or divinely appointed order (Pers. 65–71, Hdt. 7.35–36, 54–56; see Bridges 2015, 15–16, 57–58), and of the naval battle of SALAMIS, related in detail by Herodotus (8.40–96) and recounted via a MESSENGER in Persians (353–432; see Hall 1996). Like Aeschylus’ play, Herodotus’ narrative also presents the broader story of the Persian invasion of Greece and failed attempt to enslave its inhabitants as a tragic reversal of fortune for Xerxes and his army, with both authors highlighting the vast scale of that army and offering CATALOGUES of its contingents (Pers. 21–58, 81–85, 302–30; Hdt. 7.61–99). This contrast with the depleted NUMBERS which returned home after the campaign helps emphasize the magnitude of the DISASTER which befell PERSIA (Pers. 480–514, Hdt. 8.115–17).
There are, however, also significant differences between Herodotus’ and Aeschylus’ representations of Xerxes and the relationship between Persia and HELLAS. The distinction between East and West is far less clear‐cut in Herodotus’ account than in the Persians. Where Aeschylus’ play posits a polar ideological opposition between Athenian DEMOCRACY and Asian DESPOTISM, some scholars suggest that in fact Herodotus may have been drawing parallels between aggressive Persian imperialism and Athenian expansionist policy in the second half of the fifth century (Moles 1996; Pelling 1997a and 1997b). Meanwhile, Aeschylus presents Xerxes as abandoning the good judgment of his predecessors. For Herodotus, however, the Great King is situated within a wider pattern of imperialistic overreach which the historian is at pains to explore, and he is seen as an aggressor whose actions represent the culmination of the actions already carried out by his predecessors CYRUS (II), CAMBYSES (II), and his father DARIUS I (Flower and Marincola 2002, 8). Herodotus therefore presents Xerxes not as the impetuous youth whom Aeschylus’ version contrasts with the wise Darius, but instead as subjected to the pressures of his position at the head of the Persian Empire and as following on from the policies of his father (Pelling 1997a, 15; Bridges 2015, 59–60).
An epitaph quoted by the Roman‐era authors Athenaeus (14.627c) and Pausanias (1.14.5) asserts that Aeschylus fought at MARATHON (Vit. Aesch. 11); his brother CYNEGIRUS was killed in the same battle (Hdt. 6.114). It is probable that Aeschylus also fought at SALAMIS (as claimed by Ion of Chios: BNJ 392 F7).
SEE ALSO: Athens and Herodotus; Conquest; Euphorion the Athenian; Persian Wars; Poetry; Sources for Herodotus; Tragedy
REFERENCES
1 Bridges, Emma. 2015. Imagining Xerxes: Ancient Perspectives on a Persian King. London: Bloomsbury.
2 Flower, Michael A., and John Marincola, eds. 2002. Herodotus: Histories Book IX. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
3 Hall, Edith, ed. 1996. Aeschylus: Persians. Warminster: Aris & Phillips.
4 Immerwahr, Henry R. 1954. “Historical Action in Herodotus.” TAPA 85: 16–45.
5 Moles, John L. 1996. “Herodotus Warns the Athenians.” Papers of the Leeds International Latin Seminar 9: 259–84.
6 Pelling, Christopher. 1997a. “Aeschylus’ Persae and History.” In Greek Tragedy and the Historian, edited by C. B. R. Pelling, 1–19. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
7 Pelling, Christopher. 1997b. “East is East and West is West—Or Are They? National Stereotypes in Herodotus.” Histos 1: 51–66. Reprinted in ORCS Vol. 2, 360–79.
FURTHER READING
1 Bowie, A. M., ed. 2007. Herodotus: Histories Book VIII. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
2 Harrison, Thomas. 2000. The Emptiness of Asia: Aeschylus’ Persians and the History of the Fifth Century. London: Duckworth.
3 Saïd, Suzanne. 2002. “Herodotus and Tragedy.” In Brill’s Companion to Herodotus, edited by Egbert J. Bakker, Irene J. F. de Jong, and Hans van Wees, 117–47 (see esp. 137–45). Leiden: Brill.
4 Sommerstein, Alan H. 2010. Aeschylean Tragedy. 2nd edition. London: Duckworth.
AESOP (Αἴσωπος, ὁ)
JEREMY B. LEFKOWITZ
Swarthmore College
Herodotus mentions Aesop only in passing, identifying him as a logopoios (“story maker”) and fellow slave of the hetaira RHODOPIS (2.134), in the context of his discussion of King MYCERINUS of EGYPT (2.129–36). In order to prove that both Rhodopis and Aesop were contemporary slaves owned by IADMON (1), Herodotus adds that Aesop was killed by the Delphians (cf. Ar. Vesp. 1443–48), who, following the ORACLE, were then compelled to pay compensation to a descendant of Iadmon (also named Iadmon).
Though Herodotus says nothing further about the legendary fabulist, Rhodopis’ Thracian birth and her association with XANTHES of SAMOS find echoes in later sources on Aesop. But there were divergent traditions in antiquity on the matters of Aesop’s life. On the one hand, following Herodotus, the historical record places him on Samos in the sixth century BCE (Aristotle, Constitution of the Samians (F573 Rose)), where he may even have defended a politician on trial for embezzlement (Arist. Rh. 2.20). On the other hand, beginning also with Herodotus, there is a more fanciful tradition that has Aesop associate with major sites and figures of his day, including not only Aesop’s infamous execution at the hands of the Delphians and subsequent return to life (Plato Comicus, PCG VII F70), but also affiliations with SOLON (Alexis, PCG II F9), PERIANDER (Plutarch, Banquet of the Seven Sages (Conv. Sept. Sap.)), and CROESUS (Plut. Sol. 28), on which Herodotus’ silence is noteworthy. The Life of Aesop, which is usually dated to the first or second century CE (Kurke 2011, 5–6), draws primarily upon this latter body of Aesopic legend, as well as borrowing motifs and episodes from the Aramaic Story of Ahiqar (cf. Life of Aesop, chaps. 101–23) and numerous other sources (cf. Wiechers 1961; La Penna 1962; Jedrkiewicz 1989), to create a novel account of the fabulist’s life.
SEE ALSO: Delphi; Fable; Sappho; Short Stories; Slavery
REFERENCES
1 Jedrkiewicz, Stefano. 1989. Sapere e paradosso nell’antichità: Esopo e la favola. Rome: Edizioni dell’Ateneo.
2 Kurke, Leslie. 2011. Aesopic Conversations: Popular Tradition, Cultural Dialogue, and the Invention of Greek Prose. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
3 La Penna, Antonio. 1962. “Il romanzo di Esopo.” Athenaeum 40: 264–414.
4 Wiechers, Anton. 1961. Aesop in Delphi. Meisenheim am Glan: Hain.
FURTHER READING
1 Perry, B. E., ed. 1965. Babrius and Phaedrus. (Loeb Classical Library) Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
AETOLIA (ἡ Αἰτωλίς χώρη)
PETER FUNKE
Westfälische Wilhelms‐Universität Münster
A region in the western part of central Greece (BA 55 B3), bounded to the west by the river ACHELOUS and to the east by Cape Antirrhion and the river Daphnos (modern Mornos). In the north Aetolia bordered on the valley of the river SPERCHEIUS and the southern part of the PINDUS MOUNTAINS (tribal territories of the
