Xerxes’ Invasion Diary.
Herodotus In-Class Writing Assignment. April 14, 2015. Professor Daniel Levine. University of Arkansas
Come to class [WITH BLUE BOOK] prepared to write the following diary entries.
Re-read Herodotus 7.1-147 (Waterfield translation pages 404-455).
The year is 480 BCE, a turning point in world history.
Imagine that you are Xerxes I, king of the Persians. You have left Persia, crossed into Europe, and have made your way through northern Greece to Pieria. You and your army are poised to march south to conquer the Greeks. Your navy is following you down the coast.
At this point you pause to assess your status, and write in your diary about how you got to this point, and what you see as your prospects of success.
Be sure to mention the following points:.
A. How you became king (7.1-3)
B. The discussion with your advisors about invading Greece (7. 7-11)
C. The recurring dream (7.12-19)
D. The canal (7.21-24)
E. The bridge, and punishment of a body of water (7.25 and 7.34-37)
F. Your conversation with a rich Lydian (7.38-39)
G. Your visit to Ilium (7.43).
H. Your conversation with your uncle at the bridge (7. 44-53).
I. Your conversation with the Spartan ex-king (7.101- 105)
J. The role of the Athenians and the oracles they received (7.138-144)
K. Your reaction to the Greek spies and the ships taking grain to the Greeks (7.146-147)
L. Why did you undertake this expedition? What makes you confident? What makes you worried? What are your hopes at this point?
In your diary, be sure to mention the following:
Darius
Atossa
Mardonius
Artabanus
Athos
Demaratus
Hellespont
Pythius
The Magi
Delphi
“earth and water”
Themistocles
[For possible extra credit, write a diary entry after you hear news of the battle of Plataia, mentioning also Thermopylae, Athens and Salamis.]
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