The History of Herodotus by Herodotus

First transcribed:Historiai Herodotou, c. 424 b.c.e. (English translation, 1709)

Type of work: History

Locale: Greece, Egypt, and Asia Minor

Principal personages

• Croesus, the king of Lydia
• Solon, an Athenian statesman
• Cyrus the Great, the king of Persia
• Darius, Cyrus’s cousin
• Xerxes, Darius’s son and successor
• Leonidas, the king of Sparta

The Work:

Herodotus wrote and compiled a history of the wars of the Grecians and Persians of the fifth century b.c.e. The famous first sentence of the work reads

I, Herodotus of Helicarnassus, am here setting forth my history, that time may not draw the color from what man has brought into being, nor those great and wonderful deeds, manifested by both Greeks and barbarians, fail of their report, and, together with all this, the reason why they fought one another.

As the first to use the word “history,” Herodotus deserves Cicero’s title, “father of history.” To be sure, this son of wealthy upper-class parents did not have the critical attitude toward his sources that would be the hallmark of the later historian. Interesting anecdotes of the wars between the Greeks and the Persians found their way into his pages whether he could verify them or not, but he does sometimes hedge and tag certain items as hearsay. Judging from his quotations, he must have read widely. From the details in his descriptions and the comments such as “this I saw,” he must have visited most of the places he mentions.

The true greatness of Herodotus lies in the fact that he was the first important writer to depart from the verse of Homer and others, to produce Europe’s first prose literature. Some predecessors chronicled the beginnings of their small communities or states, but the writings of Herodotus embrace a vaster panorama: not only Greece, but also Egypt, Sardis, and Babylon. He looked for the reasons for the events. His aim was to trace the early rivalries between Greek and barbarian; in the process he recounted the stories of many tribes, described the lands they inhabited, and reported many of their interesting customs. Those who want greater accuracy can consult Thucydides (c. 455-c. 400 b.c.e.), who wrote more than a generation later. His work is more objective, but it lacks the color of Herodotus’s account.

The Persians maintained that the Phoenicians originally started the quarrel by kidnapping women from Argos. Later the Hellenes raided the port of Tyre and abducted Europa, the king’s daughter. The wars actually started, however, when Croesus, whose magnificent court was visited by Solon, desired to enlarge his empire by conquering some of the Ionian cities of Asia Minor. When he consulted the oracles, he was persuaded at Delphi to gather his allies for an attack on the mainland. The invasion resulted in a stalemate, however, and Croesus returned to Lydia, where his capital, Sardis, was surprised and captured by the Persians. Only a rainstorm, sent by the gods, saved him as he was being burned to death. The same miracle persuaded Cyrus to free his captive after taking possession of some of his vassal states. With them, Cyrus went on to capture Babylon. However, the Massagetae, under Queen Tomyris, were too strong in their resistance and strategy. Book 1 ends with the death of Cyrus.

Book 2 tells how Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, became king and planned to march against Egypt. The rest of the book is a tourist’s guide and history of Egypt from its beginnings to the coronation of Amasis.

Book 3 tells how Cambyses marched against Amasis. The Egyptian king having died in the meantime, the mercenary army of his son was no match for the Persian, who then gave an indication of his incipient insanity by dishonoring his slain enemies.

Book 4 introduces Darius, cousin of and successor to Cambyses, who let the barbarous Scythians outwit him into making peace with them. The next volume begins with a plan that failed. Two Paeonian nobles, wishing to be named rulers over their people, brought their beautiful sister to Sardis, where Darius saw her, carrying water on her head, leading a horse, and spinning. Eager to spread such industry throughout his empire, he had the Paeonians sent throughout Asia Minor. The book deals largely with the revolt in Ionia, the growth of Athens, and its expedition, encouraged by Aristagoras, against Sardis. Although the capital was captured and burned, Darius rallied and defeated the invaders at Salamis, in Cyprus.

Book 4 tells of a battle fought between 353 Ionian triremes (galleys) and 600 Babylonian ships. By dissension among the enemy rather than by his strength, Darius defeated them and went on to besiege and conquer Miletus. Again Greek bickering helped him during his march to Athens, but the Athenians, rallying and with a few Plataeans, successfully engaged the forces of Darius at Marathon, on September 14, 450 b.c.e. The Persians were driven back with a loss of 6,400 dead. The Athenians lost only 192 in the battle.

Book 7 tells in considerable detail how Darius prepared to avenge his defeat. Fate delayed him, rebellious Egypt sidetracked him, and death ended his plans. The uncertain Xerxes, succeeding his father to the throne, undertook the Egyptian campaign. After a quick victory, at the head of twenty thousand soldiers, he marched on Athens. It took seven days for his army to cross the Hellespont bridge, erected by his engineers, and he, reviewing them, lamented that none would be alive a hundred years hence.

