Читать книгу The True Story vs. Myth of Witchcraft - William Godwin - Страница 100

Abaris, the Scythian, known to us for his visit to Greece, was by all accounts a great magician. Herodotus says ³⁷ that he is reported to have travelled over the world with an arrow, eating nothing during his journey. Other authors relate that this arrow was given to him by Apollo, and that he rode upon it through the air, over lands, and seas, and all inaccessible places. ³⁸ The time in which he flourished is very uncertain, some having represented him as having constructed the Palladium, which, as long as it was preserved, kept Troy from being taken by an enemy, ³⁹ and others affirming that he was familiar with Pythagoras, who lived six hundred years later, and that he was admitted into his special confidence. ⁴⁰ He is said to have possessed the faculty of foretelling earthquakes, allaying storms, and driving away pestilence; he gave out predictions wherever he went; and is described as an enchanter, professing to cure diseases by virtue of certain words which he pronounced over those who were afflicted with them. ⁴¹