Xerxes' characterisation Flashcards
Faults when looking at his character
must be treated with the utmost suspicion:
-Xerxes is a Persian and therefore any Greek depiction is prone to be biased
-knowledge about Xerxes’ personality and thoughts would almost certainly have been impossible for Herodotus to obtain.
Herodotus’ depiction of Xerxes is likely a caricature of how he believed a Persian tyrant would behave
Tyrannical
H uses him to represent the Persian way of life under one king
manipulate his power because he knows everyone respects him (e.g when he gets men to jump off the bridge for him)
watches the battle from a hill but doesn’t actually fight and instead makes notes about who is fighting badly in order to behead them (unreasonable, heartless)
does not understand anything other than tyranny “all equally free?”
king of kings
“the rest of the Persians were silent”
believes men want to fight (disconnected)
Obsessive
obsessive over legacy and proving himself “Cyrus, Cambyses and my father Darius”
terrified by idea of losing kingship (dream and asking Artabanus for help)
obsessed with how he is perceived and with status (goes to war to prove himself and doesn’t want to loose because he doesn’t want to be seen as a coward)
Childlike
terrified by dreams and has to get help from Artabanus in order to calm nerves
overconfidence is childish
“my young mind flared up” - even he views himself as young when he’s already about 30
“Xerxes was very angry”
Undemocratic
surrounded by yes-men who agree with every word he says (due to their fear of him)
“I open up the discussion”
->does ask for other peoples opinions but this is probably confusion from Herodotus rather than factual OR Xerxes pretending to be democratic (false pretence)
Full of himself
he believes his presence at battle will encourage everyone to fight better
hubris
Not knowledgeable
“all equally free and not controlled by one person?” - doesn’t understand Greek way of life
doesn’t make the best strategic decisions (e.g battle happens on sea when they have poor navy)
tries to understand about navy but he is too invloved (needs to leave it up to generals)
asks opinion of Artemisia despite being king (he should know what to do without asking for help)
Unfair
“my women have become men and my men have become women”
-unfair, men are still fighting (and he is not!)
Ambitious
Wants to conquer Greece even though Darius failed
Quasi-godlike
adored by people due to his position as king and the nature of Persia’s admiration for their monarchy
“they were fearful for Xerxes himself”
tries to be godlike by bridging Hellespont
“soldiers kissed the deck in front of him”
knows how respected he is
Impact of Xerxes characterisation
Can be seen as the reason Persia lost the war
Xerxes not skilled enough to lead an army and too full of himself to make good tactical decisions (also Greece = v skilled)
All features add layers to why the Greeks dislike him (he is an ‘anti-Greek’ in everyway)
