One of the first historians, Herodotus, was born in the Persian empire in Halicarnassus and flourished in the fifth century BC. Herodotus recounted the Persian Wars headed by King Darius, who launched a conquering expedition and studied the Scythian way of life in full (Herodotus, 2005, p.60). Moreover, he learned about the Scythians’ interaction with other cultures, customs, and land acquisition from Greeks during his travels. Herodotus, the Greek historian, was notable for documenting comprehensive events, queries and presenting a timeline. He proceeded on tour to Athena, Egypt, the Black Sea, and the East of Europe, demonstrating the knowledge and was eventually referred to as “The Father of History” (Herodotus, 2005, p.1). The recorded tales formed one of many historical texts known as The Histories, a nine-book collection of historical materials. Historians later utilized the historical record to examine the timeline and the Greek era.
In this reading, Herodotus focuses on Persian traditions in particular as the central theme. He tells how Persians celebrate their birthdays and how they make sacrifices to the gods. Herodotus has a dislike for the Persians, and it shows. He believes that no other country has ever accepted a Persian habit or instruction (Herodotus, 2005, p.33). This is due to the Persians absorbing all they have ever learned from different cultures. Many of his accusations against Persians seem to be subjective as well. This may seem biased since Herodotus did not have many positive meetings with the Persians.
According to Simon Hornblower, Herodotus was quoted as claiming “that there was greater pain (‘ills’) for Greece in the three generations of the Persian monarchs Darius, Xerxes, and Artaxerxes than in the 20 generations preceding Darius” some of which are inextricably linked to the Persians (Hornblower, 2018, p.56). Herodotus was likewise the victim of a tragedy at the hands of the Persians. Following the publication of one of his tales, the ladies of Athens were summoned to his home to stone his wife and children (Hornblower, 2018, p.72). This demonstrates Herodotus’ animosity toward the Persians and is only one of the reasons why this interpretation is prejudiced.
From his stories, it is clear that he had a unifying theme. Herodotus worked hard to separate what was factual from myths. His epic stories included battles, reasons for an argument between people, bad and good actions, and other issues that comprised human narratives. One may argue that Herodotus was establishing the groundwork for modern history by doing so. This might be because epics of war and the reasons that generated war and cultural disputes would eventually become historical themes (Hornblower, 2018, p.96). As a result, as seen from the stories, his work has a well-thought-out framework as well as an excellent overall organization.
Herodotus may be assessed as a historical narrator who employed a lot of open presenting methods. He let the historical figure tell their narrative the best they knew how. In this approach, he was able to provide a clear picture of the events in the narrative. However, in other situations, the narrations were written in such a manner that the stories seemed to be re-enacted from their original happenings. The work of Herodotus has been often attacked as a straightforward narrative based on hearsay and devoid of proof, particularly by subsequent traditional practitioners.
Bibliography
Herodotus, and Andrea L. Purvis. The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories. Ed. Robert B. Strassler. Pantheon Books, 2005.
Hornblower, Simon. Book Review: ‘Herodotus: The Histories’ Translated by Tom Holland & ‘Herodotus: Histories’ Translated by Pamela Mensch. Wallstreet Journal, 2018.