Strabo, Geography
H.C. Hamilton, Esq., W. Falconer, M.A., Ed.

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[3]

Posidonius relates that the Mysians religiously abstain from eating any thing that had life, and consequently, from cattle; but that they lived in a quiet way on honey, milk, and cheese; wherefore they are considered a religious people, and called Capnobatæ.¹ He adds, that there are amongst the Thracians some who live without wives, and who are known by the name of Ctistæ. These are considered sacred and worthy of honour, and live in great freedom. [He pretends] that the poet comprehends the whole of these people when he says,

“ and where abide,
On milk sustain'd, and blest with length of days,
The Hippemolgi, justest of mankind.²

”

Iliad xiii. 5.

These he designates as ‘without life,’ more particularly on account of their living without wives, considering their solitary state as but a half life; in the same way as he likewise designates the house of Protesilaus ‘imperfect,’ on account of the bereavement of his widow; in the same manner he applies to the Mysians the epithet of ‘close-fighting,’ on account of their being invincible, like good warriors. [Finally, Posidonius pretends] that in the thirteenth³ book of the Iliad we ought to substitute for ‘the close-fighting Mysians,’ [‘the close-fighting Mœsi.’]