Paper Assignment: (50 points) Greek and Persian world views Please refer to the attached primary source readings. Essay: After reading the attached primary source selections, please answer the following question as thoroughly as you can in an essay between 2-3 standard (double-spaced, one-inch margins on sides, 1.5 top and bottom, 12-point font) typewritten pages long. Question: Most scholars would describe Sparta as a repressive slaveholding police state, dependent as it was on a massive population of servile agricultural labors called helots, who were kept subjugated through terror and physical violence. Athens, the other important Greek city-state, also had a huge population of slaves, many worked to death in the citys many silver mines. In contrast, Persia is portrayed in your textbook as a rather enlightened and well-governed empire (for the time period) that was, in many ways, far more culturally advanced than any of its Greek opponents. Nevertheless, the Persians also possessed huge populations of slaves and the empire itself was ruled as an absolute monarchy. The primary source readings that I have chosen come from both Persia and Greece. The first is a translation from a Persian inscription written in the sixth-century BC which outlines the good deeds of the Persian Great King Cyrus towards the (recently conquered by Persia) city of Babylon. The second is a Biblical account of Cyruss positive acts of religious tolerance towards the Hebrews. The Greek accounts include a famous story by the Greek historian Herodotus comparing Greek and Persian opinions on what is good and an excerpt from a play by the Greek (Athenian) playwright Euripides that outlines typical Greek ideas about slavery. ESSAY QUESTION: What characteristics of Persian rule, revealed in the primary sources, were highlighted as attractive by the authors of those sources? Using the Greek sources as a contrast, speculate as to why the Greeks would find those Persian ideas of what is good governance unsatisfactory. Which civilization had the better idea of what constitutes a successful, stable, and ultimately happy society in your considered opinion? THE PERSIANS The CYRUS CYLINDER From: The following is an inscription from the famous Cyrus Cylinder (currently housed in the British Museum). The Cylinder is a proclamation made by the Persian Great King Cyrus on the occasion of his conquest of Babylon in Mesopotamia in 539 . It is written in the style of previous Mesopotamian civilizations and it is intended to demonstrate how great and magnanimous Cyrus was as a ruler and how respectful he was of the local customs and the local religious traditions even though he was a foreigner. I am Cyrus, king of the universe, the great king, the powerful king, king of Babylon, king of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters of the world, son of Cambyses, the great king,, king of the city of Anshan, grandson of Cyrus, the great king, ki[ng of the ci]ty of Anshan, descendant of Teispes, the great king, king of Anshan, the perpetual seed of kingship, whose reign Bel and Nabu love, and with whose kingship, to their joy, they concern themselves. When I went as harbinger of peace i[nt]o Babylon I founded my sovereign residence within the palace amid celebration and rejoicing. Marduk*, the great lord, bestowed on me as my destiny the great magnanimity of one who loves Babylon, and I every day sought him out in awe. My vast troops marched peaceably in Babylon, and the whole of [Sumer] and Akkad had nothing to fear. I sought the welfare of the city of Babylon and all its sanctuaries. As for the population of Babylon [, w]ho as if without div[ine intention] had endured a yoke not decreed for them, I soothed their weariness, I freed them from their bonds. Marduk, the great lord, rejoiced at [my good] deeds, and he pronounced a sweet blessing over me, Cyrus, the king who fears him, and over Cambyses, the son [my] issue, [and over] my all my troops, that we might proceed further at his exalted command. All kings who sit on thrones, from every quarter, from the Upper Sea to the Lower Sea, those who inhabit [remote distric]ts (and) the kings of the land of Amurru who live in tents, all of them, brought their weighty tribute into Shuanna, and kissed my feet. From [Shuanna] I sent back to their places to the city of Ashur and Susa, Akkad, the land of Eshnunna, the city of Zamban, the city of Meturnu, Der, as far as the border of the land of Qutu – the sanctuaries across the river Tigris – whose shrines had earlier become dilapidated, the gods who lived therein, and made permanent sanctuaries for them. I collected together all of their people and returned them to their settlements, and the gods of the land of Sumer and Akkad which Nabonidus to the fury of the lord of the gods had brought into Shuanna, at the command of Marduk, the great lord, I returned them unharmed to their cells, in the sanctuaries that make them happy. May all the gods that I returned to their sanctuaries, every day before Marduk and Nabu, ask for a long life for me, and mention my good deeds, and say to Marduk, my lord, this: Cyrus, the king who fears you, and Cambyses his son, may their [] [.]