CYNEGETICA, 111. 264^286 



Hyena " ; the first a destroyer of flocks of Sheep 

 and herds of Goats, the other the foe of Dogs and 

 mighty Hounds ; the one, through the unescapable 

 impulse of hunger, the crafty ^ harrier by night of 

 Lamb and Kid, the other a night-farer and night- 

 wanderer, since for it there is light by night but 

 darkness by day. The forms of these two bloody 

 beasts are unBke. The Wolf thou wouldst behold 

 like to the larger shepherd Dogs, -with bushy tail 

 behind. The Hyena has the midst of the back 

 arched and it is shaggy" all about and the dread 

 body is marked on either side with close-set dark 

 stripes. It is narrow and long of back and tail. 

 The hide of both beasts the minstrels celebrate 

 as terrible. If thou wert to cut off a piece of hide 

 of the Hyena and wear it on thy feet, thou wouldst 

 wear a great terror to mighty Dogs, and Dogs bark 

 not at thee wearing those shoes, even if they barked 

 before. And if thou shouldst flay a Wolf and from 

 his hide make a sounding tabor, Uke the tabor of 

 Dindymus** which destroys increase,* it alone of all 

 sounds its deep note and it alone makes a din, while 

 all the tabors that had a goodly sound before are 



•* Dindymus, or Didymus metri gratia, a mt. in Mysia 

 near Pessinus (Strabo 567), associated with the worship of 

 Cybele, in whose rites the drum and the cymbals played a 

 prominent part; Stat. T. viii. 221 gemina aera sonant Idaea- 

 que terga. 



• Homer uses diXeffiKapiros of the willow, Od. x. 510, cf. 

 Theophr. H.P. iii. 1. 3 ttji* h^av raxv TrpoKaTa^aWfiv irpb rov 

 TeXeiojs adpi'vai xal TexJ/ai rov Kapitov 5i' 8 koX tov TroivTTjv ov 

 (caKujj Trpoffayopeufif ainrjv uiKeaiKapTrov ; id. C.P. ii. 9. 14 ; 

 Plin. xvi. 1 10 ocissirae salix amittit semen, antequam omnino 

 maturitatem sentiat, ob id dicta Romero frugiperdia. The 

 ref. is to the self-emasculation practised by the worshippers 

 of Cybele and her eunuch priests (j/alli). 



137 



