Reference no: EM133471898

Now the Persian nation is made up of many tribes. Those which Cyrus assembled and persuaded to revolt from the Medes were the principal ones on which all the others are dependent. These are the Pasargadae, the Maraphians, and the Maspians, of whom the Pasargadae are the noblest. The rest of the Persian tribes are the following: the Panthialaeans, the Derusiaeans, the Germanians (who are engaged in animal husbandry); the Daans, theMardians, the Dropicans, and the Sagartians, who are nomads.The customs which I know the Persians to observe are the following: they have noimages of the gods, no temples nor altars, and consider the use of them a sign of folly. Thiscomes, I think, from their not believing the gods to have the same nature as men, as the Greeksimagine. They give offerings to the sun and moon, to the earth, to fire, to water, and to thewinds. These are the only gods whose worship has come down to them from ancient times. At alater period they began the worship of Urania, which they borrowed from the Arabians andAssyrians. Mylitta is the name by which the Assyrians know this goddess, whom the Arabianscall Alitta, and the Persians call Mitra.To these gods the Persians offer sacrifice in the following manner: they raise no altar,light no fire, pour no libations; there is no sound of the flute, no putting on of wreaths, noconsecrated barley-cake; but the man who wishes to sacrifice brings his victim to a spot ofground which is pure from pollution, and there calls upon the name of the god to whom heintends to offer. The sacrificer is not allowed to pray for blessings on himself alone, but he praysfor the welfare of the king, and of the whole Persian people, among whom he is of necessity included. He cuts the victim in pieces, and having boiled the flesh, he lays it out upon thetenderest herbage that he can find. When all is ready, one of the holy men comes forward andchants a hymn, which they say recounts the origin of the gods. It is not lawful to offer sacrificeunless there is a holy man present. After waiting a short time the sacrificer carries the flesh ofthe victim away with him, and makes whatever use of it he may please.Of all the days in the year, the one which they celebrate most is their birthday. It iscustomary to have lavish meals on that day. The richer Persians prepare an ox, a horse, acamel, and a donkey to be baked whole and so served up to them: the poorer classes useinstead the smaller kinds of cattle. They eat little solid food but an abundance of dessert, whichis set on table a few dishes at a time. They are very fond of wine, and drink it in large quantities.To vomit or obey natural calls in the presence of another is forbidden among them. Such aretheir customs in these matters.It is also their general practice to deliberate upon affairs of weight when they are drunk;and then the next day, when they are sober, the decision to which they came the night before isput before them by the master of the house in which it was made; and if it is then approved of,they act on it; if not, they set it aside. Sometimes, however, they are sober at their firstdeliberation, but in this case they always reconsider the matter under the influence of wine.When they meet each other in the streets, you may know if the persons meeting are of equalrank by the following token: if they are, instead of speaking, they kiss each other on the lips. Inthe case where one is a little inferior to the other, the kiss is given on the cheek; where thedifference of rank is great, the inferior prostrates himself upon the ground. Of nations, theyhonor most their nearest neighbors, whom they esteem next to themselves; those who livebeyond these they honor in the second degree; and so with the remainder, the further they areremoved, the less the esteem in which they hold them. The reason is that they look uponthemselves as very greatly superior in all respects to the rest of mankind, regarding others asapproaching to excellence in proportion as they dwell nearer to them; whence it comes to passthat those who are the farthest off must be the most degraded of mankind.There is no nation which so readily adopts foreign customs as the Persians. Thus, theyhave taken the dress of the Medes, considering it superior to their own; and in war they wearthe Egyptian breastplate. As soon as they hear of any luxury, they instantly make it their own:and hence, among other novelties, they have learnt unnatural lust from the Greeks. Each ofthem has several wives, and a still larger number of concubines. Next to prowess in arms, it isregarded as the greatest proof of manly excellence to be the father of many sons. Every yearthe king sends rich gifts to the man who can show the largest number: for they hold that numberis strength. Their sons are carefully instructed from their fifth to their twentieth year, in threethings alone---to ride, to draw the bow, and to speak the truth. Until their fifth year they are notallowed to come into the sight of their father, but pass their lives with the women. This is donethat, if the child dies young, the father may not be afflicted by its loss.They consider it unlawful to talk of anything which is unlawful to do. The most disgracefulthing in the world, they think, is to tell a lie; the next worst, to owe a debt: because, among otherreasons, the debtor is obliged to tell lies. If a Persian has the leprosy he is not allowed to enterinto a city, or to have any dealings with the other Persians; he must, they say, have sinnedagainst the sun. Foreigners attacked by this disorder, are forced to leave the country: evenwhite pigeons are often driven away, as guilty of the same offence. They never defile a river with the secretions of their bodies, nor even wash their hands in one; nor will they allow othersto do so, as they have a great reverence for rivers. There is another peculiarity, which thePersians themselves have never noticed, but which has not escaped my observation.This much I can declare of the Persians with entire certainty, from my own actualknowledge. There is another custom which is spoken of with reserve, and not openly,concerning their dead. It is said that the body of a male Persian is never buried, until it has beentorn either by a dog or a bird of prey. That the Magi have this custom is beyond a doubt, for theypractice it without any concealment. The dead bodies are covered with wax, and then buried inthe ground.

1. Based on this source, list THREE aspects of Persian religious practice which Herodotus reveals. Based on these three aspects, what could we infer about Greek religious practice?

2. Does the reading suggest that Persian culture is patriarchal and hierarchical? (Provide TWO examples from the source).

3. In your opinion, did Herodotus admire Persian civilization? (ProvideTWO examples from the source).