Nnfun facts about herodotus books

It is divided into nine books named for the muses a division made by a later editor. Life little is known about the early life of herodotus hehrahduhtuhs, the son of lyxes and dryo. The one exception to this arrangement is lydia, which is treated at the very beginning of the history not because it was first conquered but because it was the first foreign country to attack. Written about 440 bc in the ionic dialect of classical greek, the histories tells the story of the grecopersian wars between the achaemenid empire and the greek citystates in the 5th century bc. Cambyses, the son of this lady and of cyrus, regarding the ionian and aeolian greeks as vassals of his father, took them with. In his books, herodotus tells us that he travelled a lot. Little is known about the life of thucydides most mo. He was born around 490 bc in halicarnassus, on the southwest coast of asia minor. In the histories, he describes the expansion of the achaemenid empire under its kings cyrus the great, cambyses, and darius i the great, culminating in xerxes expedition to greece 480 bce, which met with disaster in the naval engagement at salamis and the battles at plataea and mycale. He told the story from the greek side, although the war was mostly finished when he was still a child. The one exception to this arrangement is lydia, which is treated at the very beginning of the history not.

Herodotus the histories is now considered the founding work of history in western literature. He traveled over much of the known ancient world, making trips to places such as southern italy, lower egypt, and the caucasus. He seems to have travelled widely throughout the mediterranean world, including egypt, africa, the area around the black sea and throughout many greek citystates, of both the mainland and the islands. Herodotus c480c425 is the father of history and his histories are the first piece of western historical writing. The greatest ancient historian, he is in a real sense the creator of modern historiography. In the lifetime of herodotus the writing of history, and indeed of prose of any sort, was still something of a novelty. Indeed, he is as entertaining as anyone who has ever written, historian or not. Before herodotus, no writer had ever made such a systematic, thorough study of the past or tried to explain. One of western historys greatest books springs to life in tom hollands vibrant new translation herodotus of halicarnassuswho was hailed by cicero as the father of historywrote his histories around 440 bc. He says that he went to what is now italy, the ukraine, egypt, and sicily. The histories of herodotus of halicarnassus is considered the first work of history in western literature.

Hello this is bertie, and in a moment im going to be telling you all about the fascinating animals of ancient egypt as reported on by herodotus two and a. Herodotus s account of the persian wars of 481479bc takes six books out of nine or 300odd pages of robin waterfields excellent english translation even to. Herodotus has been called the father of history, as he. Herodotus was the first writer to evaluate historical, geographical, and archaeological material critically. Cassandane had died in the lifetime of cyrus, who had made a great mourning for her at her death, and had commanded all the subjects of his empire to observe the like. Five fascinating facts about herodotus interesting. Gyges, ardys, sadyattes ii, alyattes and finally, his son croesus who we look at in some detail. Herodotus simple and noble aim is to give useful knowledge to the hellenes. Creative commons attributionnoncommercialsharealike.

The next four books tell the story of the war itself, from the invasions of. In the rest of book i and the three following books the basic theme is the expansion of the persian kingdom from the accession of cyrus to about 500 b. Herodotus, greek author of the first great narrative history produced in the. Hide browse bar your current position in the text is marked in blue.

As it has survived, the history is divided into nine books the division is not the. Book ix is the final book of herodotus s histories and contains, among other things, herodotus s accounts of the battles of plataea and mycale, the immediate aftermath of the persians defeat in and withdrawal from mainland greece, and the siege of sestos. Herodotus is the ancient writer and reporter called the father of history. Herodotus the great greek historian was born about 484 bce, at halicarnassus in caria, asia minor, when it was subject to the persians.

