Читать книгу The Herodotus Encyclopedia - Группа авторов - Страница 604

CHRISTOPHER BARON

University of Notre Dame

In his CATALOGUE of XERXES’ invasion force, Herodotus notes that in ancient times the MEDES were called Arians, until MEDEA arrived (from ATHENS) and, according to the Medes, they changed their name (7.62.1; similarly, Hellanicus BNJ 4 F132). Herodotus’ report reflects the centrality of “Arian” identity among the ACHAEMENID kings of PERSIA (Henkelman 2011, 611–13), seen also in royal Persian INSCRIPTIONS (e.g., XPh §2: “I (am) Xerxes … an Aryan, having Aryan lineage”). The word ārya‐ in Sanskrit means “noble,” whence “Aryan” came to be used in the nineteenth century CE to designate the Indo‐European or Indo‐Iranian language family, before being co‐opted by those propagating the racist myth of Western/European superiority (Poliakov 1974).

SEE ALSO: Areians; Myth