Herodotus

Bridging Space (3.134-3.135) (5)

- Atossa expounds the doctrine that a king's virility is in first place manifested in his martial enterprises that every Persian king has the duty to extend the borders of the empire and that the people's inactivity endangers the ruler (Aristotle, Politics) - Implicit comparison with Cyrus and Cambyses - Dialogue is 'aetiological' in the sense that it aims to explain the 'cause' of the Persian campaigns against Greece and more generally, the reason behind Persian expansionism (Heni, 1976) - Atossa becomes the 'cause' of the Persian Wars as Helen was for Troy (Huxley, 1989) - Comparison between Herodotus' exploration of knowledge and Darius' exploration for expansion

Freedom from Slavery (7.135) (6)

- Freedom can only be appreciated if its been experienced - Freedom must be defended at all costs - Spartan heralds refuse power in slavery - Herodotus connects the history of the past with the political issues troubling the present and strongly emphasises the most important political phenomena he sees as constants in history (Raaflaub, 2002) - Herodotus sees history dominated by the antithetical desires for liberty and power - the nomos of Persian kings, to always expand, clashes with the names of the Spartans never to submit - Still concerned with self-interest, though fighting with axes for liberty if need be, the Spartans are mostly fighting for their own liberty, not Greece as a whole

Herodotus and Homer: The Trojan War as the Persian War (1.4) (10)

- Comparisons of the size of the armies at (7.20), noting Xerxes' forces as the greatest ever assembled, those that attacked Troy were tiny in comparison - Allusions to the Trojan War in the preface with the stress on epical fame (remarkable achievements) not lacking in kleos - Herodotus' very journeys are almost like Homer's Odyssey - Herodotus is the new Odysseus in his travels and observations but also Homer with his enquiries (Pelling, 2006) - No need for Herodotus to summon a Muse as he maintains he has the insight and knowledge to give authority - When Athenian ships are sent to help the Ionian Revolt, this is the "beginning of evils for Greeks and barbarians" (5.97) - new equivalent of the Trojan War as in the Iliad 5.62 "well-balanced ships started the ills" (Pelling, 2006) - Causal chain to both wars traced by Herodotus and Homer to ships, though in the Iliad, Paris "did not know the gods' decreed will" showing the causation is far earlier - this half-truth is common and may still be insightful (Pelling, 2006) - The suggested shared suffering of Greeks and non-Greeks in this passage appears differential to Homer at first as the ills of the Trojans were also the ills of Paris - but in the Odyssey, Odysseus realises the shared toils of Greeks and Trojans and weeps (Odyssey 8.530) - Herodotus' proem outlines he will discuss "human events" implying a shift from Homer and the gods however he quickly writes "it was necessary for things to turn out badly for Candaules" (1.82) and Gyges begins that ancestral curse (1.13) - The news of the fall of the Acropolis at (8.56) is surely similar to the retreat of the Greeks in the Iliad 2.149 - Introduction of the gods in Iliad and Herodotus can add more credibility as otherwise battles were won often by luck, but divine intervention is almost more believable (Pelling, 2006)

Cultural Relativism (3.38) (6)

- Concludes the logos of Cambyses, Herodotus takes the opportunity to express severe judgement of the Persian king stressing his madness and reflecting on the supremacy of customs in different human cultures in ethnographical and philosophical terms (Asheri, 2007) - Compares the madness of Cambyses to sanity of Darius using latter's ethnological experiment which draws the conclusion that all human beliefs and customs belong to the history of civilisation, there is no objective way to rate customs of cultures (Asheri, 2007) - The choice of the individual is determined by a personal or collective attachment to tradition or by a rational convention - Indians and Greeks lived beyond Eastern and Western borders of Persian Empire so both were barbarians to the Persians, different while also highly civilised (Humbach, 1974) - The relativistic spirit of Ionian science is reinforced seemingly by more recent sophistic antilogy - though it removes the basis for any absolute ethical judgement, it remains fundamentally sceptical towards ethical-political utopia (Asheri, 2007) - The role of cannibalism here is important as for the Indians it is a 'custom' so shows an element of culture or civilisation - compared to the lack of civilisation in the Odyssey's cannibal, Polyphemus

Black History (3.101) (2)

