Herodotus, Histories of Persia, Egypt and Scythia Before the Greco-Persian Wars

Today we will learn and reflect on the opening chapters of the Histories
of Herodotus, which cover the events leading up to the Greco-Persian
Wars, where the greatly outnumbered Greek city-states successfully
defended themselves against the mighty Persian Empire.
Not only does Herodotus discuss the history of the Persian expansion in
Egypt, Greek Ionia, and Scythia, and the rise of the Persian Empire
under Cyrus the Great, and the usurper King Darius, both who are also
mentioned in the Old Testament, but Herodotus also treats us to
travelogues and tall stories from Egypt and Scythia.
Why did Herodotus write his Histories?

Herodotus tells us in his first
paragraph, he wrote his Histories
“so that human achievements
may not be forgotten in time,
and great and marvelous deeds,
some displayed by Greeks, some
by barbarians, may not be
without their glory; and
especially to show why the two
peoples fought with each other.”

At the end of our talk, we will discuss the sources used for this video,
and the additional lessons we learn from these sources, and my blogs
that also cover this topic. Please, we welcome interesting questions in
the comments. Let us learn and reflect together!

Herodotus Explores Persia, Scythia, and Egypt
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Herodotus Explores Persia, Scythia, and Egypt
https://youtu.be/YwUojwMIQEw
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Herodotus reflects on the themes seen in the Iliad as
the Greeks seek to transcend their warrior culture to
a more civilized culture.

In the Warrior Cultures of Ancient
Greece and the Old Testament:
• Warfare meant that for the
losing side, often the men would
be massacred, and the women
and children would be enslaved,
for women this meant they
would be concubines of the
conquerors.
• Avoid hubris, lest you snatch
defeat from the jaws of victory.
• Know thyself, know your
limitations, be open to wise
counsel.
• You gain immortality and glory
through your heroism on and off
the battlefield. Achilles Slays Hector, by Peter Paul Rubens (1630–35)

Herodotus was born and grew up in Halicarnassus, a Greek city on the
Mediterranean coast in Asia Minor before the Greco-Persian Wars. In his
youth he was welcomed to live in Athens, and often championed an
Athenian viewpoint, and later in life moved to a Athenian colony in Italy.
Some scholars say he lived during the first few years of the Peloponnesian
Wars, fought between the allies of` Athens and Sparta. The Greek cities in
Ionia, along the coast of Asia Minor or modern Turkey, were under Persian
rule during the Greco-Persian Wars. As you can see from the dates,
Herodotus was about 24 years older than Thucydides, who wrote the
main history about the Peloponnesian War. These two wars were only
about eighteen years apart. Who knows? Maybe Herodotus and
Thucydides were acquaintances.

Thucydides started writing an excellent history of the Peloponnesian War, literally
stopping in the middle of a page in the middle of a sentence, and Xenophon finished
chronicling the war from that point. Xenophon also wrote the Cyropedia, a
fictionalized account of the life of Cyrus the Great, which was highly regarded in
ancient times, not so much today.
A century after this war Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire and kept
on going, he and his father, King Philip of Macedon, learned the lessons from these
wars that Persia was ripe for the taking.
Looking at the wars, the Trojan War when gods still mingled with humans
were about eight centuries prior to the Greco-Persian Wars.

The known world was much smaller in Ancient World. The map reconstructed from the
descriptions of Hecataeus, the ethnographer whose works Herodotus mentions, shows a map that
Vladimir Putin would like, because the Black Sea is much more than a Russian lake, to the ancient
Greeks the Black Sea was the center of the world. Herodotus did not believe the land areas were
round, although the map suggests this, he thought the boundaries were irregular, and was not
certain that the large “river” named Ocean even existed, because in Greece nobody had ever sailed
in the river Ocean. The Phoenicians MAY have circumnavigated Africa, but nobody near Greece had
any idea what was in the northern reaches of Europe, or in the farthest reaches of Asia, and Libya
was synonymous with Africa.
The main battles of the war were all fought in Greece, although many Greek cities in Asia Minor
fought for their independence, and many succeeded after the Persian defeats in Greece. Roughly
the last four books cover the Greco-Persian Wars themselves, the fifth book covers the initial
mostly unsuccessful Greek Ionian revolts, and the first four books include both a history and
sociological observations of Persia, Scythia, and Egypt before the war.

Possibly what the map of the
world by Hecataeus of Miletus
looked like (6th century BC)

The Scythians lived as nomads in the steppe north of the Black
Sea and Caspian Sea that the Persians under King Darius tried
unsuccessfully to add to his empire, the Greeks saw it as a semi-
mythic place at the ends of the earth peopled by many fantastic
men and animals. The Persians could never subdue them, since
they were nomads there were no cities the Persians could
conquer, the Scythians retreated rather than fight openly, drawing
the Persians further and further into unknown lands, harassing
them in raiding parties, until the Persians had to withdraw when
they were running low on supplies.

The Achaemenid Empire at its greatest territorial
extent, under the rule of Darius I (522 BC to 486 BC).
Caspian Sea
Black Sea

HERODOTUS: FATHER OF HISTORY
Was Herodotus the Father of History, or the Father of Lies?
Scholars debate this question, but we know for sure that his
history is the primary source for the history of the Greek-Persian
Wars. The unlikely victory of the quarrelling Greek city states over
the mighty Persian Empire set the stage for the decades long
Peloponnesian Wars between Athens and Sparta. Both these
events formed the political background for the Trial and Execution
of Socrates and all of the Platonic dialogues, which formed the
basis for the Western Philosophical and Political Tradition.

