‘Paura persiana.’ La precisione storico-emotiva di ἀρρωδεῖν in Erodoto

Herodotus’ narrative records many episodes of encounter and clash between the Greeks and the Persians, whose climax was the expedition of Xerxes in 480 B.C. The predominant feeling within these accounts is fear, usually expressed with terms such as φόβος, or δεῖμα. However, when the fear of the Greeks for the Persians (and vice-versa) is distinctly portrayed, the verb ἀρρωδέω is preferably employed, along with its compound καταρρωδέω (both Ionic forms of ὀρρωδέω). This paper examines the relevant Herodotean passages, noticing in particular the occurrences of that verb in reference to the major naval confrontations during the Persian Wars.