- Copulation in public, even with courtesans, was considered indecent by the Greeks (Xenophon, Anabasis V) - Aristotle criticised the belief of black semen in Africans and Indians

Freedom as Political Strength (7.103) (6)

- Discussions on advantages and disadvantages of democracy on a more or less theoretical level, was a key topic at the time, shown from similar analogies in other contemporaries such as Euripides' Suppliants - Herodotus' ethical perspective argues that the close ties of Spartan community by a superior nomos, overcome restraints of poverty and temptations of individualism making it impossible for them to accept autocracy and slavery (Dihle, 1981) - Stresses the link between the Greeks' freedom and their valour - Despite Demaratus' explanation, Xerxes disregards crucial information about the Greeks' aretē and the role of nomos in Spartan society - fails because they are not interested in the nomoi of the peoples they try to conquer - Demaratus is arguably made wise through suffering and exile, just like Croesus was wiser after his fall from grace and power, becoming advisor to Cyrus and then Cambyses (Gray, 2002) - Demaratus asks Xerxes which answer he would prefer, the truth or the comforting answer, hinting that he knows Xerxes himself isn't as wise as he should be

Spatial Oppositions (8)

- Egypt is the oldest race (2.15) - Scythia is the youngest (4.5) - Egypt is extremely hot (2.22) - Scythia is very cold (4.28) - Egypt is a land of many wonders (2.35) - Scythia has few, but greatest rivers of the world (4.82) - The Nile's course in the south reflects the Ister in the north (2.34) BUT - Scythians and Egyptians dislike foreign customs, especially those of the Greeks (2.91, 4.76) unlike the Persians (1.135)

Breaking of the Bridge (9.120) (3)

- Final preliminary conclusion to the work, a finale with great symbolic power, shows Herodotus follows the principle of the organisation of his work right till the very end - Shows a turning down of profit in the crucifixion of Artayctes, refusing his offer of 200 talents for the ransom of him and his son (Van Wees, 2002) - Resolves the theme of geographical transgression, Artayctes desecrates the temples as Xerxes marches on Athens and is crucified at the point of his crossing of the Hellespont

Travelling Through Time and Across Space - Darius' Kingdom (3.89) (3)

- First of two digressions that catalogue the Achaemenid Empire - Lists 20 satrapies that are multi-ethnic and fiscal conglomerates - credibility is greatly questioned, though some certainly line up with other sources, not all (fragments of Ctesias, and Polycleitos of Larissa) - Still indispensable in attempting to reconstruct administrative geography of the Achaemenid Empire

Tragic History - Croesus and Solon (1.29) (9)

- Focal point in the whole Croesus logos and Herodotus' larger work - Solon's view of happiness is extremely conventional, an aurea mediocritas which finds its trivial expression in public honours, other peoples' envy, funerals, monuments, etc. - Instability of prosperity and the end of life as a test of lasting happiness are typical Herodotean notions - Aristotle's famous study of happiness (Nicomachean Ethics) demonstrates that such views were not alien to Greek culture - Meeting between Solon and Croesus symbolises the confrontation between wisdom and arrogance - Regenbogen has linked the confrontation to Western 'freedom' versus Eastern 'despotism' but this is unlikely - Plutarch already questioned the historicity (Life of Solon) - The symmetry of Croesus' misfortunes, 7 years of fortune then 7 of misfortune are too perfect to be historical (Myles, 1953) - Nevertheless, the story was too popular in antiquity from Aristotle to the end of the Byzantine Period

Black History (2.104) (4)

- Herodotus argues for the Egyptian origins of the Colchians using proofs based on physical similarities, customs, modes of life and language - Herodotus' adjectives characterise a common Egyptian physical type well but many other physiognomies were in evidence (see Strabo) - Colchis especially seems like it had considerable ethnic diversity (Strabo XI) - The belief here that Egyptians invented circumcision is unlikely but even more unlikely is that Judaism learnt this practice from Egypt, certainly a post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy (Lloyd, 2007)

Asian Kingship - Maeandrias and the Samians (3.142-3) (4)

- Herodotus consciously structured his work to keep audience constantly aware of their present (Raaflaub, 2002) - In rejecting their tyrant's offer of equality and freedom, the elite Samians "apparently did not want to be free" - Not all Greeks rejected monarchy - Unsuccessful attempts of Maeandrias to become the most just by stepping down from tyranny reminds us of debates in Athens in 429 BCE immortalised in Pericles' last speech in Thucydides about the dangers of letting go of tyranny

