HardPawns t1_iuwl53j wrote
Reply to comment by EndoExo in TIL that the Persian King Xerxes was so enraged after a storm destroyed his bridges that he ordered the sea be given 300 whiplashes, and branded it with red-hot irons as the soldiers shouted at the water by LethalPoopstain
The Greeks hated Xerxes, wouldn’t be surprised if any of them made up stories about what a complete moron and clown he was.
The_Dog_of_Sinope t1_iuxdu7r wrote
It might not be a parable about his level of clownship. It might be a warning that Xerxes would punish the oceans if they quarreled with him. Or "he will fuck you up in ways you never thought sane or rational."
matthew_iliketea_85 t1_iuz3h07 wrote
I'm only just listening to Dan Carlins hardcore history and in it he says there's reason to think because omens and favour of the gods was actually important in that era that it was done as a placating of fhe masses. Kinda like a see its not any god angry at us that destroyed our bridge but rhis river and well... Showed him, didn't we.
Lord0fHats t1_iuzii56 wrote
Most likely it's a parable about Persian impiety.
The Greeks, at least those from Greece, generally assumed the Persian elite to be unmanly and impious. The idea that Xerxes would whip the seas probably isn't intended to suggest his irrationality or craziness, but his rage and hubris.
Jokerang t1_iuwnr3w wrote
> The Greeks hated Xerxes
Not really, about 80% of the Greek speaking world sided with the Persians during the wars. It's only later that Athens made it out so that they were defending Greek freedom.
Crepuscular_Animal t1_iuwud87 wrote
Herodotus writes mostly positive things about the Persians. He says their laws are wise, and that they abhor lies and criticize Greeks for their tendency of scamming each other.
Lord0fHats t1_iuzfyib wrote
A lot of people who know of Herodotus but never read him miss this.
Herodotus came from Halicarnassus, on the Ionian coast and grew up under Persian rule. More Greeks lived in the Persian Empire than in what we now call Greece.
His account is actually pretty favorable toward the Persians in many respects. Badmouthing the Persians was an invention of latter Greeks, not Herodotus.
ShalmaneserIII t1_ivmnp88 wrote
Herodotus was born around 484 BC. During the Achaemenid dynasty, around that time, the Persian empire had 44% of the world's population.
The Greek poleis were scrappy little states on the outside of the largest empire (relatively to share of global population) the world has ever seen. It's inevitable that a lot of what they did and thought was going to be done in relation to that huge empire just to the East. "Yeah, Persia's basically what civilization is, we should acknowledge that and imitate parts of it" or "Yeah, Persia kind of sucks, look at all this bad stuff they do, we should do our own thing in contrast to them."
You see how this works nowadays, too.
[deleted] t1_iuyjr8d wrote
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dbear26 t1_iuzrfre wrote
Ever read The Persians by Aeschylus?
robi4567 t1_iv0wael wrote
Well was there a storm like that later. Maybe we are doing it wrong.
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