Herodotus Father of History (Oxford University Press Academic Monograph Reprints) PDF
Preview Herodotus Father of History (Oxford University Press Academic Monograph Reprints)
cover cover next page > title : Herodotus, Father of History author : Myres, John Linton. publisher : Oxford University Press isbn10 | asin : 0199240213 print isbn13 : 9780199240210 ebook isbn13 : 9780585278100 language : English subject Herodotus. publication date : 1953 lcc : PA4004.M9eb ddc : 888.1 subject : Herodotus. cover next page > file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Nidia%20San...O-PRENDA%20DE%20NATAL/0199240213/files/cover.html [28-12-2008 21:28:56] page_iii < previous page page_iii next page > Page iii Herodotus Father of History By John L. Myres < previous page page_iii next page > file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Nidia%20Sant...PRENDA%20DE%20NATAL/0199240213/files/page_iii.html [28-12-2008 21:29:09] page_iv < previous page page_iv next page > Page iv Disclaimer: This book contains characters with diacritics. When the characters can be represented using the ISO 8859-1 character set (http://www.w3.org/TR/images/latin1.gif), netLibrary will represent them as they appear in the original text, and most computers will be able to show the full characters correctly. In order to keep the text searchable and readable on most computers, characters with diacritics that are not part of the ISO 8859-1 list will be represented without their diacritical marks. OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Great Clarendon Street, Oxford OX2 6DP Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide in Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogotá Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Chennai Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Mumbai Nairobi Paris São Paulo Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw with associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Press in the UK and in certain other countries Published in the United States by Oxford University Press Inc., New York © Oxford University Press 1953 The moral rights of the author have been asserted Database right Oxford University Press (maker) Special edition for Sandpiper Books Ltd., 1999 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reprographics rights organization. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above You must not circulate this book in any other binding or cover and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Data available ISBN 0-19-924021-3 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Nidia%20...NDA%20DE%20NATAL/0199240213/files/page_iv.html (1 of 2) [28-12-2008 21:29:09] page_iv Printed in Great Britain on-acid free paper by Bookcraft (Bath) Ltd., Midsomer Norton < previous page page_iv next page > file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Nidia%20...NDA%20DE%20NATAL/0199240213/files/page_iv.html (2 of 2) [28-12-2008 21:29:09] page_v < previous page page_v next page > Page v Preface My object is to examine the claim of Herodotus to be the `Father of History', the man who first formulated its aims and method, and implemented this conception in his own writings. Much past criticism of Herodotus has resulted from failure to appreciate his originality, not only as an inquirer into the past, and interpreter of it, but as an artist and man of letters, faced with an immense range of uncoordinated facts, and with literary traditions and techniques which were inadequate to present them intelligibly. In his work, as we have it, there are traces of experiments in current modes of composition, the epic, the Ionian logos, the Attic drama, the rhetorical `speeches' and `dialogues' elaborated later by Thucydides and by Plato. But all these are incorporated in a fresh literary form, the counterpart of the balanced `rhythm' of representative arts, which culminates in the pedimental compositions of temple sculpture, at Aegina, on the Athenian Acropolis, and at Olympia, and in the rather later `Darius- Vase' of which the theme is that of Herodotus' own book. Readers accustomed to the logical development of a `plot', from causes to final effect, seem to have overlooked even the more obvious examples of this technique. It has therefore seemed necessary, secondly, to supplement a few diagrammatic instances with an analysis of the whole work. Only in this way can the thesis be maintained that the order of presentation in Herodotus is deliberate and habitual. It will help also to explain how Herodotus selects and marshals his information, and imparts to his story that vivid and convincing quality which has preserved him his place among literary artists, even for readers and critics unaware how this literary effect was produced. Ars est celare artem. Most important of all, it offers a new standpoint for estimating Herodotus as an historian, ever seeking information on the facts, but assessing each fact in relation to its place in the composition, as well as in the chain of causes and effects. It will be necessary therefore, thirdly, to superimposeso to < previous page page_v next page > file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Nidia%20San...