Tragic History - Croesus' Oracles (1.46) (5)

- Herodotus emphasises several times Croesus' responsibility - Some modern critics have regarded the story as a Delphic advertising stunt (Asheri, 2007) - Chose 7 oracles - divine number - does not reflect antiquity - Misses certain oracles in Asia Minor, Claros and Patora, the would have been consulted before those in Greece - Story is a technical impossibility - presupposes that reserving an audience and securing access to the oracles was always possible - In Delphi in reality, the oracle was only open one day a year (later once a month), so this passage assumes that all oracles were open on the same day (Parke, 1943)

Constitutional Debate of the Persians (3.80) (8)

- Herodotus explores the nature of autocracy and why it is fundamentally bad - Exposes recurring weaknesses structurally tied to tyranny or despotism - Herodotus controls the narrative so he controls what is included but also passes judgement on things he has written, certain that the constitutional debate did happen - Persians seriously considered the institution of democracy, more than a decade before Cleisthenes introduced it in Athens - what does this tell us about views on Persia? - Many contemporary intellectuals refused believe Persians ha this debate, must remember how radical some of Herodotus' ideas might have been (Plutarch, On the Malice of Herodotus) - Mardonius apparently installed democracy in Ionia some decades after Otanes initially suggested it (6.43) - Herodotus was not an uncritical propagandist for a particular political system but was cornered to use his historical inquiries to explore the strengths and weaknesses of systems of political organisation (Thompson, 1996) - The characteristics of a tyrant here align with other Greek literature especially Athenian tragedy - ides seem to be drawing on wider Greek ideas on tyranny (Lanzi, 1977)

Thaumasta (2.35) (4)

- Herodotus was a convinced exponent of environmental determinism (belief that geography or climate of regions changes the way they develop socially) - this includes Egypt - Herodotus especially proud of their achievements given their climate? (Sigerist, 1951) - Descriptions of toilets true for Egyptian men but also exemplified in Greece according to Hesiod Op. 731 - toilets and chaise percées were known from Ancient Egypt but Ghalioungui argues Herodotus greatly exaggerates (Ghalioungui 1963) - Egyptians did eat in the open but this is invariable anyway (Davies, 1929) - Daughters looking after fathers was legally required in Egypt while in Athens it was legally required for sons (Seidl, 1965)

Freedom as Political Strength (5.78) (7)

- Isegoria shown here allowing Athenians to rise to a new level of power but they stone the councillor Lycides to death when he dares dissent (9.5) - Only after the expulsion of tyranny could Athens grow as a political power - Uses the question of the political constitution to explain the success of Greece over Persia - Passage is a political opinion of Herodotus, masked by generalisation of antiquity - Account of establishment of the democracy seems to derive from a wider polis tradition, emphasising collective action by Athenians - appears to seek legitimacy in the democratic government by using Athen's past to show the positives of democratic rule - Sophists focused their attention on human society and interaction; they studied humans as social and political beings (zoia koinōnika or politika) - They were interested in political problems such as the nature and organisation of power, the contrast between nomos and phusis, the mechanisms unleashed by pleonexia or ōphelia (Raaflaub, 2002)

Historia as 'enquiry' - Preface (3)

- Main idea of the sentence is that Herodotus wants to save from oblivion, what deserves to be remembered, in a still predominately oral culture, consisted of writing down memories and testimonies - 'Remarkable achievements' for Herodotus didn't just mean buildings and constructions but also battles, conquests and legislations etc. - Herodotus was the historian who marvelled (David Asheri, 2007) - Hints at the blame, offence, responsibility etc. which provoked retaliation - For Herodotus, Croesus is the first offender, for he began the recent series of historical conflicts between Asia and Europe - although the beginning of the book offers mutual accusations of responsibility (Momigliano, 1975)

Asian Kingship - Deioces (1.95) (6)

