Imagining Xerxes

[A] fascinating and compendious survey of ancient attitudes to Xerxes * The Spectator *
Bridges well demonstrates the remarkable longevity that the ideologically-charged figure of Xerxes enjoyed in Greek and Roman literature over a span of almost a thousand years. One of the most valuable aspects of Bridges' book is its marshalling of such a great variety of Greek and Roman texts that deal with Xerxes. * Classical Journal *
Few events left such a vivid impression on history as the invasion of Greece by Xerxes, King of Persia. In this lively, erudite and nuanced cultural history of the ancient portraits of Xerxes, Emma Bridges throws fresh new light on the ancient - and modern - western images of Asia and its archetypal ruler.
The central concern of Dr Bridges' original and challenging exercise in ancient reception-studies is to explore the richness and variety of Persian Great King Xerxes' afterlives within a diverse and complex literary tradition. This is a powerfully written and conceptually sophisticated treatment of an important topic within classical studies, which has the added appeal of including an excellent discussion of the cinematic reception of Xerxes in the 21st century.
What to make of Xerxes? Ruthless tyrant? Hubris personified? Prisoner of history? Glorious war-lord? Victim of fortune? Decadent playboy? Lubricious harem-master? Or just the foil for Greece's glory, the great invader who brought out the best in those freedom-fighters of 480 BCE? He was all of those things, and Emma Bridges' beautifully written book traces all the shifts in the ideas and stories and fantasies that later generations wove as they dwelt on Greece's finest hour.