Histories (Herodotus)

The Histories (Greek: Ἱστορίαι; Ancient Greek: [historíai̯]; also known as The Histories[1]) of Herodotus is considered the founding work of history in Western literature.[2] Written in 430 BC in the Ionic dialect of classical Greek, The Histories serves as a record of the ancient traditions, politics, geography, and clashes of various cultures that were known in Greece, Western Asia and Northern Africa at that time. Although not a fully impartial record, it remains one of the West's most important sources regarding these affairs. Moreover, it established the genre and study of history in the Western world (despite the existence of historical records and chronicles beforehand).

Histories
Fragment from Histories, Book VIII on 2nd-century Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 2099
AuthorHerodotus
CountryGreece
LanguageAncient Greek
GenreHistory
PublisherVarious
Publication date
c. 430 BC

The Histories also stands as one of the earliest accounts of the rise of the Persian Empire, as well as the events and causes of the Greco-Persian Wars between the Persian Empire and the Greek city-states in the 5th century BC. Herodotus portrays the conflict as one between the forces of slavery (the Persians) on the one hand, and freedom (the Athenians and the confederacy of Greek city-states which united against the invaders) on the other. The Histories was at some point divided into the nine books that appear in modern editions, conventionally named after the nine Muses.

On the legacy of The Histories by Herodotus, historian Barry S. Strauss writes:

He is simply one of the greatest storytellers who ever wrote. His narrative ability is one of the reasons...those who call Herodotus the father of history. Now that title is one that he richly deserves. A Greek who lived in the fifth century BC, Herodotus was a pathfinder. He traveled the eastern Mediterranean and beyond to do research into human affairs: from Greece to Persia, from the sands of Egypt to the Scythian steppes, and from the rivers of Lydia to the dry hills of Sparta. The Greek for “research” is historia, where our word “history” comes from ... Herodotus is a great historian. His work holds up very well when judged by the yardstick of modern scholarship. But he is more than a historian. He is a philosopher with three great themes: the struggle between east and west, the power of liberty, and the rise and fall of empires. Herodotus takes the reader from the rise of the Persian Empire to its crusade against Greek independence, and from the stirrings of Hellenic self-defense to the beginnings of the overreach that would turn Athens into a new empire of its own. He goes from the cosmos to the atom, ranging between fate and the gods, on the one hand, and the ability of the individual to make a difference, on the other. And then there is the sheer narrative power of his writing...The old master keeps calling us back.[3]

Motivation for writing

Herodotus claims to have traveled extensively around the ancient world, conducting interviews and collecting stories for his book, almost all of which covers territories of the Persian Empire. At the beginning of The Histories, Herodotus sets out his reasons for writing it:

Here are presented the results of the enquiry carried out by Herodotus of Halicarnassus. The purpose is to prevent the traces of human events from being erased by time, and to preserve the fame of the important and remarkable achievements produced by both Greeks and non-Greeks; among the matters covered is, in particular, the cause of the hostilities between Greeks and non-Greeks.

— Herodotus, The Histories, Robin Waterfield translation (2008)

Summary
Candaules, King of Lydia, shews his wife by stealth to Gyges…, by William Etty (1830)

Book I (Clio)
  • The rapes of Io, Europa, and Medea, which motivated Paris to abduct Helen. The subsequent Trojan War is marked as a precursor to later conflicts between peoples of Asia and Europe. (1.1–5)[4]
  • Colchis, Colchians and Medea. (1.2.2–1.2.3)
  • The rulers of Lydia (on the west coast of Asia Minor, today modern Turkey): Candaules, Gyges, Ardys, Sadyattes, Alyattes, Croesus (1.6–7)
  • How Candaules made his bodyguard, Gyges, view the naked body of his wife. Upon discovery, she ordered Gyges to murder Candaules or face death himself[1]
  • How Gyges took the kingdom from Candaules (1.8–13)
  • The singer Arion's ride on the dolphin (1.23–24)
  • Solon's answer to Croesus's question that Tellus was the happiest person in the world (1.29–33)
  • Croesus's efforts to protect his son Atys, his son's accidental death by Adrastus (1.34–44)
  • Croesus's test of the oracles (1.46–54)
  • The answer from the Oracle of Delphi concerning whether Croesus should attack the Persians (famous for its ambiguity): If you attack, a great empire will fall.
  • Peisistratos' rises and falls from power as tyrant of Athens (1.59–64)
  • The rise of Sparta (1.65–68)
Edwin Long's 1875 interpretation of The Babylonian Marriage Market as described by Herodotus in Book 1 of the Histories
  • Croesus's defeat by Cyrus II of Persia, and how he later became Cyrus's advisor (1.70–92)
  • The rulers of the Medes: Deioces, Phraortes, Cyaxares, Astyages, Cyrus II of Persia (1.95–144)
  • The rise of Deioces over the Medes
  • Astyages's attempt to destroy Cyrus, and Cyrus's rise to power
  • Harpagus tricked into eating his son, his revenge against Astyages by assisting Cyrus
  • The culture of the Persians
  • The history and geography of the Ionians, and the attacks on it by Harpagus
  • Pactyes' convinces the Lydians to revolt. Rebellion fails and he seeks refuge from Mazares in Cyme (Aeolis)
  • The culture of Assyria, especially the design and improvement of the city of Babylon and the ways of its people
  • Cyrus's attack on Babylon, including his revenge on the river Gyndes and his famous method for entering the city
  • Cyrus's ill-fated attack on the Massagetæ, leading to his death

