3

Herodotus on Drinking Wine in the Achaemenid World: Greek and

Persian Perceptions I

Touraj Daryaee

Tn ~oroastri~n texts and docwnents we encounter a large amount of mfonnatlOn about wine and wine consumption. These texts belong to the pre-Islamic and post-Islamic periods, and so the Islamic prohibition of wine consumption, it seems, was not dili­gently follo\~ed. 2 On the other hand there are plenty of refer­e~ces and eVIdence for wine drinking and its importance in an­cIent Iran, from the Achaemenid period (Creek sources and ma­terial cult,~re), through th-7 Arsacid times, specifically the rhytons and the Nlsa documents;' to the Sasanians in the Middle Persian texts. While each dynastic period has its own sources and mate­rial, these can also sometimes explain the view of the "outsiders" from a different time period. In honor of my colleacrue Gel110t Windfuhr, I would like to demonstrate how, by rcadin~ Greek

J I :vou1d like to thank A Karanika (UCI) and R. Boustan (UCLA) tor ~helr comments and help with the paper.

- For new M~ddle Persian evidence from the early Islamic period that ~hows that :VIlle was produc~d and consumed in Iran, see Ph. Gignoux,

La c~Ilect1on de texts attnbuables it Daden-vindad dans l'Archive pehlevle de Berkeley," Sources for the History of Sasanian and Post­fasanian Iran, ed. R. Gyse:en, ~01. XIX, 2010, pp. 11-134.

I .. M. Dlakonoff & V.A LtvshJts, Parthian Economic Documents jiY)1fl iVlsa, Texts I-III, ed. By D.N. MacKenzie, ClI, Part H. London, 1976-2001. .For the rhytons, see M.E. Masson and G.A. Pugachenkova, The Parthzan RhYfons oj iVisa, Monografie di Mesopotamia. vol. 1, Flor-ence. J982. .

38

Herodotus on Drinking Wine in the Achaemenid World 39

texts through the lens of Middle Persian texts, we can decipher some of the riddles and anomalies reported about the Achaem­enid Persians by Greek sources.

Herodotus was an anthropologist and historian living in the fifth century BeE in the Gerco-Iranian world, and repOlting on the habits, histOlies and beliefs of the people of antiquity. Much of what he reports on the Persians he probably heard orally and so it was not always exact attestation. In Clio, he provides a number of observations on the Persians and their habits, from birthday celebrations to feasting and wine drinking. One of the curious practices that he associates with the Achaemenid Per­sians is that (1. (33):

OIVCf) bE:. KaP1:a 1tpocrKtaml, Kat cr<pt OUK t~crat EC,6crtt, oUKi oup~crat avriov aUou. miha !ltv vuv oU'tw <jmf.u(J(J6tat, !l66umcoJ,tevOl 8£ £ro9acrt ~01)/,..eu6cr9at 1:0 cr1tOUbat£m:am 1:WV 1tprmUlLWV: TO 8' av con crqn POUA6Uo~ltvOlcrt, tOU1:0 1:n U<J'tf.pain vTj<pODcrt 1tpOn961 0 (J1:~;yapxoc;, tv TOU av £OVTf.C; pouN;uwvrat, Kai ~v !lE:.v osn Kai vTj<poucrt, XPSWVTat aUTq) , ~v 8E:.!l~ a8n, !llm6Icrt. to 8' av VTj<pOVT6C; 1tpO~01)A£U(JWVTat, J,t69umcoJ,tevOl E1tlOl<l'ytVromcoucrt.

They (Persians) are very fond of wine, and no one is allowed to vomit or urinate in the presence of another person. If an important decision is to be made, they discuss the question when they are drunk, and the following day the master of the house where the dis­cussion was held submits their decision tor reconsid­eration when they are sober. If they still approve it, it is adopted; if not, it is abandoned. Conversely, any decision thev make when they are sober, is reconsid-

• 4 ered afterwards when they are dnmk

Let us analyze Herodotus' observation in this passage. The entire passage deals with wine and Persian manners and customs

4 Herodotus, 1. 133; Greek text see Perseus at http://www .perseus.tufts.edwbopperltext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A 19 99.0 1.0 I 25%3Abook%3D 1 %3Achaptef'l103D 133%3Asection%3D3. The English translation is The Histories, translated by A. de S6lincourt, Revised with Introduction and Notes by J. Marincola, Penguin Books, New York, 1996, p. 62.

40 ULTURE

r dl'inkJUl!. The fir ide. th idea that, not only they like to drink wine. they ha ·c I drink not so much that they be­come ill. This Idea I eell ed in th nacu . invoking a similar theme, but this ime atLri uled _ pe ificalJy to Darius the Great. The auth r tells u that on the 10 lb of Darius there was an in­scription which taled ( lhcnaeu, B k

'HOl \!0IlTJv ai Jv v n:ivl::1\/ 1tOA,UV Kui t [h v «pEPEl -aAWs I W' able drink a great deal wine. and to bear i \ ell. ~

Needl to U , such UD in ril Ii n i J1 \ bere to und da al the t I b of ariu .• ~ here there j rather a different in­ripli n in Old Pc ian a ut king bip. ide I gy nud religion. t> ere e are L gain facing an ther ral traditi 11 which pas ed n

thr ugh ccnruric and carne be t ld b Alhen eus. n the fa e f il. it ecm. that the Persian \ ere III ughl t drink xee. i ely lil ould hold their liquor. If one plae tbe~e statemen~ al ng

with the available 1 181 rial culture. ucb a' the rhyt n • wine up ,7 and ueh rep rt a lhe Pcrs p ~ i rlificati n Tabl ts, '

- ------.---.. ---lbcnaeus, De/pliO 'uphi ', . or Hanque t of tlIe Leol'lle.d of ,!rcnoells.