(REPEAT) The scholar JB Bury lists these three maxims of historical
criticism used by Herodotus:
1.“Suspect superhuman and miraculous occurrences.” But
portents, oracles and dreams are acceptable. And Herodotus
will retell mythic stories from the distant past, often as if they
were history.
The Oracle at Delphi has a special place in histories written by
both Herodotus and Thucydides. The oracle was consulted
multiple times in both wars, and was consulted by a companion of
Socrates himself, so the oracle played a direct role in Greek
politics.

Priestess of Delphi
(1891) by John
Collier, showing
the Pythia sitting
on a tripod with
vapor rising from a
crack in the earth
beneath her
View of Delphi with Sacrificial
Procession by Claude Lorrain, late 1600’s

The scholar JB Bury lists these three maxims of
historical criticism used by Herodotus:
1. “Suspect superhuman and miraculous occurrences.”
But portents, oracles and dreams are acceptable.
And Herodotus will retell mythic stories from the
distant past, often as if they were history.
2. “When you are confronted by conflicting evidence
or differing versions of the same event, keep an
open mind. But this does not save him from a biased
acceptance of Athenian tradition.”
3. “Autopsy and firsthand oral information are superior
to stories at second hand, whether written or oral.
This tends to take the naïve form, ‘I know, for I was
there myself,’ and it placed Herodotus at the mercy
of the vergers and guides in Egyptian temples.”

What did Herodotus think about the gods? He had no problem
retelling origin myths involving the gods taking place many
centuries ago, like how Hercules peoples a land in Scythia with a
woman who was snake from the waist down, but he refrains
from claiming they are active in the world today or in living
memory. Believe it or not, archaeologists have discovered
ancient Scythian images of a half-human half-snake goddess-like
figures.

Copy after the Painting by Rubens "The Council of Gods“, Renoir, 1861

(REPEAT) JB Bury writes that Herodotus “was in certain ways so lacking in common sense that parts
of his work might seem to have been written by a precocious child. He undertook to write the
history of a great war; but he did not possess the most elementary knowledge of the conditions of
warfare. His fantastic statements of the impossible numbers of the army of Xerxes exhibits an
incompetence which is almost incredible and is alone enough to stamp Herodotus as more of an
epic poet than a historian.”
Perhaps Herodotus was aiming more to be an epic poet, though working in prose, than an
academic historian. We do know that Herodotus was the Father of Travelogues, the first four books
review the culture and history of Persia, Scythia, and Egypt. Herodotus lacks the intellectual rigor of
modern academic historians; he is more comparable to a modern movie producer. He wrote his
books so they could be read at religious festivals and other public gatherings, he wanted his books
to be entertaining, so he includes many anecdotes, descriptions, and stories simply because they
are interesting. As JB Bury notes, Herodotus “has a wonderful flair for a good story; and gracious
garrulity with which he tells historical anecdotes is one of the charms which will secure him readers
till the world’s end. Gibbon happily observes that Herodotus “sometimes writes for children and
sometimes for philosophers.”

JB Bury writes that Herodotus “was in certain ways so
lacking in common sense that parts of his work might seem
to have been written by a precocious child. He undertook to
write the history of a great war; but he did not possess the
most elementary knowledge of the conditions of warfare.
His fantastic statements of the impossible numbers of the
army of Xerxes exhibits an incompetence which is almost
incredible and is alone enough to stamp Herodotus as more
of an epic poet than a historian.”
JB Bury notes, Herodotus “has a wonderful flair for a good
story; and gracious garrulity with which he tells historical
anecdotes is on of the charms which will secure him readers
till the world’s end. Gibbon happily observed that Herodotus
“sometimes writes for children and sometimes for
philosophers.”

What is more wonderful that the delightful story
Herodotus retells of the Amazons, the fierce women
warriors in Scythia? In the Scythian language, Amazon
meant “man-killer,” they are forbidden to marry until they
have killed an enemy in battle. Even today Gal Gadot more
than keeps up with even Batman and Superman.

The Amazons in ancient Scythia were just as enticing and
threatening. Like the Persians and Scythians both, they
were skilled at horsemanship.

Amazons, Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein, painted 1820

Amazons, Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein, painted 1820
When the Amazons invaded Scythia, Herodotus tells us that they made “no further attempt to kill the
invading Amazons, but they sent a detachment of their youngest men, about equal in number, with orders
to camp near them and take their cue from whatever it was the Amazons then did: if they pursued them,
they were not to fight, but to give ground; then, when the pursuit was abandoned, they were once again
to encamp nearby. The motive was the Scythian’s desire to get children by the Amazons.”

Amazons and Scythians, Otto van Veen, painted 1600's
“The Amazons,
realizing the men
meant no harm,
ignored them, so
each day the two
camps drew
closer together.
Neither party had
anything but
their weapons
and their horses,
so both lived by
hunting and
plundering.”

During dinner and drinks the ladies had to go off in ones or twos to diddle in the
bushes, and some ran into young men diddling, and soon they were dallying, and
then the Amazons brought their friends, and the camps united and everyone was
dallying, but the Amazon ladies did not want to settle down, so they jointly
continued their hunting and raiding parties, living happily ever after.
HERODOTUS AND EGYPT
Herodotus discusses Egypt in the second book of his Histories, provided both cultural
background and the conquest of Egypt by the Persian King Cambyses.
Did Herodotus visit Egypt personally? Or did Herodotus merely copy the travelogues
of Hecataeus or repeat eyewitness accounts of other Greeks who visited Egypt. His
stories of Egypt are almost as fantastical as those stories about Scythia. His
inaccuracies cause some scholars to wonder.

