Persia

Write the first paragraph of your page here.

Geography
Aeschylus: The Chorus of Elders calls Persia a “rich and gold-strewn land” ; a messenger calls Persia a “vast haven for wealth” ; The Ghost of Darius refers to “sheep-nourishing Asia”. Herodotus: The “Persians believe that they own Asia and the barbarian peoples who live there, while they view Europe and all things Greek as separate”. The Medes and later the Persians believe that their land is at the center of the world (1.134 = RECW 10.4, p. 218). Assyria constitutes one-third of Asia’s wealth. Assyria/Babylonia does not receive much rain, but nevertheless is the most fruitful land for the production of grain due to the use of water from the Tigris and Euphrates.

Physical Appearance
Xenophon describes Astyages as wearing eye liner, face paints and false hair, which he says is the practice of the Medes as well as the wearing of purple clothing, necklaces and bracelets. Philostratus the Lemnian describes the painter’s representation of the King’s tiara, royal robe, Median cloak with wide sleeves and barbarian patterns.

Custom
Herodotus: It is the custom of the Persians to not “set up statues, temples, or altars, but consider those who do so foolish.” They instead perform their sacrifices on high mountain peaks, and sacrifice to Zeus as well as the winds, fire, water, earth, and both the sun and the moon. Along with these, the Persians imported the worship of Aphrodite, who they call Mithra, from the Assyrians. The Persians do not pray for themselves, but rather for their king and for “all Persians”. Rather than sacrifice in a manner similar to the Greeks, they instead cut up a sacrificial animal, boil the meat, place it on a bed of soft grasses or clover, and then has a Magus recite the story of the origin of the gods, which is considered a proper spell for sacrifices. Sacrifice is not permitted without a Magus. For the Persians, the most important day for an individual is their birthday, which they celebrate with extravagant feasts. Persians serve multiple courses, and despite not serving many wheats or grains they serve multiple desserts. They believe that the Greeks lack good food, hence why the Greeks themselves do not feast in such a manner as the Persians do. The Persians consider it bad form to vomit or urinate in the company of others while drinking. The Persians are known to make important plans while drunk, and then while sober they decide if the plan they devised is going to be effective or not, though they are also known to become inebriated in order to think over plans which were made while sober. Relative rank in society amongst Persians can be determined by their public interactions. Equals will kiss each other on the mouth, if one is of slightly lower status, they kiss on the cheek, and if there is a significant disparity in status the one of lower status prostrates himself on the ground in front of the other, more highly ranking, individual. The Persians view other cultures in terms of their proximity to Persia itself: those nations closest to Persia are considered to benefit most from its excellence, while those furthest away are treated with far more disdain due to their lack of contact with Persia. Persians seem keen to adopt the customs of other cultures. These include the Median form of dress, which they consider more extravagant, the Egyptian fashion of breastplate for battle, and pederasty, which Herodotus claims they adopted from the Greeks. Persian masculinity is based on a man’s ability in war and his ability to produce numerous children. The king even rewards men who produce the most sons with gifts throughout the course of the year. Male children are kept out of their father’s sight and with the women until the age of 5, so as to prevent the father grieving if the child dies while nursing. From the age of 5 to the age of 20 the child is trained in only three things: horse riding, archery, and speaking the truth. The Persians consider lying to be the worst habit, then debt (as debt supposedly makes one prone to lying). The Persians also weigh one’s good deeds against one’s crimes before deciding a punishment. It is also believed that no man would murder his father and that if a son is in fact found out to have murdered his father, it must have been the case that the son was the result of an affair and not actually the dead man’s son. All Persian names end in a sigma, as well. The Persians practice a form of sky burial in which a corpse must be torn apart by birds and dogs before it is buried, and their Magi believe in killing everything with their own hands with the exception of men and dogs, often going out of their way to kill ants, snakes, and other animals.

Religion
Herodotus describes Persian conceptions of their divinities, as well as prescribed ritual acts associated with propitiating the divinities. The Persians did not set up temples to divinities, or even describe their divinities in anthropomorphic terms. Instead, “they sacrifice to the sun and moon as well as to the earth, fire, water, and the winds”. From the Assyrians and the Arabians, the Persians learned to make sacrifices to Heavenly Aphrodite , a divinity who is also ritually treated in Babylonian custom. Persians are not permitted to set up altars, and instead of offering burnt sacrifices, they boil the meat and leave it out on the grass. Prayers are recited by a magus (priest) in the form of divine narratives. . The magi also dictate that men are not permitted to be buried until they are torn apart by birds and dogs. In Babylonian customs related to the cult of Aphrodite, local women are forced to engage in sexual acts in the temple once in their lifetime. Women are addressed by men with the words, “I summon you in the name of Mylitta,” which is the localized name for Aphrodite, prior to engaging in this sexual act. Within one large temple in the Zeus Belus precinct of Babylon, there are no images of the gods on the top floor, but a couch which is inhabited by a single woman, who is chosen from the class of priests to remain within the temple. The Chaldeans report that the god also rests on the couch. Elsewhere in the temple is a statue of seated Zeus, who is made of gold.

Language
Herodotus says of the Persians: “Their names, which are meant to reflect their physiques and their noble status, all end in the same letter, what the Dorians call san and the Ionians sigma. Philostratus the Lemnian: Themistocles uses the Median language when he comes to Babylon, following the battle at Salamis. This speech is not his native tongue, but he is “as bold as if he were standing on a speaker’s platform in Athens”.

Food
Persians can do whatever they want with the meat of a sacrifice. They make sure to place in on a bed of the softest grasses, preferably clover. As the birthday was the most important day, the feast an important part of it and demonstration of status. The wealthier serve ox, horse, camel and donkey. The poorer sever goat or sheep. They have many desert courses. They are devoted to wine. There are three tribes in Babylon that eat nothing but fish. They dry it, throw it into the mortar and grind it up before they either kneed it into cakes or bake it into a bread. Persians ambassadors discuss with Dicaiopolis of the customs of the royal court. They drink sweet wine from crystal and gold goblets, they were fed an entire ox in a baking pot, The boys in training eat home grain and bread, bitter-cress and a cup for drinking water from the river. During the reunion of the Medes Royal Family, Astyages sets out dishes of every kind, of every sauce and meat. Cyrus rejects it for bread and meat alone that will satisfy his hunger, instead of desiring tastes.

History
Herodotus: The conflict between the Persians and the Greeks came about, according to the Persians, because Phoenician traders kidnapped Io from Argos. Certain Greeks later kidnapped Europa from Tyre and Medea from Colchis, resulting in Alexander (Paris) stealing Helen from Greece under the pretense that it was simply a response to Greek injustice against those in the East. Therefore the Persians, according to Herodotus, trace the enmity between the Greeks and the barbarians of the East back to the stealing of wives by each side and the resulting Trojan War. The sack of Troy, specifically, is “the origin of their enmity with the Greeks.”

Animals
Herodotus: According to Herodotus, wealthy people serve ox, horse, camel and donkey at birthday feasts. Poor people serve goat or sheep. . He also tells us that no corpse is buried before it has been gnawed on by dogs or pecked by birds. The Magi also make sport of killing ants and snakes. The Persians also have donkeys that ride boats. The donkeys are used in the removal of the boat.