In The Histories, Herodotus offers an account of the events leading to the Greco-Persian Wars between the Achaemenid Empire and the Greek city-states of the 5th century century BC. and attempts to determine “the reason they fought” (1.1). In recounting the events leading up to the Greco-Persian War, the historian Herodotus places historically significant political and social events, which likely had complex causes and effects, in a linear order, primarily linked together by the motif of the retribution for mutual wrongdoing. Causality in the Histories is the result of what Herodotus sees as history's inherent capacity to maintain balance; a certain harmony is found in the oscillating power of individuals and groups through their recurring cycles of prosperity and destruction. Furthermore, Herodotus attests to an even more substantial balance: that which is found between human motivation and the natural laws of destiny. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayThe Stories program begins by recounting the kidnapping of the king of Argos's daughter, Io, by Phoenician sailors, who would have inflamed the conflict between the Greeks and the Persians. “After that,” say the Persians, “certain Greeks, whose name they cannot pronounce, settled in Tyre, in a Phoenician country, and kidnapped the king's daughter, Europa… Until now, say the Persians, it was tit for tat… (1.2). At this earlier stage of Herodotus' chronicles, the balance is in place; The Greeks and Persians (Phoenicians) had only wronged each other once, and therefore a complete cycle of revenge had occurred. Initiating a reverse cycle of revenge, the Greeks kidnapped the daughter of the king of Colchis, Medea, to which the Persians responded a generation later by stealing Helen from King Menelaus of Sparta (second full cycle) through Alexander. “Until now, there were only rapes on both sides, one on the other; but from then on, say the Persians, the Greeks were greatly responsible. For the Greeks, they say, invaded Asia before the Persians invaded Europe” (1.4). In concluding his proem, Herodotus leaves this third cycle of vengeance initiated by the Greeks unfinished; the Persian response to completing this third cycle, and the events that preceded it, are detailed in the remainder of the Histories' content. After the proem, Herodotus relies more on the personal considerations of the characters involved in order to explain why the events occurred as they did. Often, Herodotus also draws on the belief in fate, presumably controlled by the gods, in order to draw clear lines of causality. Thus, another delicate historical balance is reached after the draft, this time between human free will and the will of the gods (fate), demonstrated by Croesus' blunder against King Cyrus of the Achaemenid Empire. In one of the most fascinating and ironic tales from In the Histories, Croesus' Lydian messengers received a message from the Oracle of Delphi that "...if he made war against the Persians, he would destroy a mighty empire" ( 1.53), which Croesus did not realize was aimed at his own Lydian empire. “Croesus did not understand the meaning of the oracle and therefore campaigned in Cappadocia, being convinced that he would destroy Cyrus and the power of the Persians” (1.71). The use of oracles, where a priest or priestess serves as an intermediary between mortals and the wisdom of the gods, introduces the notion of divine control over the destiny of Croesus. The intentional ambiguity of the statement, which misleads Croesus into throwingthe invasion, makes readers wonder if the gods wanted the invasion to take place. Croesus was certainly responsible for the final decision to invade and it was due, at least in part, to his own naivety that he led his forces to meet the Achaemenids at the River Halys, but because of the desire to Herodotus's inclusion of the oracle and the latent role of fate that accompanies an oracle, there is an implicit understanding of a lack of human control. “Croesus therefore advanced into Cappadocia for the following reasons: because he desired additional territory to that which belonged to him, but above all because he had confidence in the oracle and because he wanted revenge on Cyrus, son of Cambyses, in the name of Astyages, son of Cyaxares, who was his, Croesus, brother-in-law and king of Media and had been subjugated by Cyrus” (1.73). The dominance of human free will over that of destiny in Croesus' interpretation of the oracle is unclear, suggesting that the relationship is one of harmonious balance and not of preeminence of one over the other. other. Yet Herodotus again chooses to employ the motif of revenge in order to clarify the causal chain and maintain a sense of fairness, or balance, for the wrongdoings committed against Croesus's brother-in-law, Astyages, years ago. After Cyrus' victory over Croesus at Sardis and the rise to power of Cyrus' son Cambyses, the setting shifts to Egypt, where Cambyses had expanded the borders of the Achaemenid Empire. At an Egyptian religious festival for the animal god Apis, Cambyses thought he was being disrespected and “…was almost mad. He took out his dagger and tried to stab Apis in the stomach but hit the calf in the thigh” (3.29). Later, Cambyses received an omen through a vision that Smerdis, which was the name his brother bore, “…sat on the royal throne and reached to heaven with his head” (3.64). Cambyses ordered Prexaspes, his closest ally, to assassinate his brother in the hope that he would retain his position as king. As Herodotus implicitly argues, this was a foolish decision. When Cambyses learns that he was misled by the omen and that there was a mage named Smerdis who had usurped him while he was on campaign in Egypt, he becomes furious. While riding his horse back to Susa to reclaim his throne, “…the hood fell from the sheath of his sword, and the naked blade pierced his thigh. He was wounded right on the spot in his body where he had struck the Egyptian god Apis” (3.64). Similar to the story of Croesus's omen, Cambyses was misdirected and, in a sense, was a victim of fate. What is particularly compelling about Cambyses' story is the unidentified vengeance exacted on Cambyses, supposedly by an external force (fate) for stabbing the mule god Apis, illuminated by the location of his self-deadly wound. inflicted. This union of the motives of fate and revenge is only complicated by the presence of Cambyses' free will in his ability to interpret the dream omen as he wishes. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized paper from our expert now. Herodotus is perhaps suggesting that while humans had free will and were the source of fortuitous causes of events, fate plays an equally important role and serves to enforce the need for revenge for the misdeeds of history, because whatever or human effort, “…it is surely not in the nature of man to be able to divert what is destined to be” (3.65). During Herodotus' Histories, the Persians take revenge for the Greek invasion of Asia, first through Croesus' subjugation of the Greek regions of Asia Minor (1.6), which completes the unfinished cycle of revenge introduced in the proem. The Athenians »..