-PRENDA%20DE%20NATAL/0199240213/files/page_v.html [28-12-2008 21:29:09] page_vi < previous page page_vi next page > Page vi speakthe historical narrative of Herodotus on the diagram of events as they appear to modern historians. Every historian is at the mercy of his sources, even if he takes `history' as seriously as Herodotus evidently did. But though he may not add to their contributions, he mayat his perilselect and omit. How much more, for example, did Herodotus know about Peisistratus or Themistocles than he has recorded? In the light of his deliberate and express statements of his practice, it is less his garrulity that should be regretted than his silences, sometimes eloquent, more often perplexing. Did he really not know what the Aeginetans at Salamis had done to deserve the prize for valour? One thinks of the American strategy in the Battle of the Philippines. Was the obstinacy of Amompharetus really the turning-point at Plataea? One thinks of the defence of Hougoumont at Waterloo. But to link the Histories of Herodotus with his times, and with the little we know of his life, is inevitably to repeat much that is common knowledge, if only to put a few novelties into perspective. Only so can we rediscover the `Father of History'. Beyond eye-witness and hearsay, Herodotus claimed the historian's privilege of `judgement', the duty to reveal causes. If any reader finds my opening pages journalistic, he need not read farther. That is how I have thought of Herodotus for more than sixty years. Among teachers, I most gratefully acknowledge my debt to Thomas Case, Fellow and later President of Corpus: among recent writers, to Amedée Hauvette and to Felix Jacoby, the latter happily still active. To pupils, over nearly fifty years, my obligations are innumerable; not least to one of the earliest, who asked `Sir, if Herodotus was such a fool as they say, why do we read him for Greats?' To the Delegates of the Clarendon Press I owe eventual publication and much technical help; to Mr. Russell Meiggs, Fellow of Balliol, searching criticism and patient revision; to Miss Daphne Hereward, of Somerville College, the correction of the proofs, and many references; to Miss Mary Potter, of the Oxford School of Geography, skilful rendering of my maps and diagrams. J.L.M. OXFORD, 1952 < previous page page_vi next page > file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Nidia%20San...PRENDA%20DE%20NATAL/0199240213/files/page_vi.html [28-12-2008 21:29:10] page_vii < previous page page_vii next page > Page vii Contents I. The Man: His Life and Travels 1 II. Herodotus and His Critics 17 III. The World of Herodotus 32 IV. The Father of History 60 V. The Structure of the Histories 89 Tabular Analysis of Books I-IX 118 VI. Historical Notes on the Histories 135 Book I. Lydia and Persia 142 Pelasgian and Hellene 150 The Second Conquest of Ionia 152 Book II. Egypt 159 Book III. Herodotus' Sources for Persian History 160 The Magian Revolt and the Accession of Darius 161 Samos 168 Book IV. The Scythian and Libyan Stories 173 Books V and VI. The Tragedy of Cleomenes 176 Athens, Sparta, and Ægina file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Nidia%20...DA%20DE%20NATAL/0199240213/files/page_vii.html (1 of 2) [28-12-2008 21:29:10] page_vii 194 The Ionian Revolt 202 Marathon 212 Epilogue 215 Books VII, VIII, IX. The Expedition of Xerxes 218 Persian Preparations, VII. 20-138 231 Greek Preparations, VII. 145-71 246 Thermopylae, VII. 175-239 253 Artemesium, VIII. 1-21 261 Salamis, VIII. 26-144 283 Plataea, IX. 1-89 295 Mycale, IX. 90-106 299 Epilogue, IX. 107-22 Text-References 301 Index 304 < previous page page_vii next page > file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Nidia%20...DA%20DE%20NATAL/0199240213/files/page_vii.html (2 of 2) [28-12-2008 21:29:10] page_viii < previous page page_viii next page > Page viii Illustrations Fig. 1. Scythia: A Diagrammatic Map page 33 2, 3. Empirical Basis of the Theory of Three Equal Continents 35 4. The Map of Aristagoras, 501 B.C. 36 5. The `Ionian' Map: Reconstructed 38 6. The Ionian Map: On Mercator's Projection 38 7. The `Persian' Map: Reconstructed 39 8. The `Persian' Map on Mercator's Projection 39 9. Peisistratid Athens, i. 59-64 85 10. Sparta at War with Tegea, i. 65-68 85 11. The Labyrinth, According to Herodotus 157 12. The Marathon Panel in the Painted Porch 204 13. Marathon (Map) 205 14. The Bridges of Xerxes in the Hellespont 221 15. The Pass of Thermopylae 249 16. The Battle of Artemisium 259 17. The Battlefield of Salamis: Air View 268 18. The Battlefield of Salamis (I) 269 19. The Battlefield of Salamis (II) 273 20. Salamis: Movements Within the Straits 279 21. Battlefield of Plataea I 284 file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Nidia%20...A%20DE%20NATAL/0199240213/files/page_viii.html (1 of 2) [28-12-2008 21:29:10] page_viii 22. Battlefield of Plataea II 289 23. Battlefield of Plataea III 292 24. Mycale: View from Samos 296 25. Mycale: Map 297 < previous page page_viii next page > file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/Nidia%20...A%20DE%20NATAL/0199240213/files/page_viii.html (2 of 2) [28-12-2008 21:29:10]
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