Direct Intercourse in Indirect Discourse:
Sexual Nomoi in Herodotus’ Histories

Katharine M. Bukowski (University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign)

Sexual values are an intrinsic part of a society, and, through digressions about sexual practices, Herodotus reveals how the strength of a culture is not measured in its size, but in its values.  It is a stretch to say that Herodotus sees sex and sexual values as the most important part of a culture.    Sexual nomoi are strikingly prevalent in the Histories.  Indeed, the first few sections of book one are devoted “woman stealing.”  In one passage, Herodotus explains that the animosity between Asiatic and Hellenic races reaches back to a time before the abduction of Helen, when Greeks and Asians were engaged in a vicious cycle of woman stealing.

Up to this point, there had only been abduction from one another; but for what happened next, [the Persians] say the Greeks were at fault…Woman-stealing, in [Persian] opinion, is not the act of lawful men, but rushing in to avenge it after it has been done is the act of stupid men.  Sensible men take no notice of it; for clearly, if young women were not willing, they would not be abducted. (1.4)

How and Wells explain that “Herodotus probably saw the humour of this argument; but this part of history gave offence.  It was parodied by Aristophanes as to the origin of the Peloponnesian War; and Plutarch is very angry at the ‘passive resistance’ imputed to the much respected Io, and that ‘the fairest and greatest exploit of Greece, the Trojan war, should be put down as abeleteria.’”[1]  The fact that Herodotus includes this passage at the very beginning of the Histories, however, should not reduce it to mere fatuity.  In it, Herodotus reveals that the opposing attitudes toward the catalytic event of the Trojan War incidentally reflect an essential difference between Greek and Persian attitudes.  The Greeks reacted in defense of their own customs, a thing that, Herodotus implies, the Persians ultimately did not understand. 

In the passages pertaining to sexual behavior throughout the Histories, it becomes increasingly evident that Herodotus thinks the state of sexual nomoi reflect the strength of all nomoi.  When a culture has sound nomoi, it has the internal strength to handle external pressures.  On the other hand, if a culture does not have consistent sexual nomoi, or if they fail to uphold them, they are on the path to destruction.  The example of sexual nomoi in the Histories serves as a warning for the Greeks.  Herodotus believes that the Greek culture is quite strong, and because of this strength, they are able to ward off a threat that was gobbling up the known world. Exploring the cultural decline of several races, most importantly the Persians, Herodotus insists that the Greeks should keep this respect for their sexual nomoi in order to maintain their cultural strength.  No one is king over nomos; deposing the king leads to cultural devastation.

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