It is unlikely that you have never heard of Herodotus, one of the most studied Greek authors, both in undergraduate programs and by antiquarians! There are multiple reasons. Let’s try to present the main ones, hoping that they will make you want to read or reread it!
Herodotus, a man of his time
Born around 485/4 BC, Herodotus is from Halicarnassus, in Asia Minor (now Bodrum in Turkey). He died on a discussed date, but inevitably after the start of the Peloponnesian War, after 430 BC He spent a large part of his life traveling through the okoumene, perhaps due to the participation of his family — even of himself — in the struggles to overthrow the tyrant of his city subservient to the Persians, Lygdamis. In particular, he stayed in Athens during the time of Pericles and took part in the latter’s project concerning the foundation of a new city, Thourioi, in southern Italy.
Herodotus, “Father of History”, but also geographer and ethnologist
Herodotus is the author of Histoires (historiè, also translated by the Inquiry), a work in nine books whose aim is to preserve for posterity “the great exploits accomplished both by the Greeks and by the Barbarians”. Originally referring to one who does not speak Greek, the word “Barbarian” took on a derogatory connotation during the conflict which opposed, in the first quarter of the 5th century BC. J. C., a part of the Greek world with the Persian empire, a conflict whose Herodotus sets out to find the causes, which explains why he was so interested in other peoples and that he sought to understand their differences. If Herodotus is part of an intellectual current, developed in Ionia from the previous century, it is innovative in that it cites its sources, compares them with each other or with its own observations. In this, he well deserves the nickname “Father of History”, which he later received from the Roman Cicero (106–43 BC). But history is not the only field for which he is considered to be the founder: today, geographers and ethnologists also generally recognize him as one of their own. Whether he writes about nature, men or their past, the approach is much the same: it is a question of investigating by privileging hearing (Akoe, that is to say, what he has heard) and sight (autopsy), the latter prevailing over the former, and passing the information gathered to the critical judgment filter.
Herodotus, the historian of the Medical Wars
The first lines of the Inquiry clearly present the purpose of the work: “This is the account [Apodéxis] of the investigation [Historiè] of Herodotus of Halicarnassus so that the events [Ta Genomena] occurred from made of men do not fade over time and so that the great and marvelous actions [Ta Erga Magala Té Kai Thômasta] performed by both the Greeks and by the Barbarians do not remain without reputation [Akléa] and, in particular, for what reason [Aiiè] they went to war.” Understanding the reasons why the Greeks and the Barbarians, led by the Persians, clashed during the famous Medical Wars (492–478) is therefore at the heart of the Herodotean narrative, especially in its second part. Books V and VI deal with the preliminaries of the conflict (revolt of the Ionian Greeks, the expulsion of Miltiades from Chersonese) and the First Median War, while books VII to IX are devoted to the Second Medical War. For anyone interested in the history of the Greek world during this period, Herodotus is, therefore, an essential and unparalleled source. His testimony is all the more precious since he is a contemporary of the Medical Wars, at least of the Second, and that has traveled a lot he has collected various testimonies, which he tries to cross.
Herodotus, a curious man open to the Other
To better understand how the confrontation between the Medical Wars could have taken place, Herodotus set out to present all of the peoples affected by this confrontation. Books I to IV not only relate to the birth and development of Persian power, but relate to the history and customs of the different peoples conquered by the Persians or, in the case of the Scythians, in conflict with them. Thanks to this first part of the Survey, which is often considered more ethnographic than the second, we have accounts, sometimes unique, on the history and customs of the many peoples of the okoumene, which are generally inserted, by more or less long digressions, in a more chronological narrative, organized around the succession of oriental sovereigns, first Lydian (Croesus), then Persians (Cyrus, Cambyses, Darius, Xerxes). Some of these presentations, like the part devoted to Egypt which occupies the whole of Book II, constitute quasi-autonomous developments in themselves. As François Hartog has shown, the Other is often perceived as a counter-Greek, adopting “almost all things manners and customs unlike other men”, let us hear Greeks. This process accentuates the differences between the Greek and barbarian world. But the Herodotian account of the Other is not just a simple mirror game because Herodotus does not hesitate to give voice to its informants, both Greek and barbarian. Any narrative collected, because it represents the opinion of an authorized narrator, is worthy of being reported. And too bad if the anecdote is improbable! Which, from the end of the 4th century BC. J. — C., will be reproached to him: the “Father of History” would be, for his detractors (the best known being Plutarch), only a muthologos, a “teller of fables”!
Herodotus, a source for the historian of representations, images, and the imaginary
This is where another way of approaching Herodotus comes into play. If all the remarks reported by the Father of History cannot be held to be “truthful”, they nonetheless remain extremely interesting, in that they make it possible to apprehend the perceptions, representations, and imaginations of those who designed and transmitted them. The vast question of the sources of Herodotus is essential and has not finished debating, but whatever the quality of its informants, the historian of Halicarnassus gives us access to stories that circulated in his time and which are so many testimonies of ancient mentalities. Thus, for example, the Egyptian history presented in the second part of book II is not so much the reflection of events which would have really taken place as of the way in which the Greeks, in particular, those installed in Egypt at the Low Period, just like the Egyptians themselves represented this one. Likewise, the many anecdotes, which look like fanciful tales, often provide information on the local cultural background and, failing to report truthful stories, bear witness to the imagination of their creative communities. In this, Herodotus remains an inexhaustible source, even when his accounts cannot be considered as “testamonia” of the “realia”.
The pleasure of reading the Stories
“Father of History”, historical source, Herodotus is also an author as such, whose literary qualities are well established. Numerous studies have proven the extreme construction of the Herodotian narrative and its epic character. It is a real pleasure to read Herodotus, to let yourself be carried away by his Stories. If the incessant digressions and anecdotes may seem to make the reader lose the thread of the work, they undoubtedly constitute its charm. Some of them are veritable little tales in themselves, sometimes tragically moral, but always told by Herodotus with a certain irony, not to say a certain playfulness. Even the Greeks do not escape the sarcastic comments of the historian of Halicarnassus who is above all a storyteller and, as such, uses all possible effects to capture the attention of his audience. Reading Herodotus is, therefore, going on a journey through the wonders of the ancient world, and in good company!
I just have to wish you a good trip …
