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Wiener Studien Band 138/2025Zeitschrift für Klassische Philologie, Patristik und lateinische Tradition
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Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Austrian Academy of Sciences Press
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Wiener Studien 138/2025, pp. 21-32, 2025/07/21
Zeitschrift für Klassische Philologie, Patristik und lateinische Tradition
In Book 3 of the Historiae, Herodotus relates how the usurpation of the Persian throne by two Magi is uncovered by Otanes with the help of his daughter. This daughter is one of the King’s wives and exchanges several secret messages with her father. Herodotus leaves it open how these messages are transmitted. It has so far been assumed that father and daughter communicate through intermediaries via oral messages. However, an exchange of letters would not only be more appropriate to the situation described, but also better fit patterns and recurring topoi in the narration of the Histories.