Many Greek cities were quick to surrender. Only Athens, as Herodotus boasts, dared confront the host of Xerxes. Themistocles interpreted the oracle’s counsel to defend the city with “wooden walls” as advice to use the two hundred warships originally built for an attack on Egypt. Nature, however, provided a better defense in an east wind that wrecked four hundred Persian galleys along with uncounted transports and provision carriers. Neither armed forces nor natural obstacles, however, halted Xerxes’ army until it reached the Pass of Thermopylae. There, for a day, the Athenians and Spartans checked the Persian host until a traitor revealed another path to the invader. The next day the Persians were again on the march, leaving all the defenders and many thousands of their own troops dead behind them.

In book 8, there is an account of Xerxes’ march into Athens and setting fire to the Acropolis. The “wooden walls” of the Athenian fleet, however, were victorious at Salamis on September 20, 480 b.c.e. Winner of the greatest glory was the Persian queen Artemis, who used the confusion of battle to get revenge on another Persian by ramming and sinking his ship. Xerxes thought she was attacking an enemy and the Athenians believed she had changed loyalties, so both sides lauded her.

Fearing that the Greeks might sail on to destroy his bridge, Xerxes ordered a retreat. From the Asian mainland he sent demands for a peace treaty, promptly refused by both Athens and Sparta.

Book 9 tells how Mardonios renewed the attack against the Greeks in the hope of sending word of victory back to Xerxes in Sardis. Although temporarily checked by the Thebans, he again entered Athens, whose citizens had fled to Salamis to assemble their allies. When they marched back, Mardonios burned what was left of Athens and retreated.

Except for cavalry skirmishes, neither side wanted to engage in battle until the sacrifices were propitious, but Mardonios’s patience broke first, and he fell into a trap at Plataea, where he was killed and his army routed; there were twenty thousand Persian and Boeotian casualties against ninety-one Spartans and fifty-two Athenians killed.

At Thermopylae, Leonidas, the Spartan king, had been crucified and beheaded by the Persians. Certain Greeks wanted to dishonor Mardonios in the same way, but they were told that dishonoring a dead enemy was worthy only of barbarians. Some of the fleeing Persians were pursued and killed at Mycale. Their defeat ended Xerxes’ ambitious plan to crush the Hellenes.

Modern historians have honored Herodotus by translating his history into English. Littlebury’s version (1709) is outstanding in style but reveals the writer’s imperfect knowledge of Greek. George Rawlinson translated the work in 1858. The most satisfactory translation is the two-volume work published by G. C. Macaulay in 1890.

Bibliography

Bakker, Egbert J., Irene J. F. de Jong, and Hans van Wees, eds. Brill’s Companion to Herodotus. Boston: Brill, 2002. Collection of essays examining how The History of Herodotus reflects the literary, religious, moral, and social influences of its time. Includes discussions about Herodotus’s use of language, organization of time, and short stories in the work, as well as Herodotus and tragedy, Herodotus and Athens, and his sources of information.

Baragwanath, Emily. Motivation and Narrative in Herodotus. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. Examines the narrative techniques Herodotus used in order to describe the human motivations that influenced the course of Greek history.

Dewald, Carolyn, and John Marincola, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Herodotus. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Collection of essays examining The History of Herodotus. Some pieces analyze literary elements of the work, such as its prose predecessors, syntax, genre, speech, narrative, and humor; others examine Herodotus’s depiction of Greek religion, warfare, Persia, Italy, and other subjects.

Evans, J. A. S. Herodotus. Boston: Twayne, 1982. Includes a survey of Herodotus and his interest in the Persian Wars, the background for his work, and a chronology of the events covered in his account of those wars. Discusses the events and the accuracy of Herodotus’s accounts.

Hartog, François. The Mirror of Herodotus. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988. Emphasizes how Herodotus’s work presents groups, such as the Egyptians and the Scythians, and analyzes the accuracy of this representation. Contains an excellent concluding chapter.

Lister, R. P. The Travels of Herodotus. London: Gordon and Cremonesi, 1979. An account of the travels in which Herodotus gathered the information used in his history. Discusses Herodotus’s technique of integrating fact and myth into his work. Includes maps and illustrations.

Myres, John. Herodotus, Father of History. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1953. Supports the claim that Herodotus is the father of history. Discusses the criticisms of Herodotus in the light of the lack of precedents for his writing. Contains excellent historical notes.

Ward, Ann. Herodotus and the Philosophy of Empire. Waco, Tex.: Baylor University Press, 2008. Focuses on Herodotus as a political philosopher whose history examined various forms of government in the ancient world, including the problems of empire. Compares his ideas about empire to twentieth and twenty-first century philosophies of Paul Wolfowitz, Colin Powell, and other politicians.