway or Hollywood. It's their skyscrapers. Their Pentagon. Their science. Their technology.
Oriana FallaciRead
I want to keep talking about my people and my country in my own language.
Nadine LabakiRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.