The seminal work is a record of the ancient traditions, politics, geography, and clashes of various cultures that were known in western asia, northern africa and greece at that time. Herodotus was a fifth century bc greek historian who is best known for his history about the. Five fascinating facts about herodotus interesting literature. Euterpe on the death of cyrus, cambyses his son by cassandane daughter of pharnaspes took the kingdom. Most of book ii of the histories concerns ancient egyptian history. His great history, the first major prose work in world literature, is an account of his world at the time of the persian wars. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content noncommercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the. See all books authored by herodotus, including the histories, and selections from herodotus, and more on. See all books by herodotus about herodotus herodotus was a greek historian who was born in halicarnassus, in asia minor, in the fifth century b. He was among the first to approach the reporting of history in a logical and skeptical way. Unfortunately, not enough of hecataeus work has survived for us to judge just how dependent upon it herodotus was. Search the worlds most comprehensive index of fulltext books. His book about the wars between the persians and the greek city states was a collection of his historiahis inquirieswhich is where we get the very word history from. Herodotus biography birthday, trivia historian who2.

It was cicero, the acclaimed roman orator, who branded herodotus the father of history, and sure enough it was herodotus who first gave us the idea of the historian and history as we now understand it. Herodotus biography herodotus was a greek historian widely referred to as the father of history. Darius was forced to retire, leaving the scythians in command of the lands beyond the danube river. The internet classics archive the history of herodotus. The histories is the only work which he is known to have produced. His accounts of the great battles of marathon and thermopylae, of salamis and plataea, retain. Herodotus portrays the conflict as one between the forces of slavery the persians on the one hand, and freedom the athenians and the confederacy of greek city. Many authors, starting with the late fifthcentury bc.

Book i clio these are the researches of herodotus of halicarnassus, which he publishes, in the hope of thereby preserving from decay the remembrance of what men have done, and of preventing the great and wonderful actions of the greeks and the barbarians from losing their due meed of glory. He often used stories from people he met to write about other places and happenings. Herodotus has 364 books on goodreads with 123029 ratings. In book one of the histories, when herodotus describes the physical and political atmosphere in persia, he greatly exaggerates how.

Few history books since can compare for sheer drama with herodotus s narrative of the persian invasions of greece. Herodotus was writing within living memory of an event so epic that it continues to thrill and astonish to this day. Herodotus counts by generations, for example the kings of the mermnads dynasty, ruling from c. The histories by herodotus, volume 1 complete audio book duration. His great work is many things the first example of nonfiction, the. His family fled halicarnassus in the chaotic years after the grecopersian wars 499448 b. Called the father of history, he wrote the first comprehensive attempt at secular narrative history, long considered the starting point of western. Part of what marked herodotus out from previous chroniclers or writers on real events was his commitment to objectivity. Herodotus himself mentions the work of hecataeus of miletus, who wrote two books of historical geography and was a major source in herodotus writings on egypt. The focus of the history is the story of the persian wars, but the extensive and richly detailed background information put greece in its proper historical perspective.

The histories of herodotus, completed in the second half of the 5th century bc, is generally regarded as the first work of history and the first great masterpiece of nonfiction writing. Yet he is also known to some as the father of lies. Herodotus has been criticized for the fact that his book includes many obvious legends and fanciful accounts. The book goes on to do exactly that, and seeks to do it impartially, even though herodotus was greek, and the barbarians persians were enemies of the greeks. He travelled widely in most of asia minor, egypt as far as assuan, north africa, syria, the country north of the black sea, and many parts. Some people think that herodotus wrote about things that were not true. Herodotus on burial in egypt ancient history encyclopedia. Herodotus was a greek writer and geographer credited with being the first historian.

He aligns himself with the arabs which offers herodotus an opportunity to digress on their customs and habits, defeats the egyptians at pelusium and takes the egyptian capitals sais and memphis. He was the first historian known to have broken from homeric tradition to treat historical. Some of his stories are fanciful and other are inaccurate, yet he states. Herodotus describes the history and constituent parts of the persian empire in books iiv. Greek researcher, often called the worlds first historian. In the first logos of the third book, herodotus returns to the beginning of book two. Click anywhere in the line to jump to another position.