Ancient battles have existed throughtout ancient history. Historically these battles were due to gaining total power of an empire or fighting for the resources these ancient lands provided the people. They were both located near the Mediterranean sea, allowing both empires to have similar quantity in their empires. These two empires were great and powerful,ut Persian 's empire was stronger than Greece empire because it had a larger skillful military. One example was Cyrus the Great and the Rise of Persia during 550-522 B.C.E. Persia was founded by Cyrus the Great, one of most brillant and powerful king.
Herodotus begins by describing the reasons for Darius invading Scythians. The Scythians, a century ago, invaded Media and defeated those who stood against them, thus starting the conflict with Persians. For the next twenty-eight years, they lorded the Upper Asia before returning home, only to discover a small army opposing their entrance (Herodotus, P.129) While the Scythians men were abroad, the women had intermarried with their slaves. Instead of fighting with the slaves, the military walked boldly into their territory because they thought that if they hold spears against their slaves, then the slaves might imagine themselves their equals.
If you were to think about a man with great abilities like being strong, courageous and intelligent, you could think of people you personally or like me, you could think of someone such as Odysseus. Odysseus fits the definition of an epic hero because he is quick thinking, strong and courageous. Odysseus is one quick thinking individual. He has gotten him and his crew out some some sticky situations with his clever plans. One of these plans were how to get away from Polyphemus, a cyclops who was the son of Poseidon.
Primary Source Analysis: The History of Herodotus; Book I: Clio The Histories, by Herodotus, is a detailed account of the aggression and later violence between the Greeks and Persians, and was the first ever written record of a historical event. It was due to its name and example that history has even been continuously recorded, and how Herodotus earned his nickname “The Father of History”. Because of it was separated into nine books, each named after one of the nine Muses, the focus of this analysis will be of Book I, Clio, which tells the beginning of the transgressions between the Greeks and the Persians.
Throughout history, there has been many battles in which two large and powerful empires fought to maintain land, fought over religion, or to gain an abundance of resources. These empires, the Greek and the Persian, were hostile towards each other at the time. Although these empires were quite similar, they were near direct opposites at the time.
The accounts of the defeat of Babylon from Herodotus and the Cyrus Cylinder are polar opposite, one defeat is through attack while the other is a peaceful take over. Herodotus’ version indicates that Cyrus was led by a need for power, Herodotus writes that after “having subdued the rest of the continent, [Cyrus] turned his attention to Assyria” (78). In Herodotus’ account, after Cyrus spent an entire summer “punishing” a river, he was met with Babylonians awaiting his arrival, and they “attacked him, but they were defeated and forced to retire inside their defences” (83). In order to concur Babylon, Cyrus manipulated Euphrates, allowing his troops to capture the outskirts “without the people in the centre knowing anything about it” (Herodotus 84). Herodotus’ version also states that the people of Babylon were happy before Cyrus invaded the city, they were celebrating during a festival and “continued to dance and enjoy themselves, until they learned the news the hard way” (84).
Herodotus defines the differences between the Greeks and Persians in his writings. One of the major differences between Greece and Persia is their governments. Herodotus identifies two main forms of government: a democracy such as Athens, and a monarchy such as Persia. Which form of governing is better? In a democracy, all men are hypothetically equal and there is no single ruler who is above the population.
According to the dictionary, a hero is “a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.” However, if one were to ask a general person who a hero is, the response in all likelihood would be along the lines of, “a hero is someone who selflessly sacrifices himself, out of the pure goodness of his heart, in order to help or save others.” The Odyssey, an epic poem written by Homer over three-thousand years ago, describes the long, difficult journey undertaken by the main character, Odysseus. Odysseus certainly fulfills the dictionary’s criteria for being considered a hero. He’s cunning, intrepid, brave and strong.
In the Symposium, Pausanias (Greek geographer) conveys the second speech which talks about a few of the societal standards representing homoerotic relationships. The way that a companion (an older man) and his lover ( a younger man) may act towards each other is largely based on what society accepts. It is shown that the totality of this relationship is pursuer/pursued; the older man takes the initiative in the relationship and is the dominant during sexual intercourse whereas the younger man would gain in return the assistance, support and mentor ship from the older man. For example, Pausanias articulates the ethical component when he talks about the conditions under which it is adequate to satisfy a
Mythological Hero and Trickster Importance Hero and Trickster characters play prominent roles in numerous stories from diverse cultures. They are archetypes which may be analyzed to provide insight into and compare modern and ancient cultures. They mutually serve as a means to teach something. When looking at these characters and their journey’s evidence of a culture’s values and ethics can be seen. The characteristics and actions of both heroes and tricksters are significant to a culture.
It is very dangerous to use cultural blindness and forget that different culture see different manners as acceptable. Every culture comes with different manners. While it is normal to have a stare eye contact, call people by their first name, be open and speaking up, etc. all of the above could be disrespectful in, as an example, Japan. Eye contact is in most Asian countries considered rude, calling someone by their first name is disrespectful, openness and speaking up is the opposite of the Japanese culture and goes against their believes.
Modern historian, Ateneus, once wrote that Etruscan women “Lie on the kline not only with their husbands but also with strangers and have relations with anyone willing to do so” (Lobner n.d, 357)1. This is illustrated in Figure 1 where the women are shown seated next to men in the banquet. Etruscan women, whether married or unmarried are allowed to dine and socialize with men on any occasion. In other societies, the only women who are allowed to join men in banquets are the prostitutes, thus the negative interpretation over the freedom of the Etruscan woman in attending these festivities. The Etruscan women are described by other Greek societies as having no morals and women who enjoyed pleasure rather than being upright. This was observed by other societies who do not understand the right and privilege accorded to them by the society.
As one can see, a husband and a wife are seated on the same lounger while being attended by a servant on their side. This artwork illustrated the great harmony of male and female love relationships in Etruscan society. In Figure 2, one can see how the female is touching the male's shoulder which was a significant gesture during that period as it was an act of female power and strongly displays Etruscan gender equality though one can suggest that such gesture can also be an act of affection from the woman to her man. Through observation, one can see in the image that the woman is holding the man's hand near her chest while looking at him affectionately which signifies that the man and woman were actually husband and wife and them reclining together was seen as a social norm during that era. According to the observation of Aristotle, the Etruscan husband and wives were also seen in a reclining position when they dined
In ancient Greece, a common saying that all citizens had in their very core, a traditional Greek principle, was this: love your friends, and hate your enemies. This rule seems pretty straightforward and would appear easy to apply in real life. However, in the timeless play Antigone, Sophocles shows his audience a situation where this maxim does not apply. Sophocles concentrates on a complex story where the values and principles of the ancient Greek culture come into conflict. Religious or moral versus secular, family versus community, and living versus dead: all of these conflicting aspects are explored in Antigone.
Most American people conserve eye contact while communicating, and also they are expertise in showing enthusiasm and compassion. When greeting in social situations women pat each other on the right forearm or on the shoulder, rather than shake hands where as men shake hands until they know someone well, at which time they progress to a more traditional hug and back slapping. conversation take place in close physical distance when stepping back may be regarded as unfriendly. generally, people refrain to use first names
