Greek hero Perseus, ancestor of the Persians?
Printed From: History Community ~ All Empires
Category: Regional History or Period History
Forum Name: Ancient Mediterranean and Europe
Forum Discription: Greece, Macedon, Rome and other cultures such as Celtic and Germanic tribes
URL: http://www.allempires.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=28314
Printed Date: 28-Apr-2024 at 09:17
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Topic: Greek hero Perseus, ancestor of the Persians?
Posted By: Cyrus Shahmiri
Subject: Greek hero Perseus, ancestor of the Persians?
Date Posted: 10-Apr-2010 at 10:40
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People can already go to watch a fantasy film titled "Clash of the Titans" which is based upon the Greek myth of Perseus: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clash_of_the_Titans_%282010_film - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clash_of_the_Titans_(2010_film )
It has been said from the ancient times that Perseus was the ancestor of the Persians, I think it is really possible that Greek Perseus ) (Persian Parsa) was the name of an ancient Indo-European god, demigod or hero, from whom the Persians took their name, at least it can show that Persians and Greeks knew about their common Indo-European origin, Herodotus, the famous Greek historian of the 5th century BC, says:
There is another story, which is told generally through Greece, of a different tenor. Xerxes, it is said, before he set forth on his expedition against Greece, sent a herald to Argos, who on his arrival spoke as follows: "Men of Argos, King Xerxes speaks thus to you. We Persians deem that the Perses from whom we descend was the child of Perseus the son of Danae, and of Andromeda the daughter of Cepheus. Hereby it would seem that we come of your stock and lineage. So then it neither befits us to make war upon those from whom we spring; nor can it be right for you to fight, on behalf of others, against us. Your place is to keep quiet and hold yourself aloof. Only let matters proceed as I wish, and there is no people whom I shall have in higher esteem than you." (Histories of Herodotus, 7.150)
It can be asked why there is no mention of Perses or Perseus as a character in the Persian sources?!! ------------- 
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Replies:
Posted By: Shield-of-Dardania
Date Posted: 11-Apr-2010 at 23:22
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There is also a version that says that Xerxes might not have believed that Greek legend himself. But since many Greeks believed it, Xerxes sort of went along with it, and exploited it in the most positive way towards his empire building efforts in the Grecian lands.
Like, if Greeks believed that Persians were the 'sons' of Perses (some say 'Pirous' in Persian), who was the son of Perseus, then they might not resist Persian hegemony over them so much. ------------- History makes everything. Everything is history in the making. |
Posted By: archaiokapilos
Date Posted: 24-May-2011 at 17:11
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Perseus and Farsi - from where Persian stems - have no real connection other than a similar sound. In fact the ancient Iranians didn't use Persian as a name for themselves, it was a name used by the Greeks |
Posted By: Nick1986
Date Posted: 26-May-2011 at 20:01
That movie sucked. There was too much action and CGI and the acting was terrible (especially Sam Worthington's Perseus). The best adaptation is still the Harryhausen film from my childhood with the clockwork owl, stop-motion Medusa and Pegasus
 ------------- Me Grimlock not nice Dino! Me bash brains! |
Posted By: opuslola
Date Posted: 26-May-2011 at 20:22
Then Cyrus, if you are still with us, maybe the Fomenko Theory makes some sense here. If indeed the figure that the Greeks called Xerxes was not a "Persian" but rather more of a "Parisian" then it makes some sense. You see, Fomenko considers all of the Greek words describing this attack were actually directed towards the man who was given a part of Greece, after the fourth crusade. He was called Waltier/Gauthier de Brienne, by his fellow French/Franks/Parisians! And these Franks declared their inheritance from Paris, the Paris,(PRS) Prince of Troy. But, that is another story reserved for a different place. Regards, Ron ------------- http://www.quotationspage.com/subjects/history/ |
Posted By: Nick1986
Date Posted: 06-Jun-2011 at 07:40
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One problem with your theory Ron: Paris wasn't called Paris until around 400AD when the Celtic tribes reclaimed the Roman city of Lutetia ------------- Me Grimlock not nice Dino! Me bash brains! |
Posted By: Diviacus
Date Posted: 06-Jun-2011 at 14:43
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There is a worse etymology for Paris (town) : it's "par Isis" which has been fought for in the 19th century.
By the way, the change from Lutetia to Paris began far before 400AD.
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Posted By: Nick1986
Date Posted: 07-Jun-2011 at 21:15
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How did the Gaulish tribe the Parisii get their name? ------------- Me Grimlock not nice Dino! Me bash brains! |
Posted By: Diviacus
Date Posted: 08-Jun-2011 at 16:05
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The etymology of the Parisii is not certain, but most linguists and historians consider that it comes from the Gaulish word Pario (= cauldron). See by instance X. Delamarre (Dictionary of the Gaulish language).
As far the change of name from Lutetia to Paris is concerned, in fact the first mention of Lutetia is in De Bello Gallico, in which Caesar uses the formula Lutetia Parisiorum (Lutetia, town of the Parisii).
The names "Lutetia Parisiorum", or "Lutetia Civitas Parisiorum" were used up to the 5th or 6th century. But the name Lutetia alone was also used.
On the contrary, a Roman milestone has been discovered with only the name "Paris". This milestone was dated around 305AD. This use of Paris alone (without Lutetia) became more and more common with time and finally was the only name used.
This change of name was common for many of the French town names using the Gaulish tribes names (about 40 towns in France), with often prooves of these changes dating from the 3rd century.
So, contrary to what is often written, the change of name from Lutetia to Paris is not due to a revival from the past by the Gauls who wanted to abandon Roman names.
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Posted By: Nick1986
Date Posted: 08-Jun-2011 at 19:34
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How do we know the milestone was referring to the city and not the territory of the tribe? ------------- Me Grimlock not nice Dino! Me bash brains! |
Posted By: Diviacus
Date Posted: 09-Jun-2011 at 17:21
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The milestone has been discovered in Paris (St Marcel necropolis).
The end of the text of the milestone has been interpreted as :
"A civitate Parisiorum,
Remos centum et quinque millia passuum"
so indicating a distance of 105 Roman miles between Paris and Reims.
These clearly identifies "civitas Parisiorum" as the town and not the area, as the distance between the 2 towns od Paris and Rheims is really 155 km (= 105 Roman miles).
To be also noticed that Rheims is not called with the ancient name (Durocorturum) but with the name of the Gaulish tribe.
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Posted By: kachalof
Date Posted: 03-Oct-2011 at 11:14
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in ancient Persian we have the name Parisatis, but that is a woman's name which the name parisa is deriven from and and commonly used by this day. the first mention of this name was of the woman who with her (12)brother's help overthrew Seghdyanoos son of.. if i am not mistaking Xerxes(Khashayar shah in persian) ------------- dodool |
Posted By: mg755
Date Posted: 07-Oct-2011 at 23:34
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Persians were are still are calling themselves "Pars" they named the capital of Persian empire "Parseh" which was called Persepolis by the Greeks. Persians were one of the many branches of Aryans which included greeks and most Europeans as well. Also the name "Iran" means the land of Aryans. |
Posted By: mehdi
Date Posted: 28-Jul-2015 at 13:40
| actually they called themselves pars even in one of perspolises walls daryus says : i'm a pars from land of aryans. and also we have ancient names like :parsa( boy) :| |
Posted By: Centrix Vigilis
Date Posted: 28-Jul-2015 at 14:42
This user name is grandfathered. Ref CoC. ------------- "Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" S. T. Friedman Pilger's law: 'If it's been officially denied, then it's probably true' |