Analysis and explanation of Literary and Archaeological evidence on cultural and artistic relations and interactions between Achaemenians and Greek city-states (4-6 BC)

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of History & Iranology, Faculty of Literature & Humanities, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

2 Department of History and Iranology, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

The establishment of the Achaemenid Empire marked a tremendous change in the fate of the West Asian lands. In the second half of the 6th century BC, the political demarcations in this region were completely changed and the ancient lands that had spent a time in war and peace, this time all came under the banner of a powerful empire. This union of ancient civilizations brought about a significant change in the cultural field. Achaemenians mainly respected and admired the spiritual assets of the subordinate peoples and made good use of these capacities. This kind of look at the spiritual wealth of other nations caused their cultural and artistic achievements to survive in a new civilization called "Achaemenid civilization". Achaemenians were in constant contact with Greek lands and city-states since the establishment of their empire. These relations with the Greek city-states of Asia Minor often had a hegemonic aspect and their cultural and artistic capacities were exploited as subjects of the great king, but this relationship with the Greeks of Europe is defined more based on a competitive concept. The successes achieved by the Greek city-states following the Greco-Persian wars led them to turn to active diplomacy. However, in the underlying layers of the political relations and discourses that took place, a flow of cultural interaction was also formed. The works left behind and obtained from the Persians and Greeks in different lands under their rule have common characteristics that cannot be judged as coincidences. Also, the influence of cultural and artistic relations with the Persians is well evident in the classical Greek written texts. This research aims to examine the written and archeological evidences to find out in what fields these cultural and artistic interactions took place. It is based on this framework that the acculturation process between Persians and Greeks can be explained and analyzed.

Keywords

References

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Iranian Civilization Research
Volume 2, Issue 2 - Serial Number 4
December 2021
Pages 1-33

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