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Scythians Between Russia and Ukraine
- baybal2 3y ago[dead]
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- thriftwy 3y agoInterestingly, before Turkic and Mongol nomads there were Indo-European nomads which were just as convincing. I wonder if ancient Greeks could actually understand some Scythian. They didn't diverge that long ago. There were also Finnic nomads which manifested as Ungri turning Hungarians.
- johngladtj 3y agoThe huns and Hungarians are not related.
- thriftwy 3y agoThank you - checked and corrected.
- 4gotunameagain 3y agoThe last common ancestor language of Hellenic and Iranian languages dates back to something like 1500 years before their individual classifications, so it's quite unlikely Greeks understood Schythian languages. Scythians were also illiterate, which I imagine would not have been the case for long if the languages were closely related.
- clort 3y agojust by-the-by: if they did not have writing, they were a non-literate culture, not illiterate as such.
- 4gotunameagain 3y agoThanks ! It was written like that on the article and I thought it was the same :)
- thriftwy 3y agoEven if Scythians were fluent in Greek, the lack of material to write on would keep them mostly illiterate.
- scrollaway 3y agoRelated article (which is also giving context to why this appears, for those who don't follow the current events) - https://aeon.co/essays/how-russia-is-putting-the-ancient-scythians-to-war-in-ukraine https://aeon.co/essays/how-russia-is-putting-the-ancient-scy...
- neonsunset 3y ago[flagged]
- rightbyte 3y agoThe author's point about the "western elite" fighting on the secessionist side for free as part of a "culture war" might need some further elaboration. As I understand it the elite seems anti-secessionist.
- zdragnar 3y agoI've got friends on both sides of this (who, for obvious reasons, don't talk to each other about it). On the one hand, a Ukrainian citizen who was displaced by the war and wants nothing more than for it to never have happened. On the other, a friend whose in-laws live in the now-Russian occupied parts, who have Russian identifying heritage, who envied the higher Russian pensions, and who didn't care overmuch about whether Moscow or Kiev took their money (both are corrupt). They prefer the notion of being part of Russia, in part because the social benefits are better, but also over resentment of contributed Western interference in the government of Ukraine. They, too, wish the war was over, and that the change hadn't been brought about by bloodshed, but they don't want to go back to the way things were either. I have a hard time discounting the latter, if only because this guy is among the more level headed people I know and not prone to exaggeration or a war hawk of any sort. What really bothers me is that the West keeps pussyfooting about; sending money and weapons into a war they can't be bothered to right themselves as if anyone in the world is pretending that means they aren't involved. It has needlessly drawn out the conflict and cost many more lives. They ought to have either stayed out, or entered with the purpose of making a definitive end of it at the original border.
- mkesper 3y agoThis is more or less Putin's version of the story, that the west draws out the conflict. He can end it any moment if he wants to.
- 3y ago
- FrustratedMonky 3y agoI thought the Starbucks logo was a depiction of a Mermaid. But I think 'Siren' is a much more interesting tie-in. Since they sell caffeine-sugar addictive drinks. The irresistible 'Siren' aligns more with the product. "The Mixoparthenos (Greek: Μιξοπάρθενος) was a Greek mythological figure, a variety of Siren somewhat akin to a Mermaid, traditionally hailing from the Black Sea region"
- brightball 3y agoI first learned about the Scythians in a small book written in 1880 about the Jewish Tribe of Dan. There was a very interesting analysis in the book comparing their oral history and origins. https://www.amazon.com/Dan-Colonel-J-C-Gawler/dp/B002YBHRIQ/ https://www.amazon.com/Dan-Colonel-J-C-Gawler/dp/B002YBHRIQ/
- mdekkers 3y agoIf you find this interesting, I can thoroughly recommend the “King of Kings” series of podcasts by Dan Carlin.
- podviaznikov 3y agowhy even on HN comments on Ukraine are often so bad? every time I read comments here I want to cry from the amount of bullshit. Many comments are ok, but the proportion of quality is way off. Apples to oranges all time. People quoting some crazy friends etc. I really struggle to understand why it’s simultaneously oversimplification of the issue and mixing signals and noise.
- kelipso 3y agoPretty much everything about Ukraine has been propagandized to hell and back, including its history, current events and the war. So of course you're going to get some crazy takes no matter which side of the political spectrum you're on.
- podviaznikov 3y agoI don’t really understand that. Before - yes. But now and on HN. If people are really curious about Ukraine to the point that they want to express their takes why not to fly to Poland, cross the border and spend several month in Ukraine. See how things are, talk to people and so on? Many people on HN definitely can afford that. Why just retell some story from one friend you have instead of going on the ground and talking to hundreds of people?
- simne 3y agoGreetings from Kyiv. > why not to fly to Poland, cross the border and spend several month in Ukraine. See how things are, talk to people and so on? Because, Ukraine lack systematic, and Russia have it. For example, look on "list of Ukrainian products" - I from very first and very surface look, see it is outdated, as example, Petcube, Solargaps ceased, I only sure about Ajax functioning. So, I think this is manually created list, without any automation. Appear question - where is famous Ukrainian IT? Why this list is not synchronized with banking transfers? And so on... What I want to tell, from such nuances, Ukraine looks like small African country, not European, and Western people feel very much difference from powerful Russian propaganda. Imagine, for example, France news services use systematic approach, when they seen public interest on Ukrainian region, they tried to hire cultural experts, and they just can't find Ukrainian experts, so they after long thoughts, hired Russians, thinking they should also know their neighbors, you understand how bad words I want to say, and this is not joke. These things are very obvious for me as I mostly work for Western clients. If you really want to help Ukraine, we could talk on more private channel, because I don't want to share with Russians know how.