In Herodotus’ The Histories, Xerxes has been an important figure since he launched the invasion of Greece in 480 BC. Throughout the course of the invasion, Xerxes has had many advisors whom he consults and one particular advisor, Demaratus, deserves attention from us because of his Spartan origin and identity. Not only does Demaratus’ personal history greatly shape his interactions with Xerxes, it also gave his comments extra credits and value. His Spartan family background seemed to help him connect with Xerxes on a level that other people are not able to, but in fact I argue that Xerxes does not regard him as a valuable advisor but rather as a character from which Xerxes looks for confirmation and submission, which in turn offers a valuable
Theseus, The Great Athenian hero, was the son of Dianae and King Aegeus. Theseus had something that not many children at his age didn’t have, “he grew up strong far beyond others” (210). When he was young his father, King Aegeus, set a hollow sword and a pair of shoes and placed a great
In Histories, Herodotus’ uses a variety of themes to narrate historical events and a common theme revolves around hubris. Extremely common amongst Greek literature and Greek mythology, hubris appears to be the infamous human trait. Greek mythology sees hubris as a great atrocity and results in an unrelenting punishment. The idea of hubris is that an individual with an authoritative position, a strong or influential leader, becomes extremely proud of his exceptional qualities and forms a delusion of his position to be on par with even the Gods. This blinds the hubristic individual into believing he can defy the Gods and elude ones inevitable fate. Herodotus’ Histories is no exception to containing individuals that display hubristic qualities similar to many other significant historical entities. In Histories, the theme of hubris assists the reader in making a connection between the excerpts from the end of book 1 (1-204-206) to other books and excerpts in Herodotus’ Histories.
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 empire is considered as “history’s more creative experiment in rule by tolerance” (Daisy Moore). Herodotus accounts that Xerxes burnt temples in Athens “everywhere they went, there was devastation by fire and sword and towns and temples were burnt”. However, this wasn’t because the Athenians followed different religions, but rather because of their actions “I am a friend of right, I am not a friend to wrong… who does harm, him according to do the damage thus I punish” (Naqsh-I Rustam inscription). Daisy Moore states that many different cultures of the empire were “respected by the Persians – they were free to compile their own histories, speak their own language and worship their own gods providing they paid taxes to the officials of the king, used the king’s coin and housed the king’s soldiers”. This highlights the method in which Xerxes’ ruled his empire, and his religious
The definition of a hero is unique for every individual; however there are several regulations that majority of individuals can agree on. A hero must exhibit traits such as humility, kindness, and courage. Once the candidate expresses hubris, displays cruelty, or retreats from a formidable challenge, he cannot be considered a hero. Lastly, a hero candidate must overcome challenges that defy the odds. He must deliver a gift to society that benefits society as a whole; such gifts can be freedom, liberty, or hope. Odysseus in The Odyssey, by Homer, fulfilled these requirements and rightfully earned the title of a hero. Odysseus is well deserving of the title hero because he has put the needs of others before his own, shown signs of courage in the face of adversity, and displays humility by ridding himself of his hubris.
Herodotus. “Greece Saved from Persian Conquest.” Readings in Ancient History. Eds. Nels M. Bailkey and Richard Lim. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002.
A hero accepts who he is as an individual, but strives to change himself for the better. In the epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, the main character Odysseus is a valiant king who embarks on a life-changing voyage. While traveling from Troy back to his home in Ithaka, King Odysseus overcomes daunting obstacles, and in doing so discovers his place in the world. Odysseus is truly a heroic figure because he demonstrates courage, improves his character, and wins the support of the gods.
The book written by Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, contains two controversial debates between distinguished speakers of Athens. The two corresponding sides produce convincing arguments which can be taken as if produced as an honest opinion or out of self-interest. The two debates must be analyzed separately in order to conclude which one and which side was speaking out of honest opinion or self-interest, as well as which speakers are similar to each other in their approach to the situation.
