Homer – so runs Herodotus’ accusation – simply changed the course of the story to make it fit the genre of epic poetry. Helen, he claims, never made it to Troy: she was diverted to Egypt due to bad weather. While Herodotus does not dismiss the Iliad and the Odyssey, he openly takes a swipe at Homer at least once. In his account the historical and the cultural influence each other. Herodotus uses the gradual expansion of the Persian Empire to delve deeply into the cultures of those who came under its influence in the century preceding the war. Travel and the insights they yield are as dominant a theme in the ethnographic sections of the Histories as expansion, warfare and conflict are in the historical sections. Herodotus combined the two major themes of Homeric epic – travel and warfare – into a single whole. After all, Homer, too, reported great deeds by Greeks and non-Greeks alike and preserved them for posterity. Yet his opening lines still pay homage to the world of the Homeric hero and his perpetual striving for kleos (“glory”). Unlike Homer, Herodotus no longer claims to be inspired by the Muses. Herodotus of Halicarnassus here displays his inquiry, so that human achievements may not become forgotten in time, and great and marvellous deeds – some displayed by Greeks, some by barbarians – may not be without their glory. Herodotus’ ingenuity emerges most clearly when considered in relation to Homer, who had set the benchmark and provided all writers to follow with a model for talking about the past.Ĭonsider for example his opening statement in the beginning of the book: Certain of victory, he wages war against the Persians as the oracle foretells, Croesus duly ends up destroying an empire – his own. That same king consults the Delphic oracle and learns to his delight that he will bring down a great empire. The moral is, in a nutshell: call no man happy until he is dead. There is the conversation between King Croesus of Lydia and the Athenian statesman, reformer and poet Solon, on the true nature of human happiness. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia.Yet as soon as one pauses and appreciates the stories for what they are one cannot but marvel at the events Herodotus relates. Herodotus treats the conflict as an ideological one, frequently contrasting the absolute power of the Persian king with the democratic government of the Greeks.

The rise of the Persian Empire is chronicled, and the causes for the conflict with Greece. Herodotus traveled extensively around the ancient world, conducting interviews and collecting stories for his book. Written about 440 BC, the Histories tell the story of the war between the Persian Empire and the Greek city-states in the 5th century BC. The Histories of Herodotus of Halicarnassus is considered the first work of history in Western literature. Download cover art Download CD case insert Herodotus' Histories Vol 1

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