Talk:Histories (Herodotus)

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[edit] Outline - Request for Feedback

Am I including too-much/not-enough information in the outline? My intention was twofold: (1) make it easy to find stuff later (e.g., Herodotus's description of Babylon) and (2) to give people a sense of the kind of stuff that he wrote about. Now that this project is underway, it seems to be running rather long. And my brief description don't really convey the (nutty) things that Herodotus wrote about. (Herodotus is really a collection of stories, rather than a "history" in the modern sense, and many of these stories are rather outlandish.) Feedback? Jeffrey L. Whitledge 20:16, 2004 Oct 7 (UTC)

It looks alright so far. If you have the Penguin edition, there is a "map" of sorts in the back, showing all the subjects he talks about, in the proper chronological order...that might help. Adam Bishop 21:32, 8 Oct 2004 (UTC)

I did books 6 & 7 and tried to include all the main facts but also anything mildly interesting or unusual to try and convey some of how Herodotus writes, perhaps a little long but I feel it's informative and, therefore, justified. CeM.

I've gone through and added a few things to 1-4, added 5, and will also add 8 and 9 next week. However, I'd like to trim down 6 & 7 a little bit to get them more inline with the others. These summaries are already pretty long as is. Just a listing of the event should be sufficient, and the articles linked from the list will have the in depth info. Aside from these book summaries, I'd like to see some other info, critical analysis, etc. - such as the kind of stuff you see on Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War. Anyone care to help out with that? - Ravenous 05:42, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

The "nutty" stories are important, such as the persian who sailed the horn of Africa and had the Sun to the North (which is why Herodotos recorded his skepticism, but why we today are more convinced it was probably true). But what struck me most of all was his approach to history from the ground up, in the most literal sense, by describing geography and climate first as the key determinant of the culture that would develop in that land, which would of course affect history down the track. While Thucidides work showed remarkable insight into people, Herodotos seems to have grasped an ever deeper issue, perhaps yet to be understood by today's politicians as we face the possibility of drastic climate change. But how can we talk about this from a NPOV? David T. Bath 09:32, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Opening quote needs better attribution

I've a 1960 reprint of the 1954 Aubrey de Sélincourt, Penguin Classics translation. And it begins:

In this book, the result of my inquiries into history, I hope to do two things: to preserve the memory of the past by putting on record the astonishing achievements both of our own and of the Asiatic peoples; secondly, and more particularly, to show how the two races came into conflict.

So exactly which version is quoted in the text? --Fuchsia Groan 17:41, 26 June 2006 (UTC)

I hadn't seen this comment before but it is quite correct. The Aubrey de Selincourt translation is as quoted above, not as quoted in the article. (Incidentally, de Selincourt's version of Herodotus's opening sentence is very, very "free", or [some would say] inaccurate.) Since no one has answered the question, we don't know what translation supplied the quotation in the article. I will take out the attribution to de Selincourt: that's a start. Andrew Dalby 17:02, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

The attribution to Aubrey de Selincourt has been reinserted into the article, evidently by someone who hasn't read this discussion! My best guess is that the translation quoted is a copy from the current revised Penguin edition of what was originally the de Selincourt translation. Since it differs strongly from (and is more accurate than) what de Selincourt actually wrote, I will amend the article to reflect this guess of mine. If anyone knows better, please alter the article accordingly. Andrew Dalby 12:28, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The Original Text?

Is there any information about the original text? I believe that there is one copy of the original text and it is in Arabic, if anybody knows can you add to this page? User:Sinanozel

No, he was a Greek historian and the original text was in ancient Greek (Ionic dialect). I'll check that the article makes this clear, since you ask. The original text is easily available in print and on the Web. Andrew Dalby 16:55, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

The article didn't answer your question, did it? Thanks for raising this. I have added the information to the first paragraph. Andrew Dalby 17:12, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

I added the fact that Pactyes' fled to Cyme (Aeolis) after he was defeated by Mazares. Citation provided as (Herodotus: 1.157) based on the following direct quote:

Pactyes, when he learnt that an army was already on his tracks and near, took fright and fled to Cyme, and Mazares the Mede marched to Sardis with a detachment of Cyrus' troops. Finding Pactyes and his supporters and his supporters gone, the first thing he did was to compel the Lydians to carry out Cyrus' orders - as a result of which they altered from that moment their whole way of life; he then sent a demand to Cyme that Pactyes should be surrendered, and the men of the town decided to consult the oracle at Branchidae as to whether they should obey...The messengers returned home to report, and the citizens of Cyme were prepared in consequence to give up the wanted man. (Herodotus: 1.157)