Transcript Herodotus

Homer on mankind, Book XXI
‘Lord of the
Earthquake,’answered the ArcherKing Apollo, ‘you would credit
me with very little sense if I
fought you for the sake of men,
those wretched creatures who, like
the leaves, flourish for a little
while on the bounty of the earth
and flaunt their brilliance, but in a
moment droop and fade away…’
Herodotus of Halicarnassus
(c. 485 BC – 425 BC)
Halicarnassus, modern Bodrum
Literature before Herodotus
• Epic poetry (Homer, Hesiod)
• Prose Geographies
• Prose Ethnographies
Herodotus combines all three—Homer’s
grand thematic sweep combined with
explanatory geographical and ethnographic
digressions.
HerodoteanThematic – Paragraph #1
Herodotus of Halicarnassus here displays the results
of his inquiries, so that human achievements (ta
genomena ex anthropon) may not become
forgotten in time, and great and marvellous deeds
(erga megala te kai thomasta)—some belonging
to the Hellenes, others to the barbarians—may not
be without glory (akleos); and for other things and
especially to show why (di’an aitian) the two
peoples fought with each other.
Persian Wars & Events leading
up
• Herodotus covers the Archaic Age of
Greece (600-480 BC), the century before
his own time.
• Covers the beginning of the 2nd great
conflict between East and West, Asia and
Europe, Greeks and Orientals
• First task to find the beginning of a human
event. How does he go about this?
Composition
• 9 Scrolls required-9 ‘books’ named after 9 muses
• ‘Ring’ composition- central thematic thread with
multiple digressions and returns
e.g. Persian king, Cambyses, decides to conquer
Egypt and digression begins into the geography,
races, customs, history, etc. of Egypt for all of
Book II. Book III goes back to Cambyses’
invasion.
• Point of View is East to West—when did Asia
first come into contact with Greeks
Herodotus’ Sense of Aetiology
• Human revenge—action & reaction of
nations and individuals
• Human ambition—impulse of empires and
men to expand territory
• Cyclical nature of all human affairs
• Envy or punishment of the gods for hubris
or for transgressions against the gods
Techniques
• Historia – he learns by traveling and asking
questions, journalistic approach
• Candor – when he mistrusts information, he
says so; he does not edit out sources
• Impartiality – although Greek, he treats all
nationalities with equal sympathy. NB,
Herodotus on customs (nomos).
Reactions/Reception to H’s work
• Plutarch wrote an essay “On the Malignity
of Herodotus”
• Cicero called him the “Father of History”
• He was also known as the “Father of Lies”
esp. with regard to the strange customs that
he explains (e.g. everything in Egypt is
backward…men squat to urinate and
women stand up…)
Significant Terms in Herodotus
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Historia
Adikia
Kleos
Megala erga
Nomos
Isonomia
Nemesis (ek theou)
Tyche
•Olbios
•Eudaimonia
•Miasmos
Persian Wars – Grand Theme
• Made Athens a leader among Greek city-states
and served to prompt the Delian League, a
defensive alliance amongst Aegean city-states
with Athens as the leader.
• Gave Greeks confidence in their position as
leaders of the western Mediterranean and,
ultimately, made Persia a refuge for ousted tyrants
and other Greeks unhappy with their cities
• Discouraged permanently Persian expansion to the
west.
Persian Empire – c. 490 BC
Beginning with ‘legends’ rationalized –
abduction of women
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Io by Phoenicians from Greece
Europa by Greeks from Phoenicia
Medea by Greeks from Aea (Eastern)
Helen by Trojans from Greece
…so much for the stories of Phoenicians and
Persians (eastern folk)
Herodotus begins ‘historical’
material with Croesus, King of
Lydia
• Croesus’ background – starts with story of
Candaules & Gyges (another problem
‘caused’ by woman)
• Note violations of nomos
• Role of Delphic Oracle
• Gyges descendants first encroach on Greek
Ionian cities – via Miletus
Croesus & Solon exchange re
Human Happiness
Poem attributed to Solon:
The man whose riches satisfy his greed
Is not more rich for all those heaps and hoards
Than some poor man who has enough to feed
And clothe his corpse with such as God affords.
I have no use for men who steal and cheat;
The fruit of evil poisons those who eat.
Some wicked men are rich, some good men poor,
But I would rather trust in what's secure;
Our virtue sticks with us and makes us strong,
But money changes owners all day long.
Solon’s examples of Happy Men
• Tellus, the Athenian
• Cleobis and Biton of
Argos
“Man is entirely a
creature of chance…”
“Call no man ‘happy’
until he’s dead.”
Solon, Athenian lawgiver ca 594 BC
After Solon’s departure –
Nemesis!
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Croesus’ son
Adrastus’ tale
War with Cyrus – Fall of Sardis
Croesus’ realization of Solon’s truth
Action moves now with Cyrus
• Cyrus’ background – Persians (mythic tone)
• Cyrus defeats Astyages and encorporates
Medes empire
• Cyrus advances Persian empire both east
and west – Lydia, Ionian Greeks, Carians,
Assyrians, and Massagetae