doubtedly aware, that when Herodotus describes the southern and eastern Ethiopians he is describing what he terms "native" allies of the Persians under Darius, who was on the point of trying to extend his empire beyond Asia Minor and conquer Greece. Rather than putting a psychoemotional construction on the description of the Ethiopians, Herodotus takes a matter-of-fact approach:
The eastern Ethiopians--for there wee two sorts of Ethiopians in the army--served with the Indians. These were just like the southern Ethiopians, except for their language and their hair: their hair is straight, while that of the Ethiopians in Libya is the crispest and curliest in the world (Herodotus 468).
Expediency on one hand, matter-of-factness on the other: These argue the validity of Snowden's assessment of the Hellenistic people as having a more neutral than racist attitude toward blacks. That attitude is born out in the art objects consulted for this research. The first is a Greek krater vase, or bowl for blending water and wine, exhibited by the Metropolitan Museum
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