This chapter considers the rich set of traditions Herodotus reports about the origins of the Medes and the Persians. It first investigates the traditions regarding Perseus and his descendants, which are discussed and alluded to by Herodotus far more often than any other tradition concerning the origins of a barbarian people, and highlights the important role played by the genealogical link between Perseus and the Persians in the propaganda against Argos in the aftermath of the Persian wars. Thus through the interpretatio Graeca of the origines Persarum, the Spartans could present Argives and Persians as one and the same threat; and at least in one case (9,12) this idea may not have been totally groundless. The paper next considers the great army list of book 7, in which the origins the Persians are presented in detail. After illustrating the phenomen evident elsewhere in the Histories of the double-root of traditions about the origins of a people, with a distinction between the people and their eponymous hero on the one hand, and the ancestor of the royal dynasty on the other (as in the case of the Dorians in the Peloponnese, whose kings are descendants of Heracles and therefore have different origins from those of the people), it addresses the possibility of a similar double-root to Herodotus’ traditions about the origins of the Persians and their kings. Various passages of the Histories indeed supply two different approaches to the origins of the Persian Kings, one of which contains Persians elements (a linear genealogy going back to Achemenes: 7.11.2; cf. 3.75.1), while the other is purely Greek and connects them with Perseus (on Perseus: 1.125.3; cf. 7.220.4), and 1.125.3 may be seen as the point of greatest friction between Greek and Persian traditions about the origins of the Persian kings.

The Mythical Origins of the Medes and the Persians / Vannicelli, Pietro. - STAMPA. - (2012), pp. 255-268. [10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199693979.003.0011].

The Mythical Origins of the Medes and the Persians

VANNICELLI, PIETRO
2012

Abstract

This chapter considers the rich set of traditions Herodotus reports about the origins of the Medes and the Persians. It first investigates the traditions regarding Perseus and his descendants, which are discussed and alluded to by Herodotus far more often than any other tradition concerning the origins of a barbarian people, and highlights the important role played by the genealogical link between Perseus and the Persians in the propaganda against Argos in the aftermath of the Persian wars. Thus through the interpretatio Graeca of the origines Persarum, the Spartans could present Argives and Persians as one and the same threat; and at least in one case (9,12) this idea may not have been totally groundless. The paper next considers the great army list of book 7, in which the origins the Persians are presented in detail. After illustrating the phenomen evident elsewhere in the Histories of the double-root of traditions about the origins of a people, with a distinction between the people and their eponymous hero on the one hand, and the ancestor of the royal dynasty on the other (as in the case of the Dorians in the Peloponnese, whose kings are descendants of Heracles and therefore have different origins from those of the people), it addresses the possibility of a similar double-root to Herodotus’ traditions about the origins of the Persians and their kings. Various passages of the Histories indeed supply two different approaches to the origins of the Persian Kings, one of which contains Persians elements (a linear genealogy going back to Achemenes: 7.11.2; cf. 3.75.1), while the other is purely Greek and connects them with Perseus (on Perseus: 1.125.3; cf. 7.220.4), and 1.125.3 may be seen as the point of greatest friction between Greek and Persian traditions about the origins of the Persian kings.
2012
Myth, Truth, and Narrative in Herodotus
9780199693979
Erodoto; Persiani; Achemenidi
02 Pubblicazione su volume::02a Capitolo o Articolo
The Mythical Origins of the Medes and the Persians / Vannicelli, Pietro. - STAMPA. - (2012), pp. 255-268. [10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199693979.003.0011].
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11573/395443
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