Book II (Euterpe)
Nile crocodile allowing the trochilus to eat leeches in its mouth.[lower-alpha 1] Drawing by Henry Scherren, 1906

Book III (Thalia)
  • Cambyses II of Persia's (son of Cyrus II and king of Persia) attack on Egypt, and the defeat of the Egyptian king Psammetichus III.
  • Cambyses's abortive attack on Ethiopia
  • The madness of Cambyses
  • The good fortune of Polycrates, king of Samos
  • Periander, the king of Corinth and Corcyra, and his obstinate son
  • The revolt of the two Magi in Persia and the death of Cambyses
  • The conspiracy of the seven to remove the Magi
  • The rise of Darius I of Persia.
  • The twenty satrapies
  • The culture of India and their method of collecting gold
  • The culture of Arabia and their method of collecting spices
  • The flooded valley with five gates
  • Orœtes's (governor of Sardis) scheme against Polycrates
  • The physician Democêdes
  • The rise of Syloson governor of Samos
  • The revolt of Babylon and its defeat by the scheme of Zopyrus

Book IV (Melpomene)
Scythian warriors, drawn after figures on an electrum cup from the Kul'Oba kurgan burial near Kerch (Hermitage Museum, Saint Petersburg)
Relief of Darius I, Persepolis
Statue of Athena, the patron goddess of Athens

Book V (Terpsichore)

Book VI (Erato)
A Greek trireme
  • The fleeing of Histiaeus to Chios
  • The training of the Ionian fleet by Dionysius of Phocaea
  • The abandonment of the Ionian fleet by the Samians during battle
  • The defeat of the Ionian fleet by the Persians
  • The capture and death of Histiaeus by Harpagus
  • The invasion of Greece under Mardonius and enslavement of Macedon
  • The destruction of 300 ships in Mardonius's fleet near Athos
Miltiades
  • The order of Darius that the Greeks provide him earth and water, in which most consent, including Aegina
  • The Athenian request for assistance of Cleomenes of Sparta in dealing with the traitors
  • The history behind Sparta having two kings and their powers
  • The dethronement of Demaratus, the other king of Sparta, due to his supposed false lineage
  • The arrest of the traitors in Aegina by Cleomenes and the new king Leotychides
  • The suicide of Cleomenes in a fit of madness, possibly caused by his war with Argos, drinking unmixed wine, or his involvement in dethroning Demaratus
  • The battle between Aegina and Athens
  • The taking of Eretria by the Persians after the Eretrians sent away Athenian help
  • Pheidippides's encounter with the god Pan on a journey to Sparta to request aid
  • The assistance of the Plataeans, and the history behind their alliance with Athens
  • The Athenian win at the Battle of Marathon, led by Miltiades and other strategoi (This section starts roughly around 6.100)[8]
  • The Spartans late arrival to assist Athens
  • The history of the Alcmaeonidae and how they came about their wealth and status
  • The death of Miltiades after a failed attack on Paros and the successful taking of Lemnos
The plain of Marathon today

Book VII (Polymnia)
  • The amassing of an army by Darius after learning about the defeat at Marathon
  • The quarrel between which son should succeed Darius in which Xerxes is chosen
  • The death of Darius in 486 BC
  • The defeat of the Egyptian rebels by Xerxes
  • The advice given to Xerxes on invading Greece: Mardonius for invasion, Artabanus against (9-10)
Leonidas at Thermopylae, by Jacques-Louis David (1814)
  • The dreams of Xerxes in which a phantom frightens him and Artabanus into choosing invasion
  • The preparations for war, including building the Xerxes Canal and Xerxes' Pontoon Bridges across the Hellespont
  • The offer by Pythius to give Xerxes all his money, in which Xerxes rewards him
  • The request by Pythius to allow one son to stay at home, Xerxes's anger, and the march out between the butchered halves of Pythius's son
  • The destruction and rebuilding of the bridges built by the Egyptians and Phoenicians at Abydos
  • The siding with Persia of many Greek states, including Thessaly, Thebes, Melia, and Argos
  • The refusal of aid after negotiations by Gelo of Syracuse, and the refusal from Crete
  • The destruction of 400 Persian ships due to a storm
  • The small Greek force (approx. 7,000) led by Leonidas I, sent to Thermopylae to delay the Persian army (~5,283,220 (Herodotus) )
  • The Battle of Thermopylae in which the Greeks hold the pass for 3 days
  • The secret pass divulged by Ephialtes of Trachis, which Hydarnes uses to lead forces around the mountains to encircle the Greeks
  • The retreat of all but the Spartans, Thespians, and Thebans (forced to stay by the Spartans).
  • The Greek defeat and order by Xerxes to remove Leonidas's head and attach his torso to a cross
The Battle of Salamis, by Wilhelm von Kaulbach (1868)