Sphinx &
Pyramid
of Giza,
postcard
1905

Although his description of a crocodile suggests he actually
saw a crocodile, he totally botches his description of a
hippopotamus. The Greek word for a hippo is a river-horse,
and he repeats Hecataeus in describing what the term
“river-horse” would suggest, “an animal that has four legs,
cloven hoofs like an ox, a horse’s main and tail, conspicuous
tusks, and a voice like a horse’s neigh.”

Boating on the River Nile, by Frank Dean, painted 1899

My opinion is Herodotus did travel to Egypt. He recounts the Egyptian
version of the story of the Trojan Prince Paris, who abducted the already
married Helen from the palace of King Menelaus. Herodotus could not
have made up a story like this, the source must have been Egyptian.
Although Herodotus does not retell them, the myths surrounding Helen
of Troy would have been known to all Greeks, and we will retell them
here, especially since these were a favorite of painters, and they are very
curious myths. In one myth, Helen was the daughter of the god Zeus and
the mortal Leda. An eagle was chasing Zeus who had taken on the form
of a swan, and to escape the eagle this divine swan sought refuge with
Leda, and they enjoyed a mutual affection, and Leda laid an egg, and out
of the egg hatched Helen, daughter of Leda and the swan, Zeus!

Leda and
the Swan
by Adolphe
Gumery,
1900.
Leda and the
Swan, by
Leonardo da
Vinci, 1515

When it was time for the beautiful Helen to marry, many of the Greek
kings and princes wooed here, bringing many gifts. Odysseus had the
suitors promise that whoever won the hand of Helen, the others would
defend the chosen husband against whoever would quarrel against them.
After the suitors agreed, King Menelaus was chosen as her husband.
Why did Paris abduct Helen? In this myth Eris, the goddess of discord,
throws a golden apple into a banquet held by Zeus, and the three
goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite claim the golden apple. They
asked Zeus to say who among them was the fairest and most deserving of
the apple,

Golden Apple of Discord, by
Jacob Jordaens, painted 1638

But Zeus stays out of it, and delegates this unpleasant task to
Paris so he can judge between them. The three goddesses
attempt to bribe Paris, Hera offers to make him king of
Europe and Asia, Athena offers him wisdom and skill in war, but
Aphrodite promises him the most beautiful woman in the world,
Queen Helen.

The Choosing By Paris by Enrique Simonet, c. 1904.

Helen is already married, so Paris goes to visit the palace of
King Menelaus, where he seduces and abducts Helen, with
the help of Aphrodite. In the Egyptian version of the story
told to Herodotus, on his way back to Troy, the ship of Paris
and Helen of Troy is driven to the Egyptian shore by bad
weather. Some of his slaves seek refuge and tell the
Egyptians how Paris had abducted Helen from her palace.
They are brought before King Proteus of Egypt, according to
Herodotus,

The Abduction of
Helen, Giuseppe
Angeli, painted
late 1700’s

The Abduction of Helen (1539) by Francesco Primaticcio, with Aphrodite directing
Proteus upbraids Paris, “I
should punish you for the
sake of your Greek host. To
be welcomed as a guest, and
to repay that kindness by so
foul a deed! You are a villain.
You seduced your friend’s
wife, and, if that were not
enough, persuaded her to
escape with you on the
wings of passion you roused.
But though I cannot punish a
stranger with death, I will
not allow you to take away
your ill-gotten gains: I will
keep this woman and the
treasure, until the Greek to
whom they belong chooses
to come and fetch them.”

This story makes sense to Herodotus, why else would the Trojans slog through a
bloody war for a solid decade? If Helen were in Troy, they would simply give her back
to the Greeks and tell them to go back to Greece. But then Homer could not have
written the epic poem, the Iliad, with the many stories of Paris and Helen and their
conflicted love, if Helen of Troy was instead Helen in Egypt.
Herodotus tells us another humorous story about Queen Nitocris of Egypt. She
inscribed on her tomb, “If any king of Babylon hereafter is short of money, let him
open my tomb and take as much as he likes. But this must only be done in case of
need. Whoever opens my tomb under any other circumstances will not benefit.”
Of course, King Darius of Persia opens the tomb, where he reads this inscription, “If
you have not been insatiably greedy and eager to get money by despicable means,
you would never have opened the tomb of the dead.”

Objects in the
Tomb of Pharaoh
Tutankhamun.
Photograph taken
by Harry Burton in
1922

Herodotus fancied that Egypt was source of Greek culture of religion
because of its great antiquity. When the Greeks went back over a dozen
generations to the time of the Trojan Wars, many of their Greek ancestors
were descended from the gods, but the Egyptians claimed they could go
back hundreds of generations. Herodotus thought at the time that the
pyramids were two thousand years old, but they were several millennia
older.
The stories about Egypt and Scythia are fantastical and of little use to
history scholars. Scholars theorize that some Egyptian priest tour guides
are pulling his leg in many of these stories, so we will let you read more of
these tall tales.

Study and Genius unveil
ancient Egypt to Greece,
François-Édouard Picot,
painted 1827

HERODOTUS BEGINS WITH PERSIA AND EGYPT
What were the root causes of the Greco-Persian Wars? There was
always tension between the Greeks in Europe and the Persians in Asia,
especially among the Greek city-states under Persian rule on the
western Mediterranean coast of Persia.
Capturing concubines was part of the warrior culture of the Greek city-
states, and the ancient world in general, as the Iliad itself is about how
the honor of Odysseus is offended when Agamemnon seizes Briseis, the
concubine Odysseus captured in battle, after the god Apollo forces
Agamemnon to relinquish his concubine Chryseis to her father, a priest
of Apollo. Students over the ages complain about how close these
names are, but you can imagine what Agamemnon said to Odysseus,
Briseis, Chryseis, what is the difference?