- Medes gained independence from the Assyrians (1.95) - Deioces desired to become a tyrant (erastheis tyrannidos) (1.96) - Had a reputation as a sophos, applied himself more eagerly to training in dikaiosunē, even though there was a great deal of anomia in Media at the time (1.96) - Medes appointed him their judge; gained reputation for making straight judgements (1.96) - When he realised everything was referred to him, he refused to make straight judgements; theft and lawlessness returned to the village so Medes appointed a king (1.97) - Deioces appointed as king (basileus) and ordered Medes to build him a palace (1.98-99)

Autopsy - Hippopotamuses (2.71) (6)

- Not as sacred as supposed - Often identified with the god Seth (god of chaos and violence) as a negative cosmic force of destructive and terrifying power - perhaps by "sacred", Herodotus meant that they were linked to the gods? - Slaying frequently depicted in cult of Horus (arch enemy of Seth) (Chassinat, 1892) - Animal could be connected with protective goddesses associated with maternity like Ipet or Taurt, with cult centres in Thebes and Fayum (both in Egypt, not Greek Thebes) (Meeks, 1975) - In some translations, it is called the "river horse" likely for its horse-like head but this could be an example of Greek predilection for using jesting names for foreign phenomena (Lloyd, 2007) - There are obvious fallacies in this observation and no other ancient author confirms Herodotus' statement, though his discussion of the hide used for spears is rather credible as the practice is still common in Modern Africa (Keller, 1909)

Connected logoi (1.6) (4)

- Passage links to the following passage on Lydian lineage even though it is technically a digression - The notion of Croesus as 'ruler' is very neutral, not negative like tyrant - Before this passage, Herodotus states he will mention both civilisations great and small as "human happiness never remains long in the same place" - this introduces us to the logos of Croesus as the problem of the instability of human fortune is crucial to his narrative (Asheri, 2007) - Earliest appearance of Herodotus' cyclical or perhaps hex-cyclical theory

Asian Kingship - Croesus (1.86) (5)

- Shows oracle helping Persians? - After his fall from grace, Croesus is granted permission to ask the Delphic Oracle whether he should be ashamed to have deceived a man of honour (Cyrus? By revolting?) - Oracle doesn't blame Croesus but the traditional idea of inherited guilt over generations and justified his loss of the kingdom by the original crime of Gyges - Claims god showed gratitude in delaying the downfall by 3 years - Lacked the self-doubt to ask the right questions of the oracle in the first place, if he had, he would have known it would be his own kingdom that he toppled

Black History (3.20) (2)

- Since Ethiopians are tallest and most handsome of all men, their king has to be the tallest and most handsome of them - Hellenistic-Roman sources like that of Strabo and Diodorus also discuss other criteria for electing the Ethiopian king such as care in the rearing of livestock, virtue and wealth (Strabo XVII, Diodorus III)

Vengefulness of Women - Candaules' Wife (1.8) (7)

- Story of Candaules' wife and Gyges is first short story told by Herodotus - A rationalisation of other versions of this story; others refer to the queen's double pupil eyes for instance (Rose, 1940) - Appears to have been gathered from dramatic or poetic sources rather than historical sources, the name of the queen is missing - Clear from surviving papyrus that this story was formally dramatised in antiquity - "Ears are less trustworthy than eyes" is also the methodology of Herodotus in his journeys, preferring his own observations - Herodotus knew the though Lydians were ashamed of nakedness, they prostituted their own daughters (1.94) - Another link to the cyclical nature of Herodotus on display with this murder? Where Gyges first saw the queen is where he hides before killing the king

Herodotus 1:1 (5)

- Talks very little about himself - Greek Historiography inherited a convention of archaic epic (author should not mention himself unless the topic required it, such as when Herodotus qualifies his opinion on an event's historicity) - Differs from the structure of epic "proems" (the preface) with their traditional invocation of the Muse - Books end with a didactic maxim delivered by Cyrus the Great - no epilogue - while the passage doesn't effectively conclude the work, it is an important lesson on what has been learned throughout the work - an epilogue is certainly missing - Pillars of the story rest on the first four Achaemenid kings (Cyrus, Cambyses, Darius and Xerxes)

Asian Kingship - Cyrus (7)

