Manual Herodotus: The Histories (Texts from Ancient Greece Book 2)

Herodotus: Book II

Contents:

Of these things the first are said by the priestesses of Dodona, and the latter things, those namely which have regard to Hesiod and Homer, by myself.

Edited by Michael Gagarin

As regards the Oracles both that among the Hellenes and that in Libya, the Egyptians tell the following tale. The priests of the Theban Zeus told me that two women in the service of the temple had been carried away from Thebes by Phenicians, and that they had heard that one of them had been sold to go into Libya and the other to the Hellenes; and these women, they said, were they who first founded the prophetic seats among the nations which have been named: This I heard from the priests at Thebes, and what follows is said by the prophetesses of Dodona.

They say that two black doves flew from Thebes to Egypt, and came one of them to Libya and the other to their land. And this latter settled upon an oak-tree and spoke with human voice, saying that it was necessary that a prophetic seat of Zeus should be established in that place; and they supposed that that was of the gods which was announced to them, and made one accordingly: The priestesses of Dodona told me these things, of whom the eldest was named Promeneia, the next after her Timarete, and the youngest Nicandra; and the other people of Dodona who were engaged about the temple gave accounts agreeing with theirs.

I however have an opinion about the matter as follows: Moreover, I think that the women were called doves by the people of Dodona for the reason that they were Barbarians and because it seemed to them that they uttered voice like birds; but after a time they say the dove spoke with human voice, that is when the woman began to speak so that they could understand; but so long as she spoke a Barbarian tongue she seemed to them to be uttering voice like a bird: And in saying that the dove was black, they indicate that the woman was Egyptian. The ways of delivering oracles too at Thebes in Egypt and at Dodona closely resemble one another, as it happens, and also the method of divination by victims has come from Egypt.

Moreover, it is true also that the Egyptians were the first of men who made solemn assemblies and processions and approaches to the temples, and from them the Hellenes have learnt them, and my evidence for this is that the Egyptian celebrations of these have been held from a very ancient time, whereas the Hellenic were introduced but lately.

In This Entry

Being able to name things in the world is part of being able to explain them. Herodotus was not just pioneering critical enquiry; along with the world he discovered, he had to invent a method and a language. All these are instances in which Herodotean inquiry — despite his own claims to the contrary — slip beyond the realm of the authentic, credible and real. But it would be a mistake to make too much of these examples.

The Histories by Herodotus

They are memorable only because they stand in such marked contrast to the accurate pictures Herodotus sketches elsewhere of the world. And who can say for sure that the gold-digging ants, the long-tailed sheep and the flying snakes did not, in fact, exist? Some have argued that the gold-digging ants of India were actually marmots and Herodotus applied a Greek word for ant to a creature unknown to him but reminiscent albeit faintly of an ant.

Other creatures, however, take the reader fully into the realm of the fantastic. In his description of Libya, Herodotus says emphatically:. There are enormous snakes there, and also lions, elephants, bears, asps, donkeys with horns, dog-headed creatures, headless creatures with eyes in their chests at least, this is what the Libyans say wild men and wild women and a large number of other creatures whose existence is not merely the stuff of fables.

Herodotus Histories I Greek Texts Bk 1

Some of these beings belong to a different, more archaic world, where the boundary between man and beast was fluid and uncertain. We can see a whole spectrum of more or less fantastic creatures, whose ranks included the Cyclops and Sirens of the Odyssey.

Herodotus accommodates such creatures in the absence of better information, but at the very least he feels the need to explicitly confirm their place in the new world of critical inquiry. A special category is reserved for the most startling aspects of the world.

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Ultimately, many of the phenomena Herodotus considers wondrous ultimately have a rational explanation of cause and effect. Others turn out to be divinely inspired. The examples of all-too-human foibles and traits like overconfidence, greed and envy but also of fate, luck and fortune reverberate down the ages. Through these stories the Histories still speak to us, years later. Traditionally, the Histories were dismissed as anecdotal. Herodotus was seen as lacking gravitas and not on par with Homer, Euripides, Thucydides, Cicero and their like.

Consequently, the Histories were not considered central to the humanist canon. Classical scholars have discovered that the work has a coherence after all.

Unity between the digressions and the main narrative emerges on a level other than plot: Many stories in the Histories are case studies in the nature of power. It is not Everyman who makes history in the Histories: Yet in most instances the rise to power is followed by a sudden and catastrophic fall.

The reasons are always similar: Blindness to the limitations of human action incurs the downfall of mighty kings like Candaules, Croesus, Cambyses and Xerxes. The condition they suffer from — the Greek word is hybris — is depressingly modern and familiar. The Histories are a compilation of stories packed into each other like nesting Russian dolls. Successive stories share with each other — and the larger historical narrative of which they are part — the same insights, themes and patterns.

Once you can read one, you can read them all. New insights emerge from the way individual stories play with the formula, highlighting different aspects of the theme. Yet the Histories are not merely a historical source for the Persian Wars. Herodotus dwells extensively on the pre-history of the conflict and touches on the cultural and ideological issues at stake.

All this is set on the broader stage of the ancient world and includes geographical references, climatic observations, flora and fauna as well as notes on differences in the customs and lifestyle of Greeks, Persians and other peoples.

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Thanks to this broad focus, it is not hyperbole to say that, in a profound sense, the Histories are about the entire world as it came to be understood and mapped out towards the end of the fifth century BCE. The Histories stand at the transition from an older, mythical worldview — that of the heroic or archaic age as represented in Homeric epic — to a new, classical outlook that manifested in the exacting mode of enquiry into the workings of the world.

Herodotus occasionally mentions consulting written sources, but he does so mainly to distance himself, his method, and information from other authors, notably Homer and the poets. The most subtle feature of the Histories , perhaps, is the profound sense of balance that pervades all aspects of the cosmos.

In the world of Herodotus, any excess is ultimately corrected: This applies to individuals, to empires and to peoples.

Herodotus' Histories

This dynamic ensures that imbalances of power or greed — the too-much and the too-little — ultimately level each other out. The traditional gods of the ancient Greek pantheon are still very much alive in the Histories.

Yet in contrast to Homeric poetry, they no longer intervene directly in the world. They have receded to a transcendental distance from which they oversee and steer the workings of the world. Its stories, landscapes, characters, and insights into human nature linger long after the reading.

All translations are from: Pets in Victorian paintings — Egham, Surrey. The history of pets and family life — Egham, Surrey. Available editions United Kingdom. Julia Kindt , University of Sydney. Consider for example his opening statement in the beginning of the book: The father of history What specifically sets Herodotus and his enquiry apart, then, is the proto-scientific way he explores the inner workings of the world.

He is careful to tell his reader from where he derived his information on foreign lands, whether he witnessed personally or learnt from a reliable source: As far as Elephantine I speak as an eye-witness, but further south from hearsay. My own observation bears out the statement made to me by the priests… Of the Pelasgian language I cannot speak with certainty… Frequently, he gives us all the different explanations sourced from others.