Astomi
The Astomi (or Astomoi ; from ancient Greek α-στόμα "mouth- less ") are one of the so-called wonder peoples of antiquity and the Middle Ages. The Astomi, as their name suggests, are people without a mouth. You probably got into Western literature via Indian mythology .
description
Pliny the Elder describes the Astomi in his work Naturalis historia ("Natural History") in AD 77 . He mentions them in Book VII, which is about anthropology .
The settlement area of the Astomi is at the sources of the river Ganges in India . Their bodies are completely hairy. They cover them with the leaves of the trees.
The Astomi don't need food. They don't drink either. The Astomi feed exclusively on the smell of flowers, roots and fruits, which they inhale through their noses.
When they go on long journeys, according to Pliny, they take wild apples with them, the smell of which they are satisfied with.
Pliny mentions Megasthenes , who writes in his indicia that one can easily kill her with a strong smell. In Megasthenes (quoted from Strabo) the Astomi are tame (ἡμεροι). They live from the smell of smoked meat as well as the scent of fruits and flowers.
The Astomi are also mentioned in Solinus and Aulus Gellius .
The Astomi live with Jehan de Mandeville on the small island of Pitan. They are small in stature "but not smaller than the pygmies ". When they travel long distances, they live on the smell of apples. You carry them with you because otherwise they will die.
Pliny place
Megasthenes gentem inter Nomadas Indos narium loco foramina tantum habentem, anguium modo loripedem, vocari Sciratas. ad extremos fines Indiae ab oriente circa fontem Gangis Astomorum gentem sine ore, corpore toto hirtam vestiri frondium lanugine, halitu tantum viventem et odore, quem naribus trahant. nullum illis cibum nullumque potum, radicum tantum florumque varios odores et silvestrium malorum, quae secum portant longiore itinere, ne desit olfactus; graviore paulo odore skin difficulter exanimari.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.zeno.org/Georges-1913/A/Astomi
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from October 29, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ la.wikisource.org
