The Images of Iranians under Achaemenids through Greek Eyes; The First Western Depiction of Orient

In the area of the History of Mentality, western perception and depiction of Orient have been studied since Edward Said. Nevertheless, not Said nor other scholars have much to do with ancient Iran and its image in the classical literature of Greece and Rome. Following Meme theory and cultural genes, it would be plausible that the stereotypes and literary topoi existing about Iran and Iranians in forthcoming periods (Roman, Byzantium, Middle Ages, and new era) return to the Classical Athens. From Aeschylus (the author of the play Persians) and Herodotus in the fifth century BC to the last Greek classical historian of the Antiquity the Theophylact Simokata, in the seventh century AD, we have one thousand years to call the first millennium of Western Iranology; where concepts such as Oriental despotism and Western freedom were coined. Thus, it can be said in western Iranology that all roads lead to Classical Athens. A deeper survey indicates that the Greek perception of the East and Iran was quite mythical and sometimes based on the stereotypes and Clichés of men's viewpoint toward women. Thus the East and Iran were portrayed as feminine and Western and Greek men. This study looks forward to a better understanding of the Greek perspective of Achaemenid Iran in order to provide a better background for what is called History of mentality.