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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
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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.

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