A Different Debate Among Herodotus’ Persians: On Truth And Falsehood
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2025
Published In
Misinformation, Disinformation, And Propaganda In Greek Historiography
Abstract
On the subject of truth and lying, Herodotus ascribes widely different ideologies to Persians and Greeks. While both groups traffic in falsehood to an equal degree and often in similar ways, the Persians more frequently accuse each other of lying or discuss lying and truth-telling. Most notably they alone in the Histories generalize about this topic, just as they are the only ones who speak about forms of government in theoretical terms. Herodotus’ knowledge of Persian culture, including his probably indirect knowledge and ironical interpretation of the Behistun inscription, have led him to put his Persian sources and historical agents in charge of questioning the appropriateness of truth-telling and falsehood. This is a discussion which, unlike the Constitutional Debate in Book Three, is not confined to a single scene but spans the entire course of the Histories. There Herodotus shows how, unlike the Greeks and in spite of numerous transgressions, the Persians hold truth-telling as a moral value, as self-defining as the Greeks consider freedom. As a Greek and a storyteller, Herodotus participates in his culture’s casual and often admiring view of all sorts of (successful) trickery. As an historian, however, that position is one he can hardly afford.
Keywords
lying, slander, non-verbal mendacity, Persian ideology, Behistun Inscription, Constitutional Debate
Published By
Bloomsbury
Editor(s)
T. J. Figueira and Rosaria Vignolo Munson
Recommended Citation
Rosaria Vignolo Munson.
(2025).
"A Different Debate Among Herodotus’ Persians: On Truth And Falsehood".
Misinformation, Disinformation, And Propaganda In Greek Historiography.
17-30.
DOI: 10.5040/9781350358744.ch-001
https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-classics/102