\run 'Iated .0. onge. vol. n 80 k • Lond n. 18-4. p . • C:, http://digjcoJ1.librury.wi c.ed cgi-bi l itcrnture/Lllellllure­idx?type-'-tum&id=Litcralure. th 2&elltity= Lilerature.Ath 2.pO 16 ql=Darius. For the Greek Ii: 1 ee http://,,,\'\~flt.ucl.a ' .be/tile I Jas FTP e. phistc _I .lxt. {) For arills' lomb n1 'aq '-e Rustam, ··c M. 0 I Ro t. The King tlmi Kingship in Achaemenid An B '/J)'~ on Ihe Crearion run Iconography of Empire. E.1. Brill. Leid.en, 1979, p. 73-76; for tlle inscription ' n the tomb see R. clunil The Old Per WII III cr;pl i n.\' ~r aq. h-i Rustam alld Per.;epolis, orpus In cnpli num lronicarurn. Land n. 2000. 7 We have such a cup belonging 10 Arlu..'\erxes II, P. Lccoq, L I~ in crip­tions de 1a Pe,:ve GlclJewenide; Paris. 1997. p. ~66. 8 W. Him:. Dar;",.. IJl1d die Pel~~er. vol. II. aden-Baden. I 79. p. 1 . For the -e reporl and ill re on Id Per ian bahl (11'0- ee Ph. Ign ux. " lalcrinu pour une Illitoir ' uu vi.n dall_ IJran ancienL" Muu!rimfX pour I'hiSlOire Ecullofllfqlle de 11londe il'OlIi£'11. • eJen J Szuppe, Paris, 1999, pp. 7

Herodow.· 01/ Di'illkin" Wine in the ha menid World 41

~he Persian . ill to b 0 erill~u tg.il1g in wine drinking. fn fa t. m the Book oj £. ther (I: J ). kmg Xerxes or l"La 'erx is sug­gested ~o have been drunk or merry with wine, d p noing on the translatIOn when aUed on his queen:

n the ~ ealh day, wben Ihe heart f th king \ a It1erry with \ mc. he ordered I .human. BiaeLhu, Harbona, Hi tha, bngtba. Z Ul' r, nd ar a . th sev\;u eunuchs \ bo mini 1t."1· tI io Ute pn: enc' 0

. basuerus the king. 9

9 Fur the Ilcbre\ p . 'ge lind tran'l 110J) ec http:/ \\ V.mechl n­Olamre.or pip pt330I.btm. 10 ii Ie Lan I Men-g" Trud. edited and translaled by . a azz f1, Tc­b~n~ . I 64; . W. West, nle Bo f.: of Ihe f(li/~I'(}-I-KharJ ur Ihe 1)iril oj 11LSdom. The Pozand and al/ kril Text ·, IS Arranged in ill ' Fif-

42 IRANIAN A.ND CULTURE

to the ancient Iranian "n0<1, ... ,,,

tical information on how prac-

while and and pollution

the DMX

and it will increase the of the ears and of

will pro-

passage onc' s awareness and

teellth

menog.

the amount of 16):

be harw kas xwardan T may bud ce az xwardan T may en and

nekTh awig; rased xwarisn ud ataxs abrozed ud os ud wIr ud 10m ud xon ud bes

But anyone who drinks wine must be conscious to

drink in since through moderate drin king of wine this much goodness will come to him, be­cause food will be and kindle fire (of the

Amster­bascd on D.N.

Herodotus on Wine in

body), and increase intelligence and the mind and seed and blood, and reject torment

The key here appears to be the term measure, modesty. 12 This is a Zoroastrian concept that coveys the idea that not only is moderation but deviation from

leads to sin, through "excess" and "neg-On the other hand drinking wine in moderation, the

DMX suggests, brings out one's attention and makes one sharper in memory. This tradition is not so alien to the mod­em European society, but somehow our ancient Greek author got the information wrong or heard it wrongly from an informant in antiquity. Thus, what happened with that the Persians drank some important matters. usually made a but just to make sure that they had not gone in they would wait until the next day and review their decision again. Onee they were sure that they had

a sound decision, then they would execute it. In this by reading the Middle Persian text against the passage, one can make sense of this Achaemenid tradition in Herodotus.

On the concept of Paymiin see Sh. Shaked, in contact with Greek Thought and Iranian Actes du mai 1985). Studia lranica 5, Paris, 1987, pp. 217-240.

1 lUTIouzegar, "Payman," The Ahmad eds. T.

ers~

Iranian Languages and Culture

Essays in Honor of

Gernot Ludwig Windfuhr

Bchrad ]\:1. R. Ghanoonparvar

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