Prorocze sny, Kserkses i atak Persji na Grecję

Abstrakt

In the traditions of Ancient Western Asia, including Assyria and Babylonia (and perhaps Elam as well), dreams were treated as important points of reference for political decisions, and this was given expression in royal documents. Things were no different in the Persian Achaemenid Empire. Persian kings sought explanations from the priests called Magi about their dreams and extraordinary phenomena. Prophetic dreams concerning rulers appear repeatedly in Herodotus’ Histories. This pertains to the dreams of the Median king Astyages (Hdt. 1.107.1; 1.108.1); Cyrus the Great (Hdt. 1.209−210), and Kambyses (Hdt. 3.30; cf. 3.64.1; 3.65.2). Xerxes’ third dream (7.19), the last of a series of three dreams that prompted the Great King to attack Greece, belongs to this group. In the account of Xerxes’ preparations to invade Greece, persuasions to undertake the expedition from many quarters are depicted, but dreams play a key role (Hdt. 7.12−19). The speeches in the Persian council have all assumed that the invasion is a matter of choice for Xerxes. But the final decision to attack Greece comes from the dreams which are interpreted by the Magi. The visions mean that if Xerxes does not make his Greek campaign, he will be changing the nomoi of Persia, and thereby endangering his rule and empire. Abandoning the Greek campaign meant abandoning the nomoi of Persia. Herodotus takes advantage of the existence of the Magi to build his narrative, and places in the king’s dreams the threads and motifs (olive wreath) that put together the particulars of his story. The role of the Magi as interpreters of royal dreams can be considered a tenable element in the historical narrative of Herodotus. The Magi are found in Greek sources as priests, experts in rituals, seers and dream interpreters.