. The population of Babylon call blessings on my kingship, and I have enabled all the lands to live in peace. Every day I copiously supplied geese, two ducks and ten pigeons more than the geese, ducks and pigeons []. I sought out to strengthen the guard on the wall Imgur-Enlil, the great wall of Babylon, and [] the quay of baked brick on the bank of the moat which an earlier king had bu[ilt but not com]pleted, [I ] its work. [ which did not surround the city] outside, which no earlier king had built, his troops, the levee from his land, in/to Shuanna. [] with bitumen and baked brick I built anew, and completed its work. [] great [doors of cedarwood] with copper cladding. I installed all their doors, threshold slabs and door fittings with copper parts. *Marduk was the chief god of the Babylonians. The BIBLE From: The second passage below is from the Hebrew Bible (Ezra 1: 1-8). It is compared to an excerpt from the Cyrus (Kurash) Cylinder (Prism) which you can also see above. Even though the current consensus among historians is that the proclamation on the Cylinder did not imply the liberation of the Hebrews and that Cyrus (if indeed he did do so) liberated the Hebrews with another (as yet undiscovered) proclamation, the two passages are juxtaposed here because the Hebrews certainly believed that it was Cyrus who had liberated them. Because they believed he was chosen by YHWH to do so, the Hebrews gave Cyrus the title Messiah (leader/chosen one). He is the only non-Hebrew in the Bible so designated. From The Kurash Prism: I am Kurash [ “Cyrus” ], King of the World, Great King, Legitimate King, King of Babilani, King of Kiengir and Akkade, King of the four rims of the earth, Son of Kanbujiya, Great King, King of Hakhamanish, Grandson of Kurash, Great king, King of Hakhamanish, descendant of Chishpish, Great king, King of Hakhamanish, of a family which always exercised kingship; whose rule Bel and Nebo love, whom they want as king to please their hearts. When I entered Babilani as a friend and when I established the seat of the government in the palace of the ruler under jubilation and rejoicing, Marduk, the great lord, induced the magnanimous inhabitants of Babilani to love me, and I was daily endeavoring to worship him…. As to the region from as far as Assura and Susa, Akkade, Eshnunna, the towns Zamban, Me-turnu, Der as well as the region of the Gutians, I returned to these sacred cities on the other side of the Tigris the sanctuaries of which have been ruins for a long time, the images which used to live therein and established for them permanent sanctuaries. I also gathered all their former inhabitants and returned them to their habitations. Furthermore, I resettled upon the command of Marduk, the great lord, all the gods of Kiengir and Akkade whom Nabonidus had brought into Babilani to the anger of the lord of the gods, unharmed, in their former temples, the places which make them happy. From The Hebrew Bible, Ezra 1:1-8: In the first year of Cyrus, king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord inspired King Cyrus of Persia to issue this proclamation throughout his kingdom, both by word of mouth and in writing: “Thus says Cyrus, king of Persia: “All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord, the God of heaven, has given to me, and he has also charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever, therefore, among you belongs to any part of his people, let him go up, and may his God be with him! Let everyone who has survived, in whatever place he may have dwelt, be assisted by the people of that place with silver, gold, and goods, together with free will offerings for the house of God in Jerusalem.’ Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin and the priests and Levites—everyone, that is, whom God had inspired to do so—prepared to go up to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. All their neighbors gave them help in every way, with silver, gold, goods, and cattle, and with many precious gifts besides all their free-will offerings. King Cyrus, too, had the utensils of the house of the Lord brought forth which Nebuchadnezzar had taken away from Jerusalem and placed in the house of his god. Cyrus, king of Persia, had them brought forth by the treasurer Mithredath, and counted out to Sheshbazzar, the prince of Judah. THE GREEKS HERODOTUS The Histories Book VII chapters 133-135 From: The following passage describes an encounter between two Spartan envoys to Persia, Sperthias and Bulis, and a Persian governor named Hydarnes which probably occurred around 481 . About a decade or so before, as the Persian Great King Darius was preparing to invade Athens, he sent two ambassadors to Sparta. The purpose of the embassy was to convince the Spartans to take an oath of submission to Persia (Earth and Water) in order to head off an alliance between the two major Greek city-states. Those Persian ambassadors were killed by the Spartans. Given that the killing of envoys went against all the accepted rules of hospitality and diplomacy and was considered by many cultures