Historical Sciences Studies

The Image of Achaemenid Emperors in the Writings of Aeschylus and Herodotus: Comparing the Narratives

Ehsan allah Sebtosheikh; Farajollah Ahmadi; Roozbeh Zarrinkoob

Volume 15, Issue 4 , February 2024, , Pages 27-50

https://doi.org/10.22059/jhss.2024.370407.473680

Abstract

This Study depicts the narratives of Aeschylus and Herodotus about the Achaemenid emperors and tries to show how they gave a narrative about the Achaemenid emperors and what sources ... Read More This Study depicts the narratives of Aeschylus and Herodotus about the Achaemenid emperors and tries to show how they gave a narrative about the Achaemenid emperors and what sources they relied on in this regard. Its importance lies in a better understanding of Herodotus’s historiography and its use of Aeschylus’s narration among other sources. The main question and the problem that has been raised is to what sources did Aeschylus and Herodotus use in their narration and what narration they give. The approach and the research Methodology of this study is a thought. This means that it puts the narratives of Aeschylus and Herodotus next to each other to find out how they gave a narrative about the Achaemenid emperors. The thesis is that Aeschylus, who himself witnessed the Persian campaign, while giving a first-hand account, rewrote it based on the model of Greek tragedies, and Herodotus, while largely is influenced by Aeschylus’ account of the Achaemenid emperors and Xerxes’ campaign to Greece, he used other sources in his narration. As a result and data, the narratives of Aeschylus and Herodotus about the Achaemenid emperors and Xerxes’s campaign to Greece show similarities and differences. Based on the model of Greek tragedies, Aeschylus’s narrative tells the story of Xerxes’ campaign as a king whose delusions lead him to do brazen actions that involve an inevitable fate from the gods. Herodotus’ narrative is largely derived from Aeschylus’s narrative. The ups and downs that Herodotus depicts in the lives of the Achaemenid emperors and especially Xerxes and the influence of the intervention of gods and fate in their lives are all reminiscent of the ancient Greek tragedies, here specifically the Persians of Aeschylus. At the same time, Herodotus also uses other sources and gives more details than Aeschylus to show the reasons and agents of this campaign as a historian. Despite this, Aeschylus’s narrative is decades ahead of Herodotus’s narrative and is closer to the time of the event. Also, his narration of the Achaemenid emperors, as narrated by Atossa, Darius and Xerxes, has significant differences from Herodotus’s narration

The Persian Gulf and the Republishing of Iranian Culture and Traditions Until the End of the Safavid Period in the East

Hamid Asadpour; Farajollah Ahmadi; hossein eskandari

Volume 15, Issue 1 , May 2023, , Pages 1-21

https://doi.org/10.22059/jhss.2023.349102.473596

Abstract

Over time, roads have been identified as the vital economic arteries of nations, as they have been one of the fundamental factors and domains in the development of nations. The majority ... Read More

The Mongols’ Military Strategies and the Downfall of Baghdad (656 AH)

Farajullah Ahmadi; abolfazl salmani gavari; Shahabaldin Semnan

Volume 12, Issue 3 , December 2020, , Pages 1-24

https://doi.org/10.22059/jhss.2020.308712.473304

Abstract

Baghdad was the center of the caliphate of the Islamic world for more than five centuries. It was conquered by the Mongols in 656 AH, so this is the most important event in the political ... Read More

The Great Game and the Herat Question (1828 – 1838)

Farajolah Ahmadi; Arwin Ghaemian

Volume 11, Issue 2 , March 2020, , Pages 1-20

https://doi.org/10.22059/jhss.2019.278907.473098

Abstract

The Great Game of Russia and Britain, which began in the early nineteenth century, led to the confrontation of the two powers in Iran until the early twentieth century. The Russian-British ... Read More

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Author = Farajollah Ahmadi

The Image of Achaemenid Emperors in the Writings of Aeschylus and Herodotus: Comparing the Narratives

Abstract

The Persian Gulf and the Republishing of Iranian Culture and Traditions Until the End of the Safavid Period in the East

Abstract

The Mongols’ Military Strategies and the Downfall of Baghdad (656 AH)

Abstract

The Great Game and the Herat Question (1828 – 1838)

Abstract