Study Guide to The Histories by Herodotus

By Intelligent Education

A comprehensive study guide offering in-depth explanation, essay, and test prep for Herodotus' The Histories, the earliest account of the rise and fall of the Persian Empire.

As an account of the events and causes of the Greco-Persian Wars , The Histories serve as an invaluable record of the ancient traditions

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dexterity
• Release date: Sep 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781645422235

Intelligent Education

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Book preview

INTRODUCTION TO HERODOTUS

GREEK HISTORY

Origins

History writing began in Ionia in the sixth and fifth centuries B.C.

Prose was first used in the writing of history. The subject matter usually dealt with ancient legends, genealogies of aristocratic families; and some early histories even dealt with scientific subjects.

History was retarded for many years by its use of poetry as its medium, and its tendency to look upon ancient legend and myth as fact. In addition, there was a lack of a written record of past events, a lack of good communication between the city-states, and a religion that hampered rational, historical thinking.

The writing of history was encouraged by the Greek spirit of rationalism, unique to Greece alone. Especially in Ionia there developed a spirit of rationalism and scientific inquiry that is conducive to the writing of good history.

The rapidly spreading colonization of the Mediterranean was highly conducive to historical thought.

The highly volatile commercial activity was vital to the historical process.

The Persian Wars gave rise to a vast interest in modern history.

The skepticism of the Sophists aided historical outlook, as did their artistic prose.

PREDECESSORS OF HERODOTUS

Hecataeus of Miletus and Hellanicus of Lesbos. Both lived in the latter half of the fifth century; they laid the foundations of historical writing; but in the main they were principally geographers.

LIFE (484 B.C.-420(?) B.C.)

Little is known about the life of the man who wrote of the struggle between the small Greek city-states and the ponderous Persian Empire. The Father of History, as Herodotus has come to be known, was born in Halicarnassus, a town located in southwestern Asia Minor, probably in 484 B.C. The coast of Asia Minor was at the time a center of Greek civilization called Ionia, an area in which Herodotus received a sound Greek education. He belonged to the Dorian branch of the Greek family.

Herodotus traveled extensively. He was forced to seek refuge at Samos, an island in the southeastern Aegean Sea; it was there that he learned the Ionic dialect in which his work was written. Other trips took him to Greece, Egypt, Scythia, and Libya, among other places. About 443 B.C. he joined Athenian pioneers and migrated to Thruii in southern Italy. He is supposed to have died there in the 420s B.C.

BACKGROUND TO HERODOTUS

Despite the fact that Herodotus spent most of his time within the orbit of the Greek world, he also came into contact