The Abduction of Briseis from the Tent of Achilles, by Johann Heinrich Tischbein, painted 1773

The Abduction of Briseis from the Tent of Achilles, by Johann Heinrich Tischbein, painted 1773
Herodotus confirms this dark
side of Greek life when he says,
“Abducting young women,” in
the opinion of the Greek
warriors, “is not a lawful act;
but it is stupid to make a fuss
about avenging it. The only
sensible thing to take no notice;
for it is obvious that no young
woman allows herself to be
abducted is she does not wish
to be.” Herodotus does not miss
a chance to denigrate the
Persians, as the Persians “took
the seizure of the women lightly
enough, but not the Greeks,”
who “raised a large army,
invaded Asia and destroyed the
empire of King Priam.”

(REPEAT) Herodotus has many fantastic stories about women in strange
lands. Herodotus says that the Babylonians share this custom with the
Eneti in Illyria: “In every village, once a year, all the girls of marriageable
age are gathered, while the men stand round them in a circle; an
auctioneer then calls each one in turn to stand up and offers her for sale,
beginning with the prettiest.” “Marriage was the object of the
transaction. The rich men bid against each other for the prettiest girls,
while the humbler folk, who had no use for good looks in a wife, were
actually paid to take the ugly ones.” How preposterous! This is less like
history and more like gossip from the Greeks in Ionia about how barbaric
the barbarian Persians were.

Edwin Long's 1875 interpretation of The Babylonian Marriage Market as described by Herodotus in Book 1 of the Histories

Edwin Long's 1875 interpretation of The Babylonian Marriage Market as described by Herodotus in Book 1 of the Histories
Herodotus “In every
village, once a year, all the
girls of marriageable age
are gathered, while the
men stand round them in a
circle; an auctioneer then
calls each one in turn to
stand up and offers her for
sale, beginning with the
prettiest.” “Marriage was
the object of the
transaction. The rich men
bid against each other for
the prettiest girls, while
the humbler folk, who had
no use for good looks in a
wife, were actually paid to
take the ugly ones.”

Herodotus may have fooled the great German
commentator on Deuteronomy, Gerhard von Rad. In his
discussion on temple prostitution he summarizes from
Herodotus, how Babylonian “women offer themselves
to sanctuaries in consequence of a vow.” He references
where Herodotus tells us about a shameful Babylonian
custom where every woman, rich and poor, “must once
in her life go and sit in the temple of Aphrodite and
there give herself to a strange man.” “Once a woman has
taken her seat she is not allowed to go home until a man
has thrown a silver coin into her lap and taken her
outside to lie with her. After that, her duty to the
goddess is discharged and she may go home, after which
it will be impossible to seduce her by any offer, however
large.” We can surmise that Herodotus is at his least
reliable when he describes the love lives of barbarians.
Venus, Cupid, Folly and Time, 1545, by Bronzino

CURSE ON KING GYGES AND HOUSE OF CROESUS
Croesus of Lydia was the first Asian tyrant to conquer the Greek
colonists in Ionia. He lost his kingdom both from his foolish
hubris, and by the fulfilling of a curse on Gyges for another act
of hubris, his ancestor five generations back. Gyges was the
bodyguard for King Candaules, and his story was a favorite
among painters, and we shall see why.

Candaules, King of Lydia, Shews his Wife by Stealth to Gyges, One of
his Ministers, as She Goes to Bed, William Etty, painted 1830
The king told Gyges, “It
appears you don’t believe me
when I tell you how lovely my
wife is. Well, a man believes
his eyes better than his ears,
contrive to see her naked.”
“Gyges gave a cry of horror.
‘Master,’ he said, ‘what an
improper suggestion! Do you
tell me to look at the queen
when she has no clothes on?
No, no, when she takes off her
clothing, she does away with
her shame!”

As students of ancient history know, what kings want,
kings get, and so he hid Gyges behind the curtain to spy
on his wife as she disrobed. Yes, the queen did notice, she
kept her anger to herself, she did not indicate to the king
her observation.

Candaules Showing His Wife to Gyges by Jacob
Jordaens, c. 1646.
The Queen had a plan to ease her shame,
the next day she summoned for Gyges to
appear. “Gyges, there are two courses open
to you, and you may take your choice
between them. Kill Candaules and seize the
throne, with me as your wife; or die
yourself on the spot, so that never again
may your blind obedience to the king tempt
you to see what you have no right to see.
One of you must die; either my husband,
the author of this wicked plot; or you, who
have outraged propriety by seeing me
naked.”

WOW, true love knows no bounds. This love triangle ensnares everyone
in a web of hubris and deceptions.
KING CROESUS, FIRST ASIAN KING TO CONQUER THE GREEKS OF IONIA
King Croesus was known for his fabulous wealth, even today we often say
that someone is “as rich as Croesus.” History and archaeology reveal that
Croesus was an early king who first learned how to melt down precious
metals and strike them into coins, metal from his rich mines in Lydia,
which is roughly the western half of Asia Minor, or today’s Turkey.
We know the discussion in Herodotus between Solon and Croesus was
chronologically impossible, but it is a discussion that should have
happened. Solon was the famed law-giver to Athens who, after his laws
were put into place, travelled around the Mediterranean so his laws
could not be amended.

Croesus
showing his
treasures to
Solon, Frans
Francken the
Younger,
painted 1620

(REPEAT) When Solon visited the court of King Croesus, the king
asked Solon, “I have heard about your wisdom, and how widely
you have travelled in the pursuit of knowledge. I cannot resist my
desire to ask you a question: who is the happiest man you have
ever seen?” The answer Croesus wanted to hear was that he was
the happiest of men, since he was so wealthy.
Solon said that Tellus was the happiest man, because in battle
“he fought for his countrymen, routed the enemy, and died a
brave man; and the Athenians paid him the high honor of a
public funeral on the spot where he fell.”

