Apollo

Summary of Homer’s Iliad: Warrior Culture of Ancient Greece
History

Summary of Homer’s Iliad: Warrior Culture of Ancient Greece

10/28/2023 Bruce Strom 3

All ancient cultures were warrior cultures, out of necessity. War was a deadly business, if an ancient city-state lost the war the city would be plundered, often the military age men would be slain, and the women and children would be sold into slavery. In ancient Athens, a quarter of the population were slaves, and in ancient Rome about forty percent of the population were slaves. Most of these slaves were either born into slavery or were captured during war, some were captured and sold by pirates. […]

Greek and Roman History

Herodotus, Histories of Persia: Egypt and Scythia Before the Greco-Persian Wars

12/29/2021 Bruce Strom 3

Why did Herodotus write his Histories? Herodotus tells us in his first paragraph, “so that human achievements may not be forgotten in time, and great and marvelous deeds, some displayed by Greeks, some by barbarians, may not be without their glory; and especially to show why the two peoples fought with each other.” Just as in the Iliad, the Greek soldiers and sailors in the Histories of Herodotus fight for cleos, or glory, and warriors in these warrior societies are immortalized by their great and marvelous deeds on the battlefield. Herodotus is interested in recording any mighty deeds of both the Greeks and the Persians, although the glory was earned mostly by the Greeks. […]