Nadja Brunson
HIS 101
Primary Source Essay
“An Analysis of “Herodotus: Xerxes Invades Greece, from the Histories”
The analysis of past events began in Greece. Herodotus the author of Herodotus: Xerxes Invades Greece, from the Histories, was a historian who traveled for information. However, even though he maintained a serious attitude toward the content of his work, this oral relay of information often contained over imaginative details. Herodotus is significant because his work is the source for information on the Persian Wars. Herodotus’s work was primarily based on the conflicts between the Persians and Greeks. The primary source is on Xerxes the Persian king, who invaded Greece. The Persians began their invasion in 480 B.C.E, crossing the Hellespont, and maneuvering through Macedonia on their way to Greece. The primary source describes Xerxes as a leader, gives us insight into Spartan culture, the Greek values Herodotus seemed to promote and the significance of the Persian
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invasions on Greek development. Xerxes was the leading force in the invasion into Greece. Nevertheless, he was a tyrant and superstitious. An example of tyranny is from the Herodotus: Xerxes Invades Greece, from the Histories, when Xerxes heard of the storm that destroyed the bridged channel through Hellespont through Europe. He commanded that the Hellespont receive 300 lashes and that the overseers lose their heads. In the primary source, it states that Xerxes commanded those who inflicted the pain to say, as they sanction such a harsh punishment on them, "Thou bitter water, thy lord lays on thee this punishment because thou hast wronged him without a cause, having suffered no evil at his hands. Verily King Xerxes will cross thee, whether thou wilt or no. Well dost thou Brunson 2 deserve that no man should honor thee with sacrifice; for thou art of a truth a treacherous and unsavory river." (Herodotus. The Histories). Another point in the primary source where Xerxes proves himself to be a tyrant is when Pythius the Lydian asks for a favor. Pythius the Lydian, the father of five sons feared that his sons would be asked to march to Greece. Pythius came to Xerxes asking to spare his eldest son from the war. Xerxes was furious that he would suggest such a cowardly favor. He argued that it was unfair of Pythius to ask to spare his son when he too was on the front lines marching to Greece. His punishment was the death of the very son he favored. He had Pythius’s eldest son’s body cut into halves and commanded that his army march in between the remains. This was surely as a reminder to the rest of the troops to not make the same mistake as Pythius. As far as being superstitious, the essay describes Xerxes departing to march to Abydos. The sun had gone down and Xerxes asked for the meaning. The Magians, explained to Xerxes that God had been foreshadowing the destruction of the Greek cities. They told him, that the sun prognosticates for the Greeks and the moon for the Persians. Xerxes was superstitious with how anxious he had gotten with the sun simply going down. He was brutal with the way he treated his people either for asking for sparing an eldest or punishing people for a storm they could not control. The events of the battle tells us about Spartan culture. The Spartan culture is based militaristic ideals. The primary source explains how Leonidas abruptly came to power after his brothers passed. Leonidas the Spartan king, sent Spartans so that the sight of them may help give allies the confidence to fight. The Greeks held a council to consider their actions after receiving warning of destruction in the morning based off of what a seer had said. This put people at a Brunson 3 cross roads; Leonidas wanted to stay and fight until the end and part of the troops had left for home.