Solon before King Croesus, by Nikolaus Knüpfer, painted 1652

Solon before King Croesus, by Nikolaus Knüpfer, painted 1652
When Solon visited the court of King Croesus, the king asked
Solon, “I have heard about your wisdom, and how widely you have
travelled in the pursuit of knowledge. I cannot resist my desire to
ask you a question: who is the happiest man you have ever seen?”
Solon said that Tellus was the happiest man, because in battle “he
fought for his countrymen, routed the enemy, and died a brave
man; and the Athenians paid him the high honor of a public
funeral on the spot where he fell.”

Croesus did not pick up on the moral lesson, but thinking
he might get second prize, asked Solon, who was the next
happiest person?

Cleobis and Biton, by Jean Bardin, painted 1764
Solon said that Cleobis and
Biton were the next
happiest of men. Their
mother wanted to drive
their oxcart to the festival
at the temple of the
goddess Hera. The oxen had
not yet come in from the
fields, so her two sons,
Cleobis and Biton, dragged
their mother in the cart for
six miles to the temple. The
crowds crowed about how
lucky their mother was to
have such two fine,
dedicated sons!

Cleobis and Biton, by Adam Mueller, painted 183
Their mother, in sheer pleasure at how the public
praised her sons, prayed in the temple to the
goddess Hera to grant her sons “the greatest
blessing that can fall to mortal men.”
Be careful what you pray for. Should the mother
have prayed this prayer? Herodotus does not
provide us her name, which says to us that
perhaps her prayer was not a good prayer. Hera
granted her wish, the two lads “fell asleep in the
temple, and that was the end of them, for they
never woke again. The Argives, considering them
to be the best of men, had statues made of
them, which they sent to Delphi.”

In both these stories, and also the Iliad, we are reminded
that in a warrior culture like the Greek culture, you gain
everlasting glory from the deeds you perform that are
retold many times by future generations.
Croesus did not like this answer either.

Cleobis and Biton, by Jean-Simon Berthelemy, painted 1649
Solon then tells Croesus, “Man is
entirely a creature of chance.”
“Great wealth can make a man
no happier than moderate
means, unless he has the luck to
continue in prosperity to the end.
Many rich men have been
unfortunate, and many with a
modest competence have had
good luck.” “Though the rich
have the means to satisfy their
appetites and to bear calamities,
the poor, if they are lucky, are
more likely to keep clear of
trouble, and will have besides the
blessings of a sound body, health,
freedom from trouble, fine
children, and good looks.”

Cleobis and Biton, by Nicolas Loir, painted 1649
“Now if a favored
man dies as he has
lived,” he may die
happy. But “until he is
dead, keep the word
‘happy’ in reserve.
Until death, he is not
happy, but only
lucky.” “The man who
dies a peaceful death
is happy.”

Croesus may have died happy, but he did not die rich. Later he learned of
a new king named Cyrus who was expanding his territory to the East of
Lydia. King Croesus decided to consult the Oracle of Delphi, he was
uncertain whether he should see if King Cyrus wanted to attack Lydia, or
whether he should launch a pre-emptive strike against the young king.
With his request Croesus sent lavish gifts of solid gold with his query to
the god Apollo at the Oracle of Delphi. But King Croesus did not heed the
inscription carved on the Temple at Delphi: KNOW THYSELF. He did not
sufficiently ponder the response given by the Oracle, “If Croesus attacks
the Persians, he would destroy a great empire.”
Having received what he thought was a favorable answer, he was greedy
for more good news, so sent another query, asking if his reign would be a
long one.

(REPEAT) Likewise, he did not deeply ponder the meaning of the next response from the priestess
of Apollo:
“When comes the day that a mule shall sit on the Median throne,
Then, tender-footed Lydian, by pebbly Hermus
Run and abide not, nor think it shame to be a coward.”
Instead, Croesus interpreted the oracle’s answer literally, and prepared to attack the young King
Cyrus, since there would never sit a mule on the throne of the Medes. So, King Croesus crossed
the River Halys and attacked the kingdom of Cyrus. The two armies fought hard all day, the fight
was even, and Cyrus withdrew. But after Croesus withdrew back over the Halys, and released his
mercenary forces, Cyrus followed the reduced forces of King Croesus and decisively defeated him.
Herodotus notes, “the oracle was fulfilled; Croesus had destroyed a mighty empire, his own.”
Cyrus was the mule, Cyrus the Great was half Persian, half Mede, sitting on both thrones. We will
let you read the story why Cyrus spared his life, and how Croesus became a trusted advisor to King
Cyrus the Great, since he gained in wisdom what he lost in wealth.

Priestess of Delphi (1891) by John Collier,
showing the Pythia sitting on a tripod with vapor
rising from a crack in the earth beneath her.
Likewise, he did not deeply ponder the meaning of the next response
from the priestess of Apollo:
“When comes the day that a mule shall sit on the Median throne,
Then, tender-footed Lydian, by pebbly Hermus
Run and abide not, nor think it shame to be a coward.”
Instead, Croesus interpreted the oracle’s answer literally, and
prepared to attack the young King Cyrus, since there would never sit a
mule on the throne of the Medes.
Herodotus notes, “the oracle was fulfilled; Croesus had destroyed a
mighty empire, his own.” Cyrus was the mule, Cyrus the Great was
half Persian, half Mede, sitting on both thrones. We will let you read
the story why Cyrus spared his life, and how Croesus became a trusted
advisor to King Cyrus the Great, since he gained in wisdom what he
lost in wealth.

