Herodotus on Drinking Wine in the Achaemenid

Herodotus on Drinking Wine in the Achaemenid World
3
Herodotus on Drinking Wine in the
Achaemenid World: Greek and
Persian Perceptions I
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 ou p~crat avriov a Uou. 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.
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
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 reconsid4
ered afterwards when they are dnmk
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, 19762001. .For the rhytons, see M.E. Masson and G.A. Pugachenkova, The
Parthzan RhYfons oj iVisa, Monografie di Mesopotamia. vol. 1, Florence. J982.
.
38
39
Let us analyze Herodotus' observation in this passage. The
entire passage deals with wine and Persian manners and customs
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.
4
ULTURE
40
Herodow .· 01/ Di'illkin" Wine in the
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\/
«pEPEl -aAWs
1tOA,UV
I W' able drink a great deal
bear i \ ell. ~
Kui
t
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:
[h v
n the ~ ealh day, wben Ihe heart f th king \ a
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
wine. and to
It1erry with \ mc. he ordered
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 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, '
L
- ------.- - - - - ..
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.
vi.n dall_ IJran ancienL" Muu!rimfX
" lalcrinu pour une Illitoir '
pour I'hiSlOire Ecullofllfqlle de 11londe il'OlIi£'11.
• eJen
J
Szuppe, Paris, 1999, pp. 7
uu
9 Fur the Ilcbre\ p . 'ge lind tran'l 11 0J)
Olamre.or pip pt330I.btm.
ec http:/ \\
V.mechl
n-
ii Ie Lan I Men-g" Trud. edited and translaled by . a azz f1, Tc. 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-
10
b~n~ . I 64;
42
IRANIAN
to the ancient Iranian "n0<1,... ,,,
tical information on how
Herodotus on
A.ND CULTURE
pracwhile
and
and pollution
the DMX
and it will increase the
of the ears and
of
will pro-
passage
onc' s awareness and
the amount of
16):
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
"excess" and
"negleads to sin, through
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 deci sion, 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.
be harw kas
xwardan T may
xwardan T may en and
xwarisn
ud ataxs
abrozed ud os ud wIr ud 10m ud xon
ud bes
bud ce az
nekTh awig; rased
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
On the concept of Paymiin see Sh. Shaked,
in contact with Greek Thought and
teellth
Amsterbascd on D.N.
Iranian
Actes du
mai 1985). Studia lranica 5, Paris, 1987, pp. 217-240.
1 lUTIouzegar, "Payman," The
Ahmad
eds. T.
ers~
menog.
Iranian Languages and
Culture
Essays in Honor of
Gernot Ludwig Windfuhr
Bchrad
]\:1. R. Ghanoonparvar
MAZDA PUBLISHERS
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