preview

Similarities Between The Greek And Persian Empires

Decent Essays

How were Persia and Greece similar or different?

The Greek and Persian Achaemenid Empires coexisted during 553-336 B.C.E. These two empires had been rivals for centuries, which eventually led to the Persian Wars, happening from 490-480 B.C.E. The Persian Empire was made up of a variety of religions, however the one practiced by the native Persians was focused on a main god, Ahura mazda. The Persian religion was “...centered on an elaborate cult of kingship…” and these kings were believed to have a connection to Ahura mazda. In contrast, the Greek people had the same gods and religion throughout their empire, which were present not only in myth and stories, but also in daily life. Although the Persians didn’t have many personal ties to their gods, the Greeks believed their gods possessed human-like attributes, which gave the Greeks a more direct connection to their deities. Herodotus, considered as the “father of history,” wrote about the Persian Empire during 430 B.C.E in Herodotus: On The Customs of the Persians, where he states “The customs which I know the Persians to observe are the following: they have no images of the gods, no temples nor altars, and consider the use of them a sign of folly. This comes, I think, from their not believing the gods to have the same nature with men…” Here, Herodotus says that because the Persians believe gods and humans to have different dispositions, gods are not represented through material objects. Since the Persians kept their

Get Access