An example of Spartan pride in the source would be when Leonidas ordered his allies to retire because he wished to secure the whole glory for the Spartans. “He therefore commanded them to retreat, but said that he himself could not draw back with honor; knowing that, if he stayed, glory awaited him, and that Sparta in that case would not lose her prosperity.” (Herodotus. The Histories). It’s said that Leonidas sent them away because he wanted the allies safe. Herodotus thinks that Leonidas gave the order because he thought them to be resistant to keep fighting. According to the primary source, Spartan culture seems primarily based on having an organized combative stability as well as having a strong military
presence. Herodotus seems to promote Greek values in his narrative, Herodotus: Xerxes Invades Greece, from the Histories. Herodotus saw the Greeks as honorable and respectful. In the source a native Greek, Demaratus tells Xerxes that the Greeks will stand up and rise against him. However, Xerxes is convinced that the Greeks could not stand against his army of thousands. This conversation shows that the Greeks are strong and honorable. Xerxes expected the Greeks to run away, nonetheless they had not retreated. Xerxes had also wished to catch them off guard and when he attacked; the Greeks were prepared. Herodotus promotes these Greek values when he specifically describes these events that happened over the course of five days. Another example that Herodotus provides is “And now there arose a fierce struggle between the Persians and the Lacedaemonians over the body of Leonidas, in which the Greeks four times drove back the enemy, and at last by their great bravery succeeded in bearing off the Brunson 4 body.” (Herodotus. The Histories). The Greeks even though Leonidas had passed, kept fighting which shows great perseverance on their part. Honor, perseverance and strength were really evident in Herodotus: Xerxes Invades Greece, from the Histories. The Persian invasions had a significant impact on Greek political and Intellectual development. One of the greatest inventions from Greece was the warship, the Greek Trireme. The Trireme was quite fast, flexible, and had a bow reinforced with metal. The Greek Trireme was mainly used to ram into other boats seen on the water. The defense on water had grown throughout the Greek City-States, and also created an Athenian land empire. In Athens, they created a political tactic called ostracism, which would allow political members to write down on broken pottery who they most disliked or felt the most threatened by, called the polis. Democracy was then expanded greatly by Pericles, which now also allowed public officers to accept lower class citizens. Poor citizens could then hold office and join in public affairs. The Persian invasions impacted the development on Athenian and Spartan states as well. The Athenians believed that the great Persian war was the biggest achievement that they ever had. Once the war had seized, it had allowed Greece to go back fighting the Spartans, and the Athenians ended up seeing themselves as the main focus of Greece and its power. They were prompt to build buildings that represented the might and wealth of the great Greek Athenians. This was a moral boost to the Athenians, and also created dramas such as the dramas of Aeschylus. The Spartans then continued to fight Brunson 5 afterwards with the Battle of Mycale, and ended up with two victories that day, which showed the Spartan’s strength and power. Athens had ended up trying to push its land empire over Spartan land, which caused many small fights between the Athenians and Spartans. They eventually agreed to a thirty years peace between Athens and Sparta. Herodotus: Xerxes Invades Greece, from the Histories hold significant information about the Persians invading Greece. It provides a substantial amount of proof on how Xerxes acted as a ruler. The source gives insight on Spartan culture throughout the events described, as well as the Greek values Herodotus promotes. The Persian invasions had an impact on Greek development, the development of Sparta and Athens. Herodotus, succeeded in relaying the information.
The one thing we know for certain about Spartan society is that we don’t know much about it. Very few documents and artifacts about the Spartans have been discovered, but the ones that have tell us everything we know. Two of these works are Plutarch’s On Sparta and Xenophon’s Spartan Society. One of the main things these two accounts focused on was the Lycurgan reforms. Through their stories and writings Plutarch and Xenophon had both some similarities and differences when talking about the political, economic, militaristic, and social reforms. One of the main differences when comparing these two writings is how Plutarch gives a historical account of Spartan society and tries to keep objectivity
Xerxes was a man of power. The Great King of Persia, his empire encompassed the majority of the known world. On his invasion of Greece in the spring of 480BCE, he reportedly commanded a horde of over two million men. Even the Greek oracle at Delphi encouraged prudence in face of such an overwhelming force (7.140). Thus the question arises of why such an army failed to compel Greece into submission. I will explore this with focus on the key battles and the important factors, most notably the timing of the attack, the quality of his expeditionary force and Xerxes’ personal faults.
The definition of pride is a feeling or deep pleasure of satisfaction that people obtain from their own accomplishments. Odysseus, the main character in The Odyssey, is full of pride throughout his long journey. Odysseus is a warrior from the ten year Trojan War and he is trying to get back home to Ithaca. He is one of the most popular war heros from his time. On his journey home over sea, the sea god and Odysseus’s enemy Poseidon, creates obstacles for Odysseus that he has to overcome if he wants to get home. Odysseus eventually returns home after another ten years. In the epic poem, The Odyssey, Homer represents pride Odysseus’ biggest flaw throughout his encounter with Polyphemus and the Phaeacians.
Kendrick Pritchett in the introduction to the book "The Greek State at War" points out that in order to write history of Greek Warfare one
Hellenic culture in the Spartan community was that of a humble elite. True Spartan culture is well captured in Xenophon’s work, Spartan Society, as he wrote of how this elitist society viewed not only themselves, but the other countries around them. This work shines light into the three-part worldview of the ancient, Hellenic Spartans of: humanism, idealism, and rationalism. As Xenophon begins to write over the whole of the Spartan society it can be seen how the Spartans lived out the worldview of this Hellenistic society. This living out of the worldview recorded in Xenophon’s, Spartan Society, illustrates their worldview through the noting of Lycurgus’ accomplishments and the contrast of the “other.”