of the Near East as something that would incur divine wrath, the Spartans decided to make amends by sending two volunteers to Persia as sacrificial victims. The Persian Empire was by then under the rule of Darius son, Xerxes (who, when they finally reached him, very generously decided to let the Spartans return home alive). On their way to the Persian capital, the Spartan envoys were entertained as honored guests in the house of a Persian noble named Hydarnes. The following excerpt is from conversation between Hydarnes and his Spartan guests: King Xerxes had sent no heralds either to Athens or Sparta to ask earth and water, for a reason which I will now relate. When Darius some time before sent messengers for the same purpose, they were thrown, at Athens, into the pit of punishment, at Sparta into a well, and bidden to take therefrom earth and water for themselves, and carry it to their king. On this account Xerxes did not send to ask them. What calamity came upon the Athenians to punish them for their treatment of the heralds I cannot say, unless it were the laying waste of their city and territory; but that I believe was not on account of this crime. On the Lacedaemonians*, however, the wrath of Talthybius, Agamemnon’s herald, fell with violence. Talthybius has a temple at Sparta; and his descendants, who are called Talthybiadae, still live there, and have the privilege of being the only persons who discharge the office of herald. When therefore the Spartans had done the deed of which we speak, the victims at their sacrifices failed to give good tokens; and this failure lasted for a very long time. Then the Spartans were troubled; and, regarding what had befallen them as a grievous calamity, they held frequent assemblies of the people, and made proclamation through the town, “Was any Lacedaemonian willing to give his life for Sparta?” Upon this two Spartans, Sperthias, the son Aneristus, and Bulis, the son of Nicolaus, both men of noble birth, and among the wealthiest in the place, came forward and freely offered themselves as an atonement to Xerxes for the heralds of Darius slain at Sparta. So the Spartans sent them away to the Medes** to undergo death. Nor is the courage which these men hereby displayed alone worthy of wonder; but so likewise are the following speeches which were made by them. On their road to Susa they presented themselves before Hydarnes. This Hydarnes was a Persian by birth, and had the command of all the nations that dwelt along the sea-coast of Asia. He accordingly showed them hospitality, and invited them to a banquet, where, as they feasted, he said to them:- “Men of Lacedaemon, why will ye not consent to be friends with the king? Ye have but to look at me and my fortune to see that the king knows well how to honor merit. In like manner ye yourselves, were ye to make your submission to him, would receive at his hands, seeing that he deems you men of merit, some government in Greece.” “Hydarnes,” they answered, “thou art a one-sided counsellor. Thou hast experience of half the matter; but the other half is beyond thy knowledge. A slave’s life thou understandest; but, never having tasted liberty, thou canst not tell whether it be sweet or no. Ah! hadst thou known what freedom is, thou wouldst have bidden us fight for it, not with the spear only, but with the battle-axe.” So they answered Hydarnes. *Lacedaemonians is another word for Spartans. **Medes, in Herodotus, is another word for Persians. Euripides Helen (412 .) From: The following excerpt is from a play written by the Athenian playwright Euripides. It is an account of the legendary exile of Helen of Troy to Egypt. Throughout the course of the play, Helen is portrayed as a victim of cruel circumstance and as a plaything of fate. In this passage, she laments her exile among the Egyptians (the Greeks called all non-Greeks barbarians) and makes an interesting observation about barbarian politics and society in the section bolded below. HELEN: Good friends, to what a fate am I united? Did not my mother bear me to be a monster to the world? For no woman, Hellene or barbarian, gives birth to babes in eggs enclosed, as they say Leda bare me to Zeus. My life and all I do is one miracle, partly owing to Hera, and partly is my beauty to blame. Would God I could rub my beauty out like a picture, and assume hereafter in its stead a form less comely, and oh! that Hellas* had forgotten the evil fate that now I bear, and were now remembering my career of honor as surely as they do my deeds of shame. Now, if a man doth turn his eyes to a single phase of fortune, and meets ill-usage at heaven’s hands, ’tis hard no doubt; but still it can be borne; but I in countless troubles am involved. First, although I never sinned, my good name is gone. And this is a grief beyond the reality, if a man incurs blame for sins that are not his. Next, have the gods removed me from my native land, to dwell with men of barbarous ways, and bereft of every friend, I am become a slave though free by birth; for amongst barbarians all are slaves but one**. *Hellas means Greece in Greek. **Meaning, of course, the ruler.
