Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Department of History and Iranology, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran
2 Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Department of History and Iranology, Isfahan, Iran
Abstract
In the Menxenus dialogue, Plato describes a conversation between Socrates and the young Menxenus, and narrates a speech about the bravery of war martyrs. He attributes the writing of this speech to Aspasia, the mistress of the famous Athenian politician Pericles. In this speech, the bravery and military resistance of the Athenian troops against the Achaemenid army is praised as a masterpiece in the history of Athens. This speech shows the accepted and central narrative about the battles between the Achaemenids and the Greeks, which was endorsed by Athenian orators and politicians. In fact, Aspasia's speech, which the evidence shows was written based on the common structure of funeral speeches for Athenian soldiers, reflects the attitude approved by the Athenians regarding the Greco-Persian wars. For this reason, this text shows a unique face of the Achaemenians, which was imagined in a specific time and place, by the people of Athens, at the same time as Achaemenid empire. The current research has been done using the method of descriptive-analytical studies, and in it, various aspects of thinking about the Achaemenid Empire have been studied among Athenian political thinkers. Also, this information has been critically compared with the contents of other texts.In fact, Aspasia's speech, which the evidence shows was written based on the common structure of funeral speeches for Athenian soldiers, reflects the attitude approved by the Athenians regarding the Greco-Persian wars. For this reason, this text shows a unique face of the Achaemenians, which was imagined in a specific time and place, by the people of Athens, at the same time as Achaemenid empire. The current research has been done using the method of descriptive-analytical studies, and in it, various aspects of thinking about the Achaemenid Empire have been studied among Athenian political thinkers. Also, this information has been critically compared with the contents of other texts.
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