Ctesias Summary

In his article, Stronk ultimately suggests that Ctesias’ writing is a creative narration of history. He claims that “all [Ctesias] wanted was to compose a plausible and interesting narrative” (Stronk 41). He then states that “Ctesias ‘reworks’ historical facts and thus transforms various occurrences into his version of the truth. In [Ctesias’] work history has merely become a part of the plot. What happened or what was said to have happened or even what could have happened and never happened at all is indistinguishably mixed” (Stronk 44). Based on this description, Herodotus’ writing style is definitely comparable to Ctesias’. Herodotus’ Histories contain stories that seem to be completely fictional, or “reworked,” as Stork described Ctesias’ writing. Also, at many points throughout the book Herodotus states that there are many versions of the story he is telling, but he picks and chooses when he will tell all of the versions and when he
will decide himself which is best. For instance, when discussing Cyrus, Herodotus writes “I could, if I wished, give three accounts of Cyrus’ history, all different from what follows; but I propose to base my account on those Persian authorities” (45). One parallel that can be seen between Herodotus and Ctesias is the use of alcohol as a means to overcome a rival.
In the Histories, Herodotus writes that Cyaxares and the Medes invited a large number of Scythians to a banquet, and then “made them drunk and murdered them” (49). Herodotus also tell another story where Cyrus laid out a banquet to trick the Massagetae troops, who “ate and drank so much they went to sleep. This was the Persians’ opportunity: they fell upon them, killed many, and took an even greater number of prisoners” (93). Ctesias tells a story in which Parsonades is offered wine by Babylonian merchants that was “intentionally made very strong so that he would get drunk,” and so they could take Parsonades to Nanarus (152-153). Unlike in the stories told by Herodotus, Parsonades was not killed after indulging on alcohol, but the alcohol was used to subdue Nanarus’ rival, which leads to Parsonades pretty much being turned into a woman. Additionally, both Cyrus and Nanarus were punished for their treacherous
acts. A parallel that can be drawn between Ctesias and Heliodorus is that secret love or obsessions result in the downfall of the men involved. In Ctesias’ story, Stryangaeus was secretly in love with Zarinaea; when she rejected him, he was “deeply despondent and he…wrote some words on a parchment and he…killed himself…And this is what was written: ‘Stryangaeus says the following to Zarinaea: I saved you and was responsible for all the good things you now enjoy. But you killed me and have deprived me of everything” (158). Heliodorus tells the story of Cnemon, whose stepmother was in love with him. Heliodorus writes that after Demainete was rejected by Cnemon multiple times, she plotted against him, and eventually, escaping being executed, he was “driven from [his] ancestral hearth and [his] native land” (13-14). Although these men suffered different fates, both of them were ruined as a result of love affairs.