The Beginning of Evils (Herodotus 5.97) from a Persian Perspective
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Summary In a passage that uses a Homeric formula to invest the events with epic significance, Herodotus identified the moment Athenian ships participated in the sack of Sardis as “the beginning of evils for Greeks and Barbarians.” Behind that reference lies a complex web of past events involving human and metahuman actors, legible in different fashion from Greek and Persian perspectives. Focus on the latter brings to light religious aspects of imperial ideology, including Truth as the basis of cosmic order, the sacred nature of treaty commitments, and the palingenetic significance of the gifts of earth and water demanded by and presented to the Achaemenid King.
Source: Klio
Author: Bruce Lincoln
Institution: University of Chicago
Language: English
Topic: Classical Antiquity Studies
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,712
OpenAlex ID: W4416102874