"According to the Greek historian Herodotus, Xerxes's first attempt to bridge the Hellespont ended in failure when a storm destroyed the flax and papyrus cables of the bridges. In retaliation, Xerxes ordered the Hellespont (the strait itself) whipped three hundred times, and had fetters thrown into the water."
Not so sure one should take stories about who said something in ancient times at face value ;)
If you think you can use logic to determine human behavior in the past, well, it doesn't even work for modern behavior lol You'd be surprised what kind of beliefs about the world led to what kind of actions in history