ON THE CUSTOMS OF THE PERSIANS (HERODOTUS) - pre class response

'Those which Cyrus assembled and persuaded to revolt from the Medes were the principal ones on which all the others are dependent. These are the Pasargadae, the Maraphians, and the Maspians, of whom the Pasargadae are the noblest. The Achaemenidae, from which spring all the Perseid kings, is one of their clans. The rest of the Persian tribes are the following: the Panthialaeans, the Derusiaeans, the Germanians, who are engaged in husbandry; the Daans, the Mardians, the Dropicans, and the Sagartians, who are nomads'

I was rather intrigued by Herodotus's writing as he seems to be very knowledgeable about the Persians despite not having been there himself.

The quote, 'Those which Cyrus assembled and persuaded...principal ones on which all the others are dependent' tells me that Herodotus was in a way stereotyping all of the Persian clans as he mentions that the other clans were dependent on Cyrus's clan, which Cyrus used to overthrow HIS OWN GRANDFATHER(from the wiki link on the reading).

This suggests that we was trying to paint the Persians in a negative manner, trying to make them seem like untrustworthy people who would overthrow their own kin for the sake of power.

In the olden days, only a few people could read and write and therefore, Herodotus could have written this in view of his target audience which would most probably be people of high importance in Greece.

His depiction of the Persians could be used as a warning of sorts to the Greeks, warning them that the Persians(who were literally next door to them) are led by a power hungry king that would do anything to expand his empire.