The Formation of a Hellenic Identity: The Impact of Herodotus on the Ancient Greek and the Reception of his Histories

The ethnic identity of the ancient Greek is a complicated idea that developed over hundreds of years unbeknownst to the communities that would one day be identified as ‘Hellenes.’ The advent of the polis in the Archaic era was followed by nearly three hundred years of rapid development within the scattered communities of ancient Greece before conflict with the Persian Empire necessitated inter-polis cooperation. This phenomenon prompted a movement in which the aspects of life that were once viewed as mere similarities between different societies were clung to and presented as proof of a common ethnic identity that called for allegiance and a Hellenic union. The individual poleis that had never shown signs of loyalty to one another quickly developed an ethnic identity in the setting of the Persian Wars as they confronted an empire that outnumbered all the poleis combined. Indicia of a Hellenic ethnic identity can be identified throughout the Archaic era, but no self-expression of a concrete, overarching identity exists from this time. In his description of the years leading up to the Persian Wars up until a Hellenic victory, Herodotus utilizes some of these ethnic markers, specifically kinship, language, and religious practices, to describe how he, a Hellene of Halicarnassus himself, thinks the Hellenic ethnic identity should be remembered as. Invoking these ethnic markers, giving them new significance, and offering nine books that highlight the fundamental differences between the Hellene and the barbarian, Herodotus presents an invaluable contribution to the study of Hellenic identity. Despite the skepticism with which critics have viewed the verity of his Histories from his initial publishment up until the Renaissance Era in which new discoveries prompted a reassessment of its value, Herodotus’ Histories continues to serve as an expression of what it meant to be a Hellene