CULTURAL RESPONSES TO THE PERSIAN WARS: ANTIQUITY TO THE THIRD MILLENNIUM; ED. BY EMMA BRIDGES

Cultural Responses to the Persian Wars addresses the huge impact on subsequent culture made by the wars fought between ancient Persia and Greece in the early fifth century BC. It brings together sixteen interdisciplinary essays, mostly by classical scholars, on individual trends within the reception of this period of history, extending from the wars' immediate impact on ancient Greek history to their reception in literature and thought both in antiquity and in the post-Renaisssance world. Extensively illustrated and accessibly written, with a detailed Introduction and bibliographies, this book will interest historians, classicists, and students of both comparative and modern literatures. Contents......Page 8 List of Illustrations......Page 10 List of Contributors......Page 13 Note on Abbreviations......Page 17 SECTION I. ARCHETYPAL THEME......Page 18 1 Introduction......Page 20 2 The Impact of the Persian Wars on Classical Greece......Page 48 3 Xerxes' Homer......Page 64 4 The View from Eleusis: Demeter in the Persian Wars......Page 82 SECTION II. ANCIENT VARIATIONS......Page 100 5 Plato and the Persian Wars......Page 102 6 The Persian Wars in Fourth-Century Oratory and Historiography......Page 122 7 Images of the Persian Wars in Rome......Page 144 8 De Malignitate Plutarchi: Plutarch, Herodotus, and the Persian Wars......Page 162 SECTION III. RENAISSANCE AND ENLIGHTENMENT REDISCOVERY......Page 182 9 Aeschylus' Persians via the Ottoman Empire to Saddam Hussein......Page 184 10 Operatic Variations on an Episode at the Hellespont......Page 218 11 'Shrines of the Mighty': Rediscovering the Battlefields of the Persian Wars......Page 248 SECTION IV. NATIONHOOD AND IDENTITY......Page 282 12 From Marathon to Waterloo: Byron, Battle Monuments, and the Persian Wars......Page 284 13 Enacting History and Patriotic Myth: Aeschylus' Persians on the Eve of the Greek War of Independence......Page 316 14 The Persian Wars as the 'Origin' of Historiography: Ancient and Modern Orientalism in George Grote's History of Greece......Page 348 15 'People Like Us' in the Face of History: Cormon's Les Vainqueurs de Salamine......Page 372 SECTION V. LEONIDAS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY......Page 398 16 Xerxes Goes to Hollywood......Page 400 17 The Guts and the Glory: Pressfield's Spartans at the Gates of Fire......Page 422 A......Page 440 B......Page 443 C......Page 444 D......Page 446 E......Page 447 F......Page 449 G......Page 450 H......Page 451 I......Page 453 K......Page 454 L......Page 455 M......Page 456 N......Page 458 P......Page 459 R......Page 463 S......Page 464 T......Page 466 W......Page 469 Z......Page 470 Contents 8 List of Illustrations 10 List of Contributors 13 Note on Abbreviations 17 SECTION I. ARCHETYPAL THEME 18 1 Introduction 20 2 The Impact of the Persian Wars on Classical Greece 48 3 Xerxes' Homer 64 4 The View from Eleusis: Demeter in the Persian Wars 82 SECTION II. ANCIENT VARIATIONS 100 5 Plato and the Persian Wars 102 6 The Persian Wars in Fourth-Century Oratory and Historiography 122 7 Images of the Persian Wars in Rome 144 8 De Malignitate Plutarchi: Plutarch, Herodotus, and the Persian Wars 162 SECTION III. RENAISSANCE AND ENLIGHTENMENT REDISCOVERY 182 9 Aeschylus' Persians via the Ottoman Empire to Saddam Hussein 184 10 Operatic Variations on an Episode at the Hellespont 218 11 'Shrines of the Mighty': Rediscovering the Battlefields of the Persian Wars 248 SECTION IV. NATIONHOOD AND IDENTITY 282 12 From Marathon to Waterloo: Byron, Battle Monuments, and the Persian Wars 284 13 Enacting History and Patriotic Myth: Aeschylus' Persians on the Eve of the Greek War of Independence 316 14 The Persian Wars as the 'Origin' of Historiography: Ancient and Modern Orientalism in George Grote's History of Greece 348 15 'People Like Us' in the Face of History: Cormon's Les Vainqueurs de Salamine 372 SECTION V. LEONIDAS IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY 398 16 Xerxes Goes to Hollywood 400 17 The Guts and the Glory: Pressfield's Spartans at the Gates of Fire 422 Index 440 A 440 B 443 C 444 D 446 E 447 F 449 G 450 H 451 I 453 J 454 K 454 L 455 M 456 N 458 O 459 P 459 Q 463 R 463 S 464 T 466 U 469 V 469 W 469 X 470 Y 470 Z 470 9780199279678 Oxford University Press ## Abstract This book addresses the huge impact on subsequent culture made by the wars fought between ancient Persia and Greece in the early 5th century bc. It brings together sixteen interdisciplinary essays, mostly by classical scholars, on individual trends within the reception of this period of history, extending from the wars' immediate impact on ancient Greek history to their reception in literature and thought both in antiquity and in the post-Renaissance world. Addressing The Huge Impact On Subsequent Culture Made By The Wars Fought Between Ancient Persia And Greece In The Early 5th Century Bc, This Book Brings Together 16 Interdisciplinary Essays On Individual Trends Within The Reception Of This Period Of History. Edited By Emma Bridges, Edith Hall, And P.j. Rhodes. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.