Picture this: a hero of great legends who travels to the underworld and back to get directions to his home from a blind prophet. It sounds like quite an impossible journey, but that is exactly what makes Odysseus all the more fascinating. The Odyssey, an epic poem orally transmitted by Homer, a Greek poet who wrote The Iliad, had to contain some variety of attributes that Greeks valued in a person. That one embodiment of what the Greeks found intriguing in a character is Odysseus. Odysseus is known as what is called an epic hero. An epic hero is a protagonist of a story that represents the most important attributes of a civilization. Odysseus, being based in ancient Greece, is the embodiment of intelligence, loyalty, and strength.
The historical events are compelling on their own but Steven Pressfield creates a truly epic journey in his novel Gates of Fire. Pressfield weaves the tale of Xeones, an Akarnanian by birth, who is the lone Greek survivor of the Persian victory and the Emperor’s captive. Xeones’ boyhood home of Astakos was pillaged and burned by the traitorous city-state of Argos. Through a series of events Xeones finds his way to Sparta and becomes first the servant of Alexandros, a youth in the agoge, then battle squire to the boy’s mentor Dienekes. It is his duties as squire that bring him to Thermopylae. Throughout the novel Xeones unfolds the events of his life in a series of interviews with the Persian royal court recorded by Xerxes personal historian culminating in the last stand of the Three Hundred. It is this story telling technique that makes Gates of Fire is truly a masterpi...
In The Odyssey, Homer, or more so, the characters, often referred to Odysseus as the ‘Great Odysseus’. In the text, it is obvious to see that Odysseus demonstrates arrogance, charisma, over-confidence, and pride. Odysseus and his m...
If history has taught us anything about the past it is that the views of the past are for the most part negligible to change which is why it is possible to find a variety of interpretations and explanations for one single event. No truer claim can be made about the Greco-Persian War of 5th century BC as an examination of Paul Cartledge and Peter Green’s work as influential writers in comparisons to other historians of this field can yield several points of interests where there has been coherence but also conflict due to their treatment of ancient sources. More importantly is that by comparing Cartledge and Green’s work it is possible to see how representative their work is of the academic consensus surrounding the Persian Wars. These areas include the treatments of early records after the war, the time and dates of the oath of Plataea, the military background of the Persian immortals, the rationale for Leonidas’ decision to fight at Thermopylae, consideration over when the turning point of the war occurred along with when the war ended and lastly an evaluation on the prolonged legacy of the war. From these topics it can be argued that both authors can be regarded as atypical in their interpretation of tradition sources by challenging some of the assumption made while also being representative on the end of the war.
...oned by the historians. When historians overlook these historiographical issues new interpretations of the same event are created. This is evidently seen in the case of the Themistocles Decree which could redefine Greek strategy during the Persian invasion and in the case of the Callias Peace Treaty which could redefine how the war formally concluded. This investigation into the historical views of the past also established that between Cartledge and Green there points where they provided different views on the same topic as seen in the case of oath of Plataea. Historical truth is often a virtue rather than a reality and as historians produce their own interpretations of the past with the same sources competing views arise and all these view either fall into a representative of current historical consensus or they challenge and redefine how we look into the past.
(I.Preface) He encounters a wealth of information to document which he selects and organizes as an objective portrait of past events and cultures. However, Herodotus writes on cultures from a different type of relativism as he enquires upon cultures he has well-experienced and finds customs he agrees with, finds disgraceful, or accepts. He first writes about a culture as objectively as possible, listing and describing distinct facets of it. As a native Greek, Herodotus formulates his opinions as he is conditioned on the Grecian moral code. His natural instinct is to reflect on a particular custom in relation to what the status quo is in his Greek culture. This is demonstrated by the Herodotus’ retelling of Darius’ social
The two Greeks writing primarily about Greece, Herodotus and Thucydides, were predominantly writers that concerned themselves mostly with wars and the data surrounding Greek and the combatant’s life during the time of war. Herodotus is considered the father of history, while Thucydides is in turn considered to have modified his method of writing to more exacting standards of accuracy. Herodotus, from Halicarnussus (a city in now-modern Turkey, then a city in the Greek province of Caria), wrote about the origins and customs of people, towns, regions, constitutions, politics of Egypt, Arabia and India, Scythia, Libya, and Thrace (Breisach 2007). His writing style is best described as a self-styled historian, convinced of his self-importance and knowledge, sure to insert his personal viewpoint wherever he deemed it necessary so as to impar...