> The ancient Greeks seem to have been incredibly xenophobic and negatively disposed towards other peoples.
Such a blanket claim cannot stand, especially considering that the “ancient Greeks” were not a single population but scattered into a number of political entities and with different economies. There were insular Greeks and there were culturally tolerant Greeks. As examples of the latter, Herodotus repeatedly depicts Egypt as the font of all civilization and knowledge. The Greek colonies in Anatolia readily mixed with local populations and adopted much from the Persian Empire.
Ironically I’m reading Herodotus right now, and just reached his description of the Scythians and how they drink milk.
“Now the Scythians blind all their slaves, because of the milk2 they drink; and this is how they get it: taking tubes of bone very much like flutes, they insert these into the genitalia of the mares and blow into them, some blowing while others milk. According to them, their reason for doing this is that blowing makes the mare's veins swell and her udder drop. [2] When done milking, they pour the milk into deep wooden buckets, and make their slaves stand around the buckets and shake the milk; they draw off what stands on the surface and value this most; what lies at the bottom is less valued.”
Obviously Herodotus repeats lots of tall tales so no idea if that one is true, but I can understand the disdain fir milk drinkers if so.
Such a blanket claim cannot stand, especially considering that the “ancient Greeks” were not a single population but scattered into a number of political entities and with different economies. There were insular Greeks and there were culturally tolerant Greeks. As examples of the latter, Herodotus repeatedly depicts Egypt as the font of all civilization and knowledge. The Greek colonies in Anatolia readily mixed with local populations and adopted much from the Persian Empire.