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Abstract
In The Clash of Civilizations (1996) Samuel Huntington placed the Persian Wars at the beginning of the long line of clashes between civilizations. To the modern reader the emphasis Huntington puts on the role played by religion in defining Athenian civilization and its conflict with the “barbarians” appears to be consistent with Herodotus’ position on these wars. However, this position overlooks the fact that the ancient polytheistic beliefs and cults implied a particular attitude to religion, unlike that of monotheistic religions. In the ancient Mediterranean world the temples and sacred places were to be universally respected and any violation of this rule was regarded as sacrilege that justified persecution of the wrongdoers, whose ethnicity was of no, or only of secondary, importance. The purpose of this article is to survey the main passages in Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon that treat the wars between the Greeks and Persians and between Greek city-states, and to demonstrate that the line dividing defenders (or avengers) of divine cults from offenders of the gods was not drawn between Greeks and barbarians, but between defenders and offenders.
Notes
This essay is partly based on a paper originally presented at ISSEI’s 15th International Conference, “What’s New in the New Europe?”, The University of Lodz, Poland, July 11–15, 2016.
1. Herodotus, Histories 8.144; hereafter cited in the text.
2. Huntington, Clash of Civilizations, 42.
3. Assmann, “Monotheism and Polytheism,” 17–30; Assman, Price of Monotheism, 31–35, Smith, God in Translation, 165; Tillich, Systematic Theology, 1.227; Cartledge, The Greeks, 167–69.
4. Parker, Polytheism and Society, 50–154.
5. Burkert, Greek Religion, 216–46; Bremmer, Greek Religion, 12–16; Dowden, “Olympian Gods,” 47–51.
6. Herodotus, Histories 1.181; 2.42, 2.58; 3.8.
7. Rudhardt, “Greek Attitude,” 178–80.
8. E.g., Cartledge, The Greeks, 171–74.
9. E.g., Herodotus, Histories 1.46; 2.182.
10. Parker, Polytheism and Society, 453.
11. Harrison, Writing Ancient Persia, 82–83.
12. Van der Spek, “Cyrus the Great,” 235.
13. E.g., Glover, Herodotus; Olmstead, History of the Persian Empire; Myres, Herodotus: Father of History; de Selincourt, World of Herodotus.
14. Van der Spek, “Cyrus the Great,” 234.
15. Harrison, Writing Ancient Persia, 74.
16. Kuhrt and Sherwin-White, “Xerxes’ Destruction.”
17. Lanni, “Laws of Wars,” 469–70 and 477–88.
18. Cf. Ober, Athenian Revolution, 57–62; Lateiner, “Heralds and Corpses,” 102; On sacrilege in the time of war, see Parker, Miasma, 171.
19. On translating nomina as “norms” cf. Hornblower, Commentary, 2.310.
20. Thucydides, Peloponnesian War, 4.97; hereafter cited in the text.
21. Hornblower, Commentary, 2.309.
22. Thucydides, Peloponnesian War 4.98, and Jordan, Religion in Thucydides, 129–30.
23. See, for example, Olmstead, History of the Persian Empire, 86–93; Briant, From Cyrus to Alexander, 49–61; Kuhrt, Persian Empire, 117–31; Asheri, Lloyd, and Corcella, Commentary, 423–36; How and Wells, Commentary, 1.264.
24. On the possibility of this kind of crime, see Harrison, Writing Ancient Persia, 76–77.
25. Sullivan, “Herodotus and Greek Religion,” 201; Asheri, Lloyd, and Corcella, Commentary, 435–36 (cautiously); cf. Cartledge, The Greeks, 74–75.
26. How and Wells, Commentary, 1.266.
27. Asheri, Lloyd, and Corcella, Commentary, 431–32; How and Wells, Commentary, 1.265; on the history of epilepsy, see Magiorkinis, Sidiropoulou, and Diamantis, “Hallmarks,” 104–5.
28. How and Wells, Commentary, 2.93.
29. Ibid.; Myers, Herodotus, 174–90.
30. How and Wells, Commentary, 2.93.
31. On the meaning of kataginōn, see ibid.
32. Parker, Miasma, 257–58.
33. For a recent detailed analysis of this frequently studied topic, see Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion.
34. Mikalson, Herodotus and Religion, 24–27.
35. Cf. How and Wells, Commentary, 2.61.
36. Lanni, “Laws of War,” 469–70.
37. Shaheen, “Isis in Palmyra”; Osborne, “Egypt Church Bombings.”
38. Thucydides, Peloponnesian War, 1.126; hereafter cited in the text.
39. For further details, see Filonik, “Athenian Impiety Trials.”
40. For a more detailed discussion, see Naiden, Ancient Supplication, 122–69.
41. Hornblower,Commentary, 2.202–5.
42. Stein, Herodotos, vol. III, 179; How and Wells, Commentary, 2.93.
43. Xenophon, Hell. 2.3.54–4.1; hereafter cited in the text.
44. For the significance of Theramenes’ death in the Xenophon’s account, see Wolpert, “Violence of the Thirty,” 216–22; for further discussion of the image of the Thirty Tyrants in Greek tradition, see Dillery, Xenophon, 139–46; Pownall, “Tyrants as Impious Leaders,” 57.
45. Ober, Athenian Revolution, 57–62; Lateiner, “Heralds and Corpses,” 102.
46. See note 9; cf. Van der Spek, “Cyrus the Great,” 235; Miles, “Burnt Temples,” 115.
47. On the traditional interpretation and alternative approach to the issue, see Sullivan, “Herodotus and Greek Religion,” esp. 192–95.
48. Cartledge, The Greeks, 185–86.
49. Rung, “Burning of Greek Temples,” 171–72.
50. Parker, “War and Religion,” 131; Rung, “Burning of Greek Temples,” 173.
51. Vlassopoulos, Greeks and Barbarians, esp. 161–225.
52. Forsdyke, “Herodotus,” 231.
53. Isocrates, Panegyricus, 4.150–53; Aristotle, Pol. 1285a.
54. Hippocrates, Aër. 16; Cartledge, The Greeks, 55–56.
55. Cartledge, The Greeks, 69, 158–60; Aristotle, Pol. 1285a.
56. Redfield, “Herodotus the Tourist,” 41–44.
57. Redfield, “Herodotus the Tourist,” 43–45; cf. Briant, “History and Ideology.”
58. Cartledge, The Greeks, 75–77.
59. Hall, Inventing the Barbarian, 121–22.
60. Cartledge, The Greeks, 68–69.
61. Rung, “Burning of Greek Temples.”
62. Hornblower, Commentary, 1.182.
63. Buckler, Philip II, 78.
64. On the First Sacred War, see Davies, “Tradition”; Sánchez, L’Amphictionie, 58–73. On the Second Sacred War, see Sánchez, L’Amphictionie, 106–15. On the Third Sacred War, see Buckler, Philip II; Sánchez, L’Amphictionie, 173–99. On the Fourth Sacred War, see Sánchez, L’Amphictionie, 227–44.
65. For further reading cf. Buckler, Philip II.
66. Parker, Miasma, 166–67.
67. Arian, Anabasis Alexandri, 3.18.12. On revenge in the context of Alexander’s expedition, see Rung, “Burning of Greek Temples.”