RyokoKnight t1_iuwy5ln wrote
Very likely fictional, though the Persians did believe in nature deities and thus, if it did happen, the Persians would have been trying to punish the diety of the water/storm rather than the water itself. The Persians would have believed because Xerxes had a divine right to rule such deities of nature would have been as slaves and thus should be subservient to their "owner".
Again though the events as described are likely gross exaggerations of what occurred, if anything in fact happened at all. It is more likely the Greeks were playing up a lesser event like the Persians formally admonishing any potential diety that would stand in their way, or perhaps making the whole story up to mock a hated rival and underscore the perceived tyranny they felt kneeling to the Persians would bring.
Lord0fHats t1_iuzgx80 wrote
It's almost certainly a story he picked up somewhere. It's the kind of folk myth that still gets invented today about past wars. Herodotus traveled around to collect stories for his history and it's more likely many of the fanciful tales he tells were stories related to him by others rather than things he solely made up on his own.
Herodotus spends too much time casting judgement on some of the stories he tells, explaining which ones he thinks are true or false and why he thinks that, to be a mere fanatic for narrative.
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