- The 'ideal' king though he is a Persian king - Called father and benefactor, gentle compared to the harsh Deioces and Astyages - Offered the Persians freedom instead of slavery (1.126) - Birth seems to be 'more than mortal' - divine link - gives credibility to story and perhaps removes some of the valour of his achievements as he may have been aided by the gods - Listens to the seemingly radical opinion of Croesus in the only one who says not to just await the attack of Queen Tomyris (1.207) - Croesus' advice on the affairs of men defines Herodotus' outlook, that history consists of a sequence of rises and falls of great powers and powerful leaders; human happiness, success and power are unstable and unlikely to last long; the higher a person or state reach, the sooner they will fall - It is unjust and hubristic to overstep one's bounds

Myths of Snatch and Counter Snatch (1.1-1.4) (5)

- The Phoenician's abduction of Io is avenged by the Greek abduction of Europa, after which both sides are equal - with the abduction of Medea, the Greeks become the offenders while Helen's abduction is supposed to be the Asian 'retribution' (Asheri, 2007) - The Trojan War acts as an overreaction of the Greeks and becomes the first 'historical' act of transgression, the retribution will be Xerxes' invasion (Ibid) - The supposed Persian and Phoenician sources which Herodotus quotes are fabrications, used for literary convention (Fehling, 1989) - All these elements are pulled from mythology where responsibility is divine but this version is humanised, rationalised and politicised, serving as the narrative part of a Greek 'sophistic' apologetic speech composed in favour of Asia (Asheri, 2007) - The quotation of the Greeks here appears again completely false but importantly adds to the credibility of this passage and the imagery is thus more evocative (Fehling, 1996)

Xerxes and the Greeks (7.5) (8)

- The depth of Herodotus' political thinking is best gauged in several Persian court scenes where advisors discuss Xerxes' planned invasion, here Herodotus explores deeper motives of Persian imperialism - Xerxes emphasises his obligation to prove himself and live up to his ancestors - Only Artabanus dissents arguing this conflict would only end when one side completely dominated the entirety of the other - States he has seen mighty powers brought low by inferior ones - Anticipates Athenian control of the Asia Minor coast in 479 BCE - The 'either them or us' idea seems to invoke ideas of the polarisation of Greece in the Peloponnesian War, where the winner would take all (similar to Thucydides' work) - Revenge and retaliation (timōria and tisis) run through Xerxes' speech but imperialist principles dominate - Artabanus reminds of the near destruction of Darius' bridge over the Danube, warning of the cyclical nature of the gods and indeed Herodotus

Atembares and Cyrus (9.122) (9)

- The epilogue contradicts the earlier story in which Cyrus put a choice in front of his Persians - to work the land their whole lives or feast in luxury (1.126) - The pattern of the wise advisor has always been about choice - here Cyrus offers his Persians a free choice that is no choice: to live in a fair and productive land and be subjected and enslaved by others, or live in a rough and unproductive land as warrior rulers of others - Warns Imperial Athenians, but this political advice from the original developer of the Eastern Empire, is an appropriate comment on its primary context, which is an ending for a work that has written the history of this empire (Moles, 1996) - For example: - Solon asserts with Cyrus that the one land cannot produce all goods (1.32.8) - Demaratus asserts that poverty is likely to turn people toward military skill as the only means to ward off poverty and enslavement (7.102.1.) - Thucydides' Corinthians emphasise the importance of toil in the imperial ethos of constant achievement of the Athenians (Thuc. 1.70.8) - Pericles emphasises toil as the price that they must pay for the honour of rule (Thuc. 2.63.1) - Flawed warning because he himself ignored it in the beginning - Clear message concerning how best Greeks can retain the power they won for themselves

Asian Kingship - Cambyses (6)

- The extreme of Asian monarchy - Has law invented that a king can do whatever he wants; marries sister; kills her (3.31) - Burned the corpse of Amasis after conquering Egypt (already dead king of Egypt) (3.16) - Killed the Apis calf (3.27-9) - Kills the son of Prexaspes (Attempts to prove his own sanity by shooting the boy through the heart with an arrow) (3.34-5) - Originally the word 'tyranny' just meant 'power' but in Greek intellectual thought, this became more negative

Bridging the Hellespont (7.33) (3)

- The insult of the sea, attempting to tame it, is a certain impiety - Makes the pioneering bridging of Europe and Asia into a condemnation of the man - The detailed information on the the engineering of the bridge shows Herodotus doesn't just stress the anecdotal

Tragic History - Dream of Croesus (1.34) (2)