One moral lesson to learn from this incident is when Croesus requests
from Cyrus “permission to reproach Apollo for his deceit,” since
Croesus thought that the Delphic Oracle’s advice to fight Cyrus was so
misleading. This frank request humored Cyrus, and when Croesus sent
envoys to the Oracle with this query, he instructed them “to ask if it
was the habit of Greek gods to be ungrateful.” Croesus thought Apollo
was ungrateful, Herodotus lists at length the many gifts of gold and
treasure Croesus shipped to Delphi, Croesus had donated a large
chunk of his fortune to bribe the favor of Apollo and the gods.
The priestess of Apollo responded that “the gods themselves could
not escape destiny,” a common theme of Greek mythology as that
even almighty Zeus had very limited power to alter the judgement of
the Fates. The Oracle reminded him of the curse of Gyges. The
priestess informed Croesus that she did intervene to postpone Cyrus’
invasion by three years; and reminded him that Apollo did save him
from his funeral pyre. Also, he should have inquired further about
whose empire he was going to destroy.

Summing up these moral lessons, we can conclude that we will have
limited success when we try to bribe God, and that consultants we hire
will often tell us what we want to hear, or at best provide advice
diplomatically. Here the Greek maxim written on the Temple at Delphi,
KNOW THYSELF, counsels us to realize our own prejudices so we can
honestly evaluate the advice and counsel provided by our friends and
acquaintances, by our pastors and counselors, by Scriptures and Church
teachings. We must also note that when Croesus lost his wealth, the
oracle could be brutally honest, they no longer were under any
compunction to tell him what he wanted to hear.

Astyages's dream (France,
15th century)
BIRTH AND BOYHOOD OF CYRUS THE GREAT
Originally the Medes were the dominant kingdom, the Persians
were conquered by the Medes. Herodotus says that the Mede
King “Astyages had a daughter called Mandane, and he
dreamed one night that she urinated in such enormous
quantities that it filled his city and swamped the whole of Asia.”
When consulted, his wise magi were alarmed, and rather than
marry her to a Mede Prince, he married her to a safe Persian,
Cambyses, “of good family and quiet habits,” so their child
would not have wholly royal blood flowing in his veins.
After the wedding, King Astyages had a more alarming dream
about his pregnant daughter, “a vine grew from his daughter’s
private parts and spread over Asia.” He consulted with his magi,
the dream was clear, that child would grow up to be a usurper
of his throne.

King Astyages of Media, orders Harpagus
to kill young Cyrus, Jean-Charles Nicaise
Perrin, painted late 1700's
After Cyrus was born, he
instructed his loyal
steward, Harpagus, to
take and kill the child.
Harpagus sent for the
herdsman Mitradates,
“who knew a stretch of
pasture in the mountains
ranged by wild beasts,
most suitable for the task
at hand.”

Harpagus bring infant Cyrus to shepherd,
by Sebastiano Ricci, painted 1708
.
Who would want to expose a sweet child, our
sweet Cyrus, to the beasts? Not Mitradates.
His wife was worrying about her husband being
summoned to the palace, Mitradates was
worrying about his wife heavy with child. She
burst out crying, putting her arms around the legs
of her husband, begging him not to expose the
child, much like inexperienced warriors did in the
Iliad when they did not wish to be slaughtered.
“My own child,” his wife said, “was born today,
born dead. Take the body and expose it, and let
us bring up Mandane’s son as our own.” “Our
dead baby will have a royal burial, and this live
one will not be killed.”

Childhood of King Cyrus, by Antonio Maria Vasallo, late 1600's
How was Cyrus
discovered? He was
playing ‘King’ with the
other boys in the
village near the palace,
and the other boys
selected Cyrus, son of
the herdsmen, as king.
One of the boys, son
of a distinguished
Mede, refused to do
what the boy “King”
Cyrus told him to do,
so Cyrus “beat him
savagely with a whip.”

Childhood of King Cyrus, by Antonio Maria Vasallo, late 1600's This Mede dad brought the boys
before King Astyages, who gazed
at Cyrus, but that was not his
name then, asking, “Have you, the
son of a slave, the impudence to
handle in this outrageous manner
a boy whose father is my most
distinguished subject?”
“Master,” little Cyrus replied
“there was nothing wrong in what
I did to him. We boys in the village
were playing our game, and they
made me king, because they
thought I was the best man to
hold the office. The others obeyed
my orders, but he did not; he took
no notice of me, until he was
punished. That is what happened;
and if I deserve to suffer for it, I
am ready.”

Childhood of King Cyrus, by Antonio Maria Vasallo, late 1600's Herodotus tells us,
“Astyages guessed who he
was, for that was not the
answer of a slave;
moreover, the boys
features resembled his
own, and his age fit the
date of the exposure.” King
Astyages welcomed his
grandson with open arms.
The magi did not want to
have the boy killed, so they
said that Cyrus had already
been king in this little
game, and that “even our
regular prophecies are
sometimes fulfilled in
apparently small incidents,
and dreams often work out
in trivial ways.”

Kings do as they please, the king told Harpagus there was no hard
feelings. But the king was upset that his steward did not follow orders,
the king was upset that he deceived him. So the king invited him and his
son to a banquet, where the cook chopped up the son, roasting and
boiling the meat.

Herodotus tells us, “Dishes of
mutton were placed in front
of everyone else, but to
Harpagus was served the flesh
of his son.” “When Harpagus
had eaten as much as he
wished, King Astyages asked
him if he had enjoyed his
dinner.” Harpagus said yes,
indeed, and then the servants
“brought in the boy’s head,
hands, and feet in the covered
dish, stood by Harpagus’ chair
and told him to lift the lid and
take what he fancied.”
Feast of Herod, Peter Paul Rubens, painted early 1600’s

We used as our picture a similar story of St John the Baptist, how
the evil daughter of Herodias requested that the head of St John
the Baptist be given to her on a platter. Quite possibly the
painter, Rubens, had the feast of Harpagus in mind when he
painted the feast of Herod, the Gospels do not say that the head
of the saint was presented at a banquet.

The Defeat of Astyages, Designed by Maximilien de Haese, Woven by Jac. van der Borght, 1775
Harpagus kept
his cool, when
Astyages asked
him what flesh
he had eaten,
Harpagus simply
replied, “I know,
my lord, may the
king’s will be
done.” Harpagus
did not forget,
hubris always
bodes ill.

The magi did advise that Cyrus be
sent back to Cambyses palace in
Persia, where he was received with
delight. After Cyrus had grown up to
“be the bravest and most popular
young man in Persia”, Harpagus was
conspiring with dissatisfied nobles,
and sent Cyrus a note that now was
the time. Cyrus threw a banquet for
the army of Persia in a large field, he
spoke to them, “Take my advice and
win your freedom. I am the man
destined to undertake your
liberation, and it is my belief that
you are a match for the Medes in
war as in everything else. It is the
truth I tell you. Do not delay; fling off
the yoke of Astyages at once.”

When Astyages
assembled his army, he
appointed Harpagus as
commander in chief!
Most of the army of
the Medes defected to
Cyrus, there was not
much of a fight. Later
the Medes rebelled,
the Persians put down
the rebellion. But Cyrus
was not interested in
revenge, Herodotus
tells us that “Cyrus
treated Astyages with
great respect and kept
him at his court until
he died.”

There was conflict between the Persians and the Greek
cities in Ionia, on the west coast of Asia Minor. These
cities sent a delegation to Sparta asking for help, but
the Spartans declined, instead dispatching a fifty-oared
galley to Ionia to warn Cyrus “not to harm any Greek
city or they would take action.” Cyrus asked some
Greeks, who are these people, how could they “dare to
send him such a command?”
Cyrus answered the Spartan herald, “I have never yet
been afraid of men who have a special meeting place in
the center of their city, where they swear this and that
and cheat each other.” His successors would learn that
the mainland Greeks were of sterner stuff than the
Ionian Greeks. Was this small incident a premonition
about the future Greco-Persian Wars?
Three Spartan Boys Practising Archery, Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, painted 1812

His general Harpagus subdued the Greek cities of Ionia while Cyrus
traveled with his army to the east where he conquered Babylon, and
Herodotus tells us many grand stories about his battlefield exploits, but
alas, there are few if any paintings of Cyrus conquering Babylon,
although Herodotus spins many yarns about these conquests, so we will
skip Babylon.
CYRUS MEETS HIS END ON THE BATTLEFIELD
In the Histories of Herodotus, Cyrus the Great loses his life when the
armies of Queen Tomyris of the Massagetae defeated him in battle.
They were a Scythian race at the far eastern end of the Persian Empire
east of the Caspian Sea, where many of the Russian Muslim republics
are today.

Head of Cyrus Brought to Queen Tomyris, Peter Paul Rubens, painted 1623

Head of Cyrus Brought to Queen Tomyris, Peter Paul Rubens, painted 1623
Cyrus first offered Tomyris
his hand in marriage, but as
Herodotus notes, “he was
met with a refusal, for the
queen was well aware that
he was wooing not herself
but her dominions.”

"Cyrus Defeats Spargapises", designs by Michiel Coxie,
woven at workshop of Albert Auwercx, late 1600’s
Since these Scythians were nomads not
accustomed to the luxuries and delicacies the
Persians enjoyed, his trusted advisor Croesus
suggested a clever strategy: the Persians
would setup a massive tempting banquet
guarded by his weakest troops but withdraw
and conceal the main force. Sure enough, a
third of the Massagetae army, commanded by
the son of Tomyris, Spargapises massacred
this rump force, and “at once took their seats
and began to regale themselves, and ate and
drank so much they fell asleep,” and they
were massacred by the main Persian force.

Tomyris and Head of Cyrus, Frankenthal porcelain, Karl Gottlieb
von Lück, Creator: Frankenthal Porcelain Manufactory, 1773
This treachery infuriated our nomad
queen, and her army won after many
hours of close fighting with bows and
arrows and spears and daggers,
overwhelming and destroying the
Persian Army. Herodotus tells us, “After
the battle Tomyris ordered a search to
be made amongst the Persian dead for
the body of Cyrus; and when found she
pushed the head into a skin which she
had filled with human blood, and cried
out as she committed this outrage,
‘Though I have conquered you and live,
yet you have ruined me by treacherously
taking my son. See now, I fulfill my
threat: you have your fill of blood.’”

Xenophon, who also wrote the history of the
Peloponnesian War picking up where Thucydides left off,
also wrote a history of Cyrus the Great, in his version
Cyrus the Great died peacefully in his sleep. However,
archeologists and modern historians debate many of the
details in both these histories.

Cyrus the Great of Persia, who permitted the
Hebrews to return to the Holy Land and rebuild
God's Temple, by Jean Fouquet, circa 1470
Herodotus leaves out completely
in his history the incident that is so
important to Jews and Christians,
how after he conquered Babylon,
King Cyrus allowed the Jews and
other conquered peoples forcibly
removed to Babylon to return
home to their native land. Cyrus
the Great even helped fund the
rebuilding of the Jewish Temple in
Jerusalem.

