“Herodotus wished to know; he wondered; and he became a historian”. It was born in that Greek race to want to know, to wonder, and to range the world (Glover, 39).

I first read Herodotus’ The Histories as a young college graduate. I could not put it down. Previous to this, History had been my least favorite subject. I hated the rote memorization of names, dates, and places forced upon us as high school students in the 70’s. Even at my “Ivy League University of the South” Alma Mater, my History courses were dry and unimaginative. I had no idea History and Geography were so fascinating until I picked up this treasure at a local library (this was long before the days of Barnes and Noble!). Thank you, Herodotus, for changing my world!

Now this Kandaules fell in love with his own wife and, being in love, thought he had the most beautiful of all women….(Histories, 1.7)

 This is not your typical “history” book!

 For this blog, I will reference a critical analysis of Herodotus by T. R. Glover, a Fellow of St. John’s College and Public Orator in the University of Cambridge (1924) from the SMU Fondren Library Permanent Collection. This is the next Author on my list of Thomas More’s personal library in Utopia. In addition, to reacquaint myself with Herodotus, I read the 833 pages of The Histories. [this is one reason it has been almost a month since my last post! Thank you to my daughter, Lorin, a European Historian Professor, for the loan of your text!]

 As I was researching for this blog, it occurred to me that Herodotus was not purposely writing a “history” book; however, he has since become the “Father of History”. This is more of a “Travelogue” as can be found by Longfellow, Voltaire, or Mark Twain. These are my favorite authors’ writings!

 Herodotus’ work is largely the study of the history of civilization. He was the first to study the “foreigner”, their customs good and bad, their political and religious ideas, myths and legends. Herodotus believed that the Greeks were really in their variety, their restlessness, and the impossibility, the most interesting of all peoples. Plutarch called him a “lover of barbarians”— refuting that the world was NOT Greek at all, nor even Anglo-Saxon (65). Through Herodotus, we find the most wonderful discoveries of the world—even more than the barbarians had achieved.

 The main achievement that Herodotus is noted for is the discovery of Freedom and its positive value in making men real and adding dignity and stability to life.

 Unlike Thucydides who wrote based on reflections, Herodotus was a born storyteller and wrote upon instinct. Like Alexander, he traveled the world. He reported what he saw and heard. “I myself have no intention of affirming that these events occurred thus or otherwise…I shall describe and then proceed with the rest of my story…And so, resting on my knowledge that human prosperity never remains constant, I shall make mention without discrimination” (Book One, Histories, 7)

From where and whom did Herodotus gather his history from?

 Herodotus drew upon written sources from the Persian satrapies, Phoenician documents, great oracles from Delphi, priests and archons, genealogies, Charon of Lampsacus, Dionysius of Miletus, and Lydian Xanthus. (51) His chief aim, according to Sayce, was to “use his predecessors’ materials without the fact be known” (Herodotus I-III, Intr. p.xx). At the time of Herodotus, public libraries were unknown. Athens was surrounded by literary men and books were cheaper than traveling. He pilfered freely and without acknowledgement (Ancient plagiarism?). Many events he claimed to be an eyewitness to, but this has since been refuted by historians.

 Herodotus brought something more to his work than the widest range of knowledge then available in all of the world, more than accuracy and the alert inquiring of intellect. According to Glover, he was one of the greatest artists of Greece; an incomparable source. He is the Greek world in person, he is ancient humanity (66).

 You seem to be very wealthy, and you rule over many people, but I cannot tell you the answer you asked until I learn how you have ended your life. (Histories, 1.32)

 His stories, or Histories!!, are full of color and life, full of feeling and intensity, humour. He told his story in the Homeric way: simple in thought, simple in language, rapid and noble (73).

 What subjects was Herodotus interested in ?

Topography

Herodotus was also a keen student of topography. At the time of Herodotus, men were already studying soils and climates and their effect on human life. River and sea and desert, natural phaenomena and their causes, were growing in interest. The great problems in physical geography were first raised by him, as in the case of the Nile and its summer overflow. He studied the problems of wind and snow, which to a Greek mind was fascinating. He lingered on the outer edges of the world.

 Herodotus traveled to countries, mountain ranges, and the Mediterranean where there were no marked lines. One land involved another land; one people more means other tribes on its frontiers; his intellectual curiosity was as compelling and as universal as Alexander’s; and it is all relevant to his story. He did not look on history as formed in a vacuum [44] ( Grundy, Great Persian War, 220).

Religion

When in Egypt, around 5th century BCE, Herodotus observed the customs of daily life and dress, of polite manners, food taboos, cleanliness, mummies and cares of the dead, and above all, religion. The study of religious ideas of the world appealed to him. This would have been roughly 450-400 years before Jesus Christ’s traditional birth. Herodotus did not write extensively about mosaic religion or Judaism in Egypt. In Book II of Histories, Herodotus briefly mentions the customs and religious practices of the Jews, but his account is not particularly detailed or comprehensive. He does not delve deeply into the theological aspects of Judaism or its religious texts.

 In Book II, Herodotus explains how Egypt’s great pyramids were built. How cool to think of the first time he saw these massive structures? The pyramid of Cheops was “built like a flight of stairs”, are 8 plethra square and 8 plethra in height (A plethron= 100feet) a square 756 fee on each side. 481 feet high. The structure is lined up with the cardinal directions with remarkable precision. Some of the stones weigh 60 tons. So cool! (Book II, 174-177)

Anthropology

 “Herodotus has been described of late (in 1924!!) as the ‘intellectual ancestor of the modern anthropologist” (260). He wished to know something certain “from whom I could”. The fact that there were few reference documents at that time required him to travel to a land or civilization in order to investigate it. He took pains to know and was willing to let his reader learn that there is knowledge to be had! I love this. At times he made inferences, how could he not. He remembered and compared what he had heard through inquiry, habits of mind, and methods. He relied greatly on Homer and Hesiod greatly and often mentioned Greek gods and goddesses in the context of his narrative. He described the religious customs and rituals associated with Greek deities and sometimes compared Greek beliefs with other cultures he encountered during his travels.

And that is just what happened .(Histories, 1.22)

Work Cited

T.R. Glover. Herodotus. Fellow of John’s College and Public Orator in the University of Cambridge. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1924

Robert B. Strassler. The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories. New York: Anchor Books, 2007.