The Greek Embassy to Gelon (Hdt. 7.153–67) and Iliad 9

Abstract

I argue that Herodotus encourages his audience to perceive the Greek embassy to the Syracusan tyrant Gelon (7.153–67) as a latter-day version of the Achaean embassy to Achilles in Iliad 9. Similarities of form and content indicate a significant intertextual relationship between the two episodes, which are structured as speech hexads in direct discourse, comprising paired speeches between three envoys and a powerful potential ally against a formidable Eastern foe. Both Achilles and Gelon respond to their suppliants’ requests with angry refusals due to perceived disrespect, followed by concessions that lead in Achilles’ case to the prospect of his rejoining battle before Troy, but in Gelon’s case to final rejection of the invitation to embrace his Hellenic identity by joining the alliance against Xerxes. This intertextual strategy serves three important purposes: it underscores Herodotus’ framing of the war against Xerxes as a sequel to the Trojan War, similarly characterized by division among its Greek participants; it highlights the unlikeliness of the Greek victory, achieved by necessity without the aid of Gelon; and it demonstrates by contrast with Homeric epic the significance of ethnic and communal (rather than personal) identity in Greek politics both during and after the Persian War.