A Guide to Reading Herodotus’ Histories

Description

Modern scholarship judges Herodotus to be a more complex writer than his past readers supposed. His Histories is now being read in ways that are seemingly incompatible if not contradictory. This volume interrogates the various ways the text of the Histories has been and can be read by scholars: as the seminal text of our Ur-historian, as ethnology, literary art and fable. Our readings can bring out various guises of Herodotus himself: an author with the eye of a travel writer and the mind of an investigative journalist; a globalist, enlightened but superstitious; a rambling storyteller but a prose stylist; the so-called ‘father of history’ but in antiquity also labelled the ‘father of lies’; both geographer and gossipmonger; both entertainer and an author whom social and cultural historians read and admire. Guiding students chapter-by-chapter through approaches as fascinating and often surprising as the original itself, Sean Sheehan goes beyond conventional Herodotus introductions and instead looks at the various interpretations of the work, which themselves shed light on the original. With text boxes highlighting key topics and indices of passages, this volume is an essential guide for students whether reading Herodotus for the first time, or returning to revisit this crucial text for later research. Cover page Halftitle page Series page Title page Copyright page Dedication page CONTENTS LIST OF BOXES AUTHOR’S NOTE Approaches to Herodotus A literary historian The form of the Histories Herodotus the historian Herodotus’ sources and methodology Mythical time, historical time, folk tales Causation Herodotus the ethnographer The Histories as literature Telling stories Literary influences Themes and patterns Fate Life, luck and everything Nomos Notes to Approaches Commentary Book One: Croesus and Cyrus Proem Herodotus’ preface Abductions (1.1–5) Story of Croesus Lydian kings before Croesus (1.6–25) Croesus as king (1.26–94) Story of Cyrus Kings of the Medes before Astyages (1.95–106) Cyrus (1.107–30) Persian ethnography (1.131–40) The Ionia logos (1.141–76) Cyrus, Babylon and the Massagetae (1.177–216) Book Two: Egypt Introduction Introducing Egypt (2.1–4) Geography of Egypt (2.5–34) Ethnography of Egypt Inverse symmetries and sacrifices (2.35–41) Egyptian gods: Heracles, Pan and Dionysus (2.42–9) The naming of gods, Dodona and festivals (2.50–64) Animal lore (2.65–76) Customs (2.77–97) History of Egypt Early kings and the Helen logos (2.99–120) Rhampsinitus, pyramid builders and chronology (2.121–46) The Labyrinth and the Saite kings (2.147–78) Book Three: Cambyses, Samos and Darius Introduction Cambyses’ campaign in Egypt (3.1–16) Cambyses and Ethiopia (3.17–25) Cambyses: truth and falsehood (3.26–38) The Samos story (part 1): Polycrates and Periander (3.39–60) The false Smerdis and death of Cambyses (3.61–6) The coup and Constitutional Debate (3.67–83) The empire and the fringes of the world (3.84–119) The Samos story (part 2): the death of Polycrates (3.120–8) Darius’campaigns and the Samos story (part 3) (3.129–60) Book Four: Darius, Scythia and Libya Scythia and Darius Background (4.1–4) Scythia: origins, people, geography (4.5–58) Scythian customs (4.59–80) Darius’ expedition to Scythia The march to the Ister (4.83–98) Scythian strategy and potential allies (4.102–20) The Scythian campaign (4.121–44) Cyrene and the Persian expedition The foundation of Thera (4.145–9) The foundation of Cyrene and its kings (4.150–67) Ethnography of Libya (4.168–99) The foundation of Thera (4.145–9) The foundation of Cyrene and its kings (4.150–67) Ethnography of Libya (4.168–99) Book Five: The Ionian revolt – causes and outbreak Before the Ionian revolt Persian campaigns in Europe (5.1–27) The Naxos affair and Ionian revolt (5.28–38) Sparta and Aristagoras (5.39–54) Athenian history (5.55–96) Athens: end of tyranny and Cleisthenes (5.62–9) Athens: Cleomenes, Isagoras and Hippias (5.70–96) The Ionian revolt (5.97–126) Book Six: The Ionian revolt – defeat and aftermath Introduction Failure of the Ionian revolt (6.1–33) After the Ionian revolt (6.34–48) Sparta, Aegina and Athens (6.49–94) The Marathon campaign (6.94–140) Book Seven: The road to Thermopylae Introduction Debates and dreams (7.1–19) Reaching and crossing the Hellespont (7.20–56) Hellespont to Thermopylae (7.57–131) The Greeks respond (7.132–77) Thermopylae (7.178–239) Book Eight: Showdown at Salamis Artemisium and retreat (8.1–39) Before Salamis (8.40–83) The Battle of Salamis (8.84–96) After Salamis (8.97–144) Book Nine: Persia defeated Hostilities resumed (9.1–27) Battle of Plataea (9.28–75) Plataea’s aftermath (9.76–89) Battle of Mycale (9.90–107) The ending of the Histories Xerxes’ infatuations (9.108–13) Artayctes (9.116–20) Cyrus’ advice (9.122) Notes to Commentary BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX