Once a woman has taken her seat she is not allowed to go home until a man has thrown a silver coin into her lap and taken her outside to lie with her. When she has lain with him, her duty to the goddess is discharged and she may go home, after which it will be impossible to seduce her by any means, however large the offer. Tall, handsome women soon manage to get home again, but the ugly ones stay a long time before they can fulfill the condition which the law demands, some of them, indeed, as much as three or four years. There is a custom similar to this in parts of Cyprus. Tomyris was queen of the Massagetae, having succeeded to the throne on her husband's death.
Every man has a wife, but all wives are used promiscuously.
If a man wants to sleep with a woman, all he does is to hand up his quiver in front of her wagon and then enjoy her without misgiving. Back to the Anthology Page Egyptians 2. 35 ff. In their manners and customs they seem to have reversed the ordinary practices of mankind. To ease themselves, they go indoors, but eat outside in the streets, on the theory that what is unseemly but necessary should be done openly. Sons are under no compulsion to support their parents if they do not wish to do so, but daughters must, whether they wish it or not.