KING CAMBYSES, CONQUEROR OF EGYPT
In Herodotus, before his last battles Cyrus dreamed that Darius would take over his throne.
Herodotus says this dream did not reveal treachery as Cyrus thought; but was instead a
prophecy that Cyrus would soon lose his throne. Consequently, Cyrus sent his son Cambyses
with his trusted advisor Croesus back to Persia, so they survived.
Cambyses conquered much of Egypt for Persia, which Herodotus describes in Book II. Herodotus
views Cambyses as being "half-mad, cruel, and insolent," and committing acts of arrogance and
hubris like sending his army on campaigns crossing the desert without adequate supplies. There
are many stories about Cambyses in Book II of the Histories that covers Egypt. He ruled for only
eight years, Herodotus says his death was brought on by an act of hubris when he stabbed the
sacred Apis Bull, causing its death. Cambyses was succeeded by his brother Smerdis per
Herodotus, Smerdis in Greek, Bardiya in Persian, who ruled for only a few months before he was
overthrown by conspirators led by King Darius, who is also mentioned in several books of the
Old Testament.

Meeting Between Cambyses II and Psammetichus III, by Adrien Guignet, painted around 1850

Smerdis, not
Bardiya,
Per Herodotus

KING DARIUS ASCENDS TO THE THRONE
One of the most notable and the most unlikely debates in the Histories
occur between the conspirators who include Darius, unlikely because
they are debating which form of government is superior, a democracy,
an oligarchy, or a monarchy. How many conspirators keep notes of their
secret discussions? If they did, would they share them with Herodotus?
This is clearly a Greek debate inserted into the mouths of the Persian
conspirators. Herodotus himself acknowledges that many in the
audience will not believe they occurred.

King Darius Meeting Scythian emissaries, Franciszek Smuglewicz, after 1785
Since King Darius would be an absolute
monarch, we know that his argument
supporting monarchy will be the final word.
But the debate opens with the assertion that
“monarchy is neither pleasant nor good.”
“The typical vices of a monarch are envy and
pride; envy, because it is a natural human
weakness, and pride, because excessive
wealth and power lead to the delusion that
he is something more than a man. These two
vices are the root cause of all wickedness:
both lead to acts of savage and unnatural
violence.”
But under a democracy, “under a
government of the people a magistrate is
appointed by lot and is held responsible for
his conduct in office, and all questions are
put up for debate.”

King Darius Meeting Scythian emissaries, Franciszek Smuglewicz, after 1785
But, in favor of an oligarchy, “the masses are a
feckless lot, nowhere will you find more ignorance
or irresponsibility or violence. It would be an
intolerable thing to escape the murderous caprice
of a king, only to be caught up by the equally
wanton brutality of a mob.” “The masses handle
affairs without thought; all they can do is rush
blindly into politics like a river in a flood.”
In the closing speech, Darius favors monarchy.
“One ruler: it is impossible to improve upon that,
provided he is the best.” “In an oligarchy, the men
competing for distinction leads to personal feuds,”
“which can lead to civil wars and bloodshed.” In
democracies, “admiration of the mob” for a ruler
often results in absolute rule.” His closing
argument, we should preserve the monarchy, “we
should refrain from changing ancient ways, which
have served us well in the past.”

The Hall of Hundred Columns, Throne Hall, in Persepolis, Persia, Cyrus’ Ceremonial Capitol, SW Iran.

Darius the Great would preside over the Persian Empire at its
greatest extent, and he would lead the first failed expedition to
conquer mainland Greece after subduing the restless Greeks in
Ionia on his western shores. He would find the mainland Greeks
to be more resolute and determined than the Greeks in Ionia,
which he would learn when he invades Greece and is defeated.

And his son King Xerxes would learn this lesson again when he
raises both a massive army and navy and is defeated again by
the brave, determined and disciplined Greeks, and Aeschylus
gives us what perhaps is an eyewitness account of the complete
defeat of the more numerous Persian Navy in the Battle of
Salamis.

SOURCES: Although this is a rather long video, there are many delightful stories that Herodotus
spins that we did not include. You may want to skip directly to Book 5 or Book 6 to read first his
account of the Greco-Persian Wars, historians agree that much of the background stories in the
first four books on Persia, Egypt, and Scythia is fanciful, legendary, or mythological, especially
the book on Egypt. If you want to skip around in your reading of the first four books, you can
consult the outline on Dr Wikipedia’s article on the Histories. We recommend this Penguin
Classics edition for the footnotes, we cannot imagine trying to read Herodotus without
footnotes.
We highly recommend this collection of Yale classroom essays of the ancient Greek historians by
Professor Bury, though they were compiled in 1909, they remain very timely today.
We also highly recommend the Great Courses by Professor Vandiver. The first half dozen
lectures provide excellent background on ancient Greek history up to the time of Herodotus.
Most of her lectures are a consensus of scholarly opinion, as we see the themes in her lectures
repeated in many other lectures on ancient Greece.

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The Great Courses on the Greek-Persian Wars by
Professor Hale also provided interesting
archaeological evidence used by modern historians
to add to and correct the classical literary evidence
that is our primary sources.

Please support our channel, order from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3kQAeOO

Especially interesting is his lecture on Persia, where
describes how, in the late 1800’s, Henry Rawlinson, a
young British East India Officer deciphered the Behistun
cuneiform Inscription found carved into a mountainside
in what is now central Iran. This is a royal decree early in
the reign of King Darius announcing his triumphs in
securing the throne. The carvers chiseled away the stairs
providing easy access to the inscriptions so future kings
would find it more difficult to chisel away the message.

Behistun Inscription deciphered by Henry Rawlinson, a British East India Officer:
Punishment of captured impostors and conspirators: Gaumāta lies under the boot of
Darius the Great. Right: Closeups showing cuneiform characters.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuneiform

To find the source of any direct
quotes in this blog, please type in
the phrase to the search box in
my blog to see the referenced
footnote.
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Herodotus, Histories of Persia, Egypt and Scythia Before the Greco-Persian Wars

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