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, however, Easterners came to be portrayed in pejorative terms. According to Herodotus', they were seen as decadent and effeminate, in large part due to their excessive wealth and "soft" living. Their slavish lifestyles, particularly in their willingness to serve absolute despots and their grotesque use of eunuchs, the practice of circumcision, and their strange gods further distinguished them from the Greeks. By contrast, Herodotus' viewed the Greeks as virile and independent, proudly fighting in defense of their cities, their families, their gods, and for their own freedom and dignity. Thus, the theme of The History of Herodotus is the struggle between the East and the West. The East, represented by the Pers
The people of Athens were strong and fought for their political and social freedom and the Greek people were allowed to express themselves with fearless frankness. Herodotus also associated Spartan military tactics, for example the shuffling of the Spartan troops before the Battle of Plataea, with those of barbarians (The History of Herodotus, Grene, Book 90). To the Greeks this suggested that customs which they had always taken to be founded in immutable divine power, sanctioned by the Olympian gods, were in fact merely human inventions which other societies either ignored or directly contravened. The sworn agreement between Alyattes and Cyaxares, were made in the same manner Greek agreements were made, by cutting the skin of their arms and licking one another's blood Gods (The History of Herodotus, Grene, Book 1, chapters 74). The Persian debate re-centers the familiar atmosphere, Xerxes does not even ask for opinion himself, but Mardonius does the questioning for him; Queen Artemisia is the only one to speak frankly. The rise of ethnographic studies, however, encouraged a systematic examination of the nature of human culture and society. (The History of Herodotus, Grene, Book 4. He provides a series of assumptions of Greek practice that can be contrasted with barbarian modes of behavior. For example, Herodotus discusses a series of key Greek ideas toward sacrifices; the expectation that blood will be shed, that meat will be boiled over wood, that animals rather than humans will be killed, that wine will be used, that there will be an act of pouring, etc. "For among the Lydians and indeed among the generality of the barbarians, for even a man to be seen naked is an occasion of great shame (The History of Herodotus, Grene, Book 1, chapters 10, p. Herodotus describes the religion of the barbarians as grotesque especially in their use of eunuchs, the practice of circumcision, and their strange gods in comparison with the Greek religion. For these reasons the West-Greece-is thought of as championing the cause of political and individual freedom while the East-Asia Minor is that of being under the slavish rule of Dynastic Kings. " The burial customs of Spartan kings are explicitly linked to barbarian practices. Themistocles also is to speak no more freely than his Persian counterparts (The History of Herodotus, Grene, Book 8, chapters 60-70, p.
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