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Essay Archive - Herodotus' The History
Herodotus' The History
Herodotus, in his book The History, tells us a good deal about how, in the course of the 5th Century, the Greeks came to define themselves by casting "barbarians" as a negative foil for those traits which they admired in themselves. By “barbarians”, Herodotus means the “Others”, those who were not Greek or European. The Persian Wars marked something of a watershed in this regard. Prior to the 480s the Greek view of their eastern neighbors did not seem to have been excessively negative or hostile. Following the Persian Wars, how....
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