were these: That certain of the men became effeminate in character, put on female garments, did the work of women, and even became effeminate in appearance.
In attempting an explanation of this abnormality of the Scythians, Herodotus fell back on the myth that the goddess Venus, angered by the plundering of the temple at Ascalon by the Scythians, had made women of these plunderers and their posterity.
Herodotus also made the curious remark, with respect to these effeminate Scythians, whom he called Enarees or Androgyni, "that they were endowed by Venus with the power of divination," and were consulted by the King of the Scythians when the latter was ill.
Hippocrates, the "Father of Medicine," having no faith in supernatural causes of disease, ascribed the cause to impotence. He attributed it, however incorrectly, as due to the custom of the Scythians to have themselves bled behind the ears in order to cure an affliction brought about by excessive horse-back riding. It was his theory that these veins were of great importance in the preservation of the sexual powers, and that when they were severed, impotence followed.
The Scythians so afflicted, however, believing their impotence due to divine punishment and beyond human aid, donned the garb of females and lived as women among women.
It is thought that fear of excess population on the part of the early Greeks was one factor in turning their erotic interests from women to young men. As the so-called Greek states of