- The names Alys and Adrastus were though symbolic, standing for Misfortune and Necessity (Asheri, 2007) - In Herodotus, dreams (like oracles and wise councillors) are literary constructions which serve as a means of warning and foretelling the future

Vengefulness of Pheretime (4.162) (7)

- The passage where Euelthon gifts everything to Pheretime and her reactions show her strong female authority, though the consequential refusal of Euelthon to give a woman an army, betray the sarcastic misogyny of the original source - Comes back to the fore, taking over her sons duties in Cyrene such as his seat on the council - Pheretime's impalement of those who killed her son seems barbarous to the Greeks - was a typical Persian punishment - Pheretime assumes cruel, witch-like traits, in anticipation of her bad end - Seems random that Pheretime appears to flee to Egypt despite her victory - perhaps fleeing the reaction of her cruel punishments (Corcella, 2007) - Pheretime pays for her cruelty with an equally cruel death from the gods, something Herodotus refers to in relation to the cruel destruction of Troy by the gods (Harrison, 2000) - The use of her full name and lineage in death is to emphasise the downfall of an evil character

Herodotus warns Athenians (3.3) (5)

- The same Athenians who yielded to claims of leadership from Sparta, later turned enslavers of Greeks and became the polis tyrannos against which the Spartans eventually rallied their own battle cry of freedom (Thuc. 2.8) - Ironically, Persians impose a system of conflict resolution of Ionians using negotiation and arbitration while free Greeks will continue to ignore arbitration agreements and to escalate their fratricidal wars - The Athenians save Greece as long as its in their interests - He explored the factional divisions elsewhere which gave Persians an excuse for attacking Greek states - If Herodotus is guilty of Athenian bias, it is in his acceptance of Athenian claims at face value, such as the Athenians' noble suppression of their desire for a share in the command

Vengefulness of Women - Aphrodite Urania (1.105) (2)

- The temple and cult of Aphrodite Paphia were famous in antiquity - According to the Hippocratic, the illness is a form of impotence, caused by excessive riding, a practice of noble and rich Scythians - some historians have taken this to mean pederasty but this makes little sense (Dumézil, 1946)

Omens (such as 7.36 and 7.58) (3)

- Usually give timely warnings that, if heeded, allow one to escape disaster but Herodotus' dreams seem rather to announce, literally or symbolically, an inescapable future (Kirchberg, 1965) - The fundamental poetic feature is one of Herodotus' favourites for foreshadowing and, in some instances, for explaining the suffering of his historical figures - No surprise that in discussing the Greek victory over the Persians, it is the Persians (Xerxes and Mardonius) who disregard and misinterpret 'signs' at critical moments

Herodotus 1:5 (1)

Book begins arguably about all things Persian in the sense that the geographical and ethnographical discussions largely pivot around Persian expansion into these areas - The Greeks are discussed at first as merely another 'people' but come into focus further in Book V then come to dominate the main narrative as the book's purpose shifts from an ethnographical narrative to a History of the Persian Wars.

Herodotus Reliability (1)

Certainly there are inaccuracies in what Herodotus has seen or heard questioning his reliability and/or those anonymous he supposedly heard from

Herodotus Enquiry (1)

Herodotus doesn't usually quote his sources, only telling the story he considers true, we only read the results of his enquiry - not always true, such as the story of which civilisation was older story

Herodotus Different Opinions (1)

Herodotus feels a moral obligation to outline different opinions even if he finds them untrustworthy

Herodotus Curiosity (1)

Shows the intellectual intrigue and promise of Herodotus - could it be this curiosity that leads to so many digressions and derails the narrative often - reasoner the book struggling to find its own place in the world?

Herodotus Confirmed (1)

Six out of seven of the names of the conspirators against the false Smerdis are confirmed by Darius' inscription at Bisitun

Herodotus 1:2 Logoi (1)

The methodologies of Herodotus appear on show here with the creation of digressional logoi later slotted into the main narrative - comes across a bit patchwork, often digressional returns are very abrupt

Herodotus Completeness (1)

Though his work is missing parts that Herodotus promises to elaborate on later (like the reasons why Athenades killed Ephialtes - the man who told Xerxes about the Thermopylae mountain pass) - but we can say the book is complete as unfulfilled promises are irrelevant to questions of completeness