Depiction of the Persians in Herodotus quotes

Evidence for effemincy

‘They wear median dress, deeming it more beautiful than their own’

Evidence against effeminacy

‘The worth of a man is shown first by his prowess in battle, and then by the number of his sons’

Evidence for cruelty

‘The Magi kill every creature, except dogs and men…they make it an important competition between themselves’

Evidence against cruelty

‘not even the king may put a man to death for one crime only’

Evidence for rigid hierarchies

‘He may not pray only for good fortune for himself alone, he must instead pray for the sake of all the Persians and particularly for the king.’

Evidence for slavishness

‘if one is much lower than the other’ in status ‘then he…kisses the ground’ in greeting

Evidence against slavishness

‘They consider themselves to be the best of all men in every way by far.’

Evidence for slaves to passions

‘They usually make decisions on the most important matters when they are drunk’

Evidence against slaves to passions

they reconsider ‘when they have sobered up’ and only ‘move forward with the plan’ if it still seems like a good idea

Evidence for different religion

‘They do not set up and use statues, or temples, or altars’

Evidence against different religion

Herodotus describes the Persians as worshipping ‘Zeus’ and ‘Aphrodite’ which they did not. He says that they call Aphrodite ‘Mitra’ but Mitra was a male deity.

Evidence for different customs

‘A Persian man is not buried until his corpse has been torn by a bird or a dog.’

Evidence against different customs

‘They have adopted pederasty from the Greeks.’