Book VIII (Urania)
  • Greek fleet is led by Eurybiades, a Spartan commander who led the Greek fleet after the meeting at the Isthmus 481 BC,
  • The destruction by storm of two hundred ships sent to block the Greeks from escaping
  • The retreat of the Greek fleet after word of a defeat at Thermopylae
  • The supernatural rescue of Delphi from a Persian attack
  • The evacuation of Athens assisted by the fleet
  • The reinforcement of the Greek fleet at Salamis Island, bringing the total ships to 378
  • The destruction of Athens by the Persian land force after difficulties with those who remained
  • The Battle of Salamis, the Greeks have the advantage due to better organization, and fewer losses due to ability to swim
  • The description of the Angarum, the Persian riding post
  • The rise in favor of Artemisia, the Persian woman commander, and her council to Xerxes in favor of returning to Persia
The Serpent Column dedicated by the victorious Greeks in Delphi, later transferred to Constantinople

Book IX (Calliope)
  • The second taking of an evacuated Athens
  • The evacuation to Thebes by Mardonius after the sending of Lacedaemonian troops
  • The slaying of Masistius, leader of the Persian cavalry, by the Athenians
  • The warning from Alexander to the Greeks of an impending attack
  • The death of Mardonius by Aeimnestus
  • The Persian retreat to Thebes where they are afterwards slaughtered (Battle of Plataea)
  • The description and dividing of the spoils
  • The speedy escape of Artabazus into Asia.
  • The Persian defeat in Ionia by the Greek fleet (Battle of Mycale), and the Ionian revolt
  • The mutilation of the wife of Masistes ordered by Amestris, wife of Xerxes
  • The death of Masistes after his intent to rebel
  • The Athenian blockade of Sestos and the capture of Artayctes
  • The Persians' abortive suggestion to Cyrus to migrate from rocky Persis

Critical editions
  • C. Hude (ed.) Herodoti Historiae. Tomvs prior: Libros I-IV continens. (Oxford 1908)
  • C. Hude (ed.) Herodoti Historiae. Tomvs alter: Libri V-IX continens. (Oxford 1908)
  • H. B. Rosén (ed.) Herodoti Historiae. Vol. I: Libros I-IV continens. (Leipzig 1987)
  • H. B. Rosén (ed.) Herodoti Historiae. Vol. II: Libros V-IX continens indicibus criticis adiectis (Stuttgart 1997)
  • N. G. Wilson (ed.) Herodoti Historiae. Tomvs prior: Libros I-IV continens. (Oxford 2015)
  • N. G. Wilson (ed.) Herodoti Historiae. Tomvs alter: Libri V-IX continens. (Oxford 2015)

Translations

Manuscripts
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See also

Notes
  1. Herodotus (Book II, 68) claimed that the trochilus bird visited the crocodile, which opened its mouth in what would now be called a cleaning symbiosis to eat leeches. A modern survey of the evidence finds only occasional reports of sandpipers "removing leeches from the mouth and gular scutes and snapping at insects along the reptile's body."[5]

References
  1. Herodotus (1987). The History, translated by David Gren. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-32770-1. pp. 37-38.
  2. Arnold, John H. (2000). History: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. 17. ISBN 0-19-285352-X.
  3. Barry S. Strauss (14 June 2014), "One of the Greatest Storytellers Who Ever Lived," Archived [Date missing] at offtheshelf.com [Error: unknown archive URL]' Off the Shelf.
  4. Fehling, Detlev (1989). "Some demonstrably false source citations". Herodotus and His 'Sources' . Francis Cairns, Ltd. 50–57. ISBN 0-905205-70-7.
    Lindsay, Jack (1974). "Helen in the Fifth Century". Helen of Troy Rowman and Littlefield. 133–134. ISBN 0-87471-581-4
  5. Macfarland, Craig G.; Reeder, W. G. (1974). "Cleaning symbiosis involving Galapagos tortoises and two species of Darwin's finches". Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie. 34 (5): 464–483. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.1974.tb01816.x.
  6. Geggel, Laura (March 19, 2019). "2,500 Years Ago, Herodotus Described a Weird Ship. Now, Archaeologists Have Found it". Live Science. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  7. Kim, Lawrence (2010). "Homer, poet and historian". Homer Between History and Fiction in Imperial Greek Literature. Cambridge University Press. 30-35 ISBN 978-0-521-19449-5.
    Allan, Williams (2008). "Introduction". Helen. Cambridge University Press. 22-24 ISBN 0-521-83690-5.
    Lindsay, Jack (1974). "Helen in the Fifth Century". Helen of Troy. Rowman and Littlefield. 135-138. ISBN 0-87471-581-4
  8. "Herodotus, The Histories, Book 6, chapter 100, section 1". www.perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2017-10-03.
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