Things are now different in our American culture, but in the core of the test for your manhood it is inherently the same. For example, young men and women who join the US Military have to undergo their own “agoge” which would be boot camp/basic training, the most rigorous of these would be the United States Marine Corps Boot Camp, the Marines go through the most grueling time of their life during their agoge.Which in turn gives them the ultimate sense of pride in who they are because of the hardship Marines face during their agoge they tend to emulate the Spartans, not only for their warrior pride but in their moral values.Other things the Spartans valued, respect for elders and more senior military members have also transferred over to our culture in the form of modern military respect and
Bury, J. B.; Russell Meiggs (2000). A History of Greece to the Death of Alexander the Great
Herodotus. “Greece Saved from Persian Conquest.” Readings in Ancient History. Eds. Nels M. Bailkey and Richard Lim. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002.
Within the Spartan society, religion mirrored their values and ethics of a militaristic state, being physical strength and social cohesion. However, the absolute necessity to appease their gods and goddess through festivals and the religious roles of the kings reflects the society’s obligation to religion over everything. Funerary customs and rituals reflect that dying for the state was of uttermost importance correlating with the Spartans values and ethics ultimately giving prominence to religion being the fundamental aspect of
Like most Greek states of the Archaic and Classical Era, the Spartan city-state was a militaristic one. Sparta, however, took the idea to its extreme. In order to become the best soldiers, Spartan citizens had to dedicate their entire lives to the occupation. In fact to be a soldier – a hoplite – was the full infrastructure of Spartan society. While most Greek city-states looked down on labor, physical work, and even working for profit, they still had to work for a living, produce something. “The Spartans a...
Herodotus was an interesting historian. His way of displaying a historical event such as the Persian War is different from how I expect a modern day historian to write it. He does not try to focus only on the Persian war but he goes into detail some times of the lineage of the rulers of the city-states even though that serves little relevance to the actual war. The accounts of history I am used to reading are more focused on the bigger issue and the historians do not deviate on long trains of side thoughts such as Herodotus does. Herodotus style of writing had me confused because he often would start on one topic and in the next couple of sentences move on to another topic before coming back to his main point about a paragraph down. I had to
21) The Persian War influenced Herodotus in a way because Herodotus became a historian, who was seeking the causes that led up to the events from the Persian War. Through that, Herodotus became a Greek historian who was also known for his books he wrote about what he researched.
Sparta was a strict military city-state. The people were Dorians who conquered Laconia. This region lies in the Peloponnesus, which lied in southern Greece. The invaders turned the conquered people into state owned slaves, called helots. Since the helots greatly outnumbered their rulers, Spartans established a strict and brutal system of control. The Spartan government had two kings and a council of elders who advised the monarchs. An assembly made up of all citizens approved all major decisions. From child-hood, a Spartan prepared to be part of the military. All newborn were examined and the healthy lived and the sickly were left to die. Spartans wanted future soldiers or mothers of soldiers to be healthy. At the age of seven, boys trained for a lifetime in the Spartan military. They moved to the barracks and endured brutal and extensive training.
When examining the causes for the Peloponnesian War, which was between 431-404 B.C., there are a number of causes that factored into the cause of this war. However, one of the most important causes to this war was largely due to the fact that the Spartans feared the growing power and success of Athens. The Spartans were “particularly alarmed at the growing power of Athens” (Cartwright, “Peloponnesian War”). During the Persian war in 479 BC, Athens grew fiercely strong with power with help of its many allies and continued with their no mercy attacks on Persian territories. When the Persians left Greece, Athens further enraged Sparta when they built large and tall walls around its empire in the event of an attack, which was mostly thought to be from Sparta if it happened.
To look at this epistemologically, there is an understanding that almost every aspect involved in this culture was derived for the good of the polis. This seemed to be a very proud and arrogant people. A city with no walls, and in almost certainty, only natural born were allowed to earn citizenship. To even be called a Spartan meant years of fighting, service and status. Tyrtaeus states this argument best in the last line of his work. “Thus a man should endeavor to reach this high place of courage with all his heart, and, so trying, never be backward in war.” These writings are great resources for Spartan’s war enhanced values and societal customs, but lack in evidence of governmental affairs and religion.