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Herodotus (484 BC -430 BC): The Histories

Herodotus was a Greek writer who wrote a narrative history of the Persian Wars Summary of text th and contribution to in the 5 Century BC in his Histories. It is one of the main extant accounts we have of both the Greco-Persian conflict and the rise of the Persian Empire that historiography: preceded it. Unfortunately, it was written about The Histories was also significantly influenced by Homers epic poetry; the Histories was meant to be performed as an oral text, and this explains why it contains many of the conventions of epic poetry. His contribution to historiography has, however, been significant, and the inclusion of supernatural elements should not be seen as evidence to discredit Herodotus trustworthiness as a source. Rather, it should be seen as further information about his context and perhaps even purpose. As an oral text, which might have taken up to (or longer than) twelve hours to recite, it would naturally be deemed necessary to include interesting and engaging anecdotes to retain the audiences attention. This would not necessarily take away from the overall reliability of the text, but it does require us to engage with the text through a rather critical lens. Herodotus is called The Father of History because he founded the recognised genre of history, including the methods and structure of the writing of history. Herodotus established the view that historians should not favour one side, but handle the evidence with relative objectivity.* Though the word histories at the time did not mean specifically research into past events and peoples, as it has come to mean now, Herodotus repeated use of the word to describe his empirical enquiry into the events and peoples of the past basically established this definition of history that we use today.
*This does not mean that his account is a completely accurate, truthful account of the events of the Persian Wars Herodotus was limited by the availability of evidence and his context. But this viewpoint that he established has proved to be an extremely significant contribution to modern historiography.

Historians stated aim:

Herodotus claims his aim is to record information from his investigation accurately.

Historians purpose:

Herodotus states that his purpose is:

to preserve the renown of actual deeds in the past record the memory of great deeds for this and future generations

Another translation puts it this way:

to preserve the memory of the past by putting on record the astonishing achievements both of our own and other peoples; and more particularly, to show how they came into conflict.

It is clear that Herodotus was interested in the causes of conflict, and this is likely to be largely the result of his historical context. The Histories was written during the Peloponnesian War, which had its roots in the Greco-Persian conflict and the

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resulting birth of the Athenian Empire. It is therefore likely that Herodotus also sought to use his Histories to explore and explain the development of the Peloponnesian War. The Histories can also be seen as a philosophical work comparing and contrasting the two societies particularly their different political systems. In fact, The Histories could be seen as presenting an argument in favour of democracy over kingship, oligarchy and tyranny. Particularly, Herodotus representation of the rise of the Persian Empire, and more specifically his representation of Persian kings, reveals his firm opinion that giving one man concentrated power over decision making is a major source of political weakness. He presents this as being one of the reasons for the Greek victory over the Persian Empire. Furthermore, this conclusion may shed light on Herodotus political leanings in the Peloponnesian conflict. Rule by the people, as was the case in early Athenian democracy, seems to be a favoured concept in his representation of different political systems, whereas rule by kings, as in the Spartan system, was held in contempt. However, the representation is not necessarily a favourable one for the Athens of Herodotus time, which bore little resemblance to the idealistic representation of Athens at the time of the Greco-Persian conflict. The positive representation of Athens at the time of the earlier conflict could well be a form of political commentary directed at the Athens of Herodotus own context. It seems Herodotus viewed history in a rather philosophical light. His exploration of the rise and fall of empires leads him to draw the conclusion that history is fluid, constantly changing and, specifically, no empire will remain in power forever. These conclusions suggest that the Histories could even be seen as presenting a warning to Athens about their likely fate; it was Persias mistreatment of their subject peoples, and the arrogance of their rulers, that ultimately resulted in its failure. The Athenian Empire could well be seen to be following this same path, and as such, the Histories could be a combination of historical records and contextually relevant political commentary. For further research read: http://www.historytoday.com/irene-brown/historianphilosopher-herodotus-and-strength-freedom

Methodology and problems with methodology:

Herodotus main sources were oral accounts. For the earlier parts of his work, Herodotus primarily relied on local oral traditions. Obviously, there are problems with this, particularly when the events in question had reached mythological status in the eyes of the involved peoples. The story of the supernatural opposition to the Persians attack on Delphi is an example of how local oral traditions can be unreliable:
just as the Persians came thunderbolts fell on them from the sky, and two pinnacles of rock, torn from Parnassus, came killing a large number There is a story, I am told two gigantic soldiers taller than ever a man was pursuing them and cutting them down. According to the Delphians, these were Phylacus and Autonous, local heroes who have enclosed plots of ground near the temple

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The account probably stems from local legend based on the presumably factual event of the Persian loss at Delphi. However, given the clear influence of Homer on Herodotus Histories, it could also be a literary device to explain the occurrence in an engaging way. Fehling suggests that Herodotus simply made up eye-witness accounts or instances of local tradition to make his account seem more plausible. Whether this is true or not, we will probably never know. Another important fact to consider is that the oral traditions Herodotus was recording were predominantly those of dominant families in society (what we today might consider the upper classes) and dominant religious figures (priests of holy shrines etc.). Historian John Gould argues that this is just coincidence resulting from Herodotus attempts to seek out the descendants and people of the same social standing as the figures he was investigating. However, even family tradition cannot be fully trusted as an historical source, and a familys desire for aggrandisement might lead to exaggeration of the part played by family members or even wild historical inaccuracies. The fact is, there is no way to know for certain. Also, there are some significant errors in Herodotus discussion of other cultures, which may be explained by the obstacles presented by language barriers and difficulties in translation when using oral sources from non-Greek cultures. However, even though Herodotus use of oral sources at times appears to make his information lack credibility, his attempt to include a variety of accounts and opinions without favouritism suggests that his Histories are fundamentally reliable. Specific, seemingly incredible accounts of individuals and events (particularly involving the physical intervention of the supernatural realm) should naturally be taken with a grain of salt, but the overall information provided in the text can be taken as predominantly accurate. An interesting article available on the Cornell University website on Herodotus and the Oral tradition is linked below: https://courses.cit.cornell.edu/class3676/secure/Murray.pdf For more on his context, and the impact of this on his Histories, try the following articles: http://www.loyno.edu/~history/journal/1998-9/Pipes.htm

Impact of Context on representation of history and his methodology

Some of Herodotus context the Peloponnesian War and the popularity of Greek Epic poetry has been touched on in the previous sections. - Geographical location of Halicarnassus and political history (under both Persian and Athenian rule at different times I think Herodotus lived under both). Herodotus experienced Tyranny under ________, and fled Halicarnassus as a result. There is some historical suggestion that he was part of an uprising against the tyrant this experience may well have affected his representation of history in his Histories, and even his methodology.

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Basic ideas and quotes:

Herodotus suggests he intended to remain objective:

I have no intention on passing judgment on its truth or falsity

In another translation, Herodotus writes:

For myself, my duty is to report all that is said; but I am not obliged to believe it all alike a remark which may be understood to apply to my whole History

This certainly suggests a level of objectivity, and this view of the proper attitude in which to conduct an historical investigation that Herodotus has had a significant influence on historical methodology of later scholars, even to the present day. Fehling makes an interesting comment on Herodotus purpose:
For him it was a matter of staving off oblivion rather than increasing knowledge

References: John Warren, History and the Historians Herodotus Ken Webb, Extension History: the Historians