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Herodotus (484-425 BC)

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[hair-ODD-ih-tus]

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invented the genre of history

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born in Halicarnassus (today: Bodrum, Turkey)

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we don't know much about his personal life

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he comes up in his texts now and then but doesn't tell much about himself

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tells legends but none very reliable

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lived among the survivors and witnesses of the war against Persia

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traveled quite widely

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has a first-hand acquaintance with Greece, Ionia, and even Egypt

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intellectual influences that affected him

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Ionian philosophy

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identified with a city on the central coast of Ionia: Miletus

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not to be confused with the Ionian Sea

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Thales

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one of the seven sages

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natural philosopher

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speculation of the basic substance of the cosmos: air

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Anaximander (610–546 BC)

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student of Thales

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his sudent was Pythagoras

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basic element was the "immeasurable" the Apeiron [AP-er-on]

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Anaximenes

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student of Anaximander

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basic element was water

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an attempt to find out what is the basic substance

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what is missing is the gods

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rationalists

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overtly skeptical

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Xenophanes of Colophon

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[zen-OFF-en-eez]

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philosopher, theologian, poet, and social and religious critic

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lived a life of travel, left Ionia

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skeptic

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Gods of Thracians are red haired and blue eyed while the gods of the Ethiopians are snub-nosed and black

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if cows could depict their gods, they would have horns, hooves, and a tail

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Hecataeus (550–476 BC)

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[hek-ah-TEE-us]

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the first known Greek historian

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one of the first classical writers to mention the Celtic people

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wrote: A Trip Around the World

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actually a trip around the Mediterranean

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examined customs of different peoples he encountered

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Herodotus mentioned him but only to criticize him

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Herodotus was influenced by his prose writing

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Homer

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grand sweep of his narratives in the Iliad and the Odyssey

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provides a model for story telling but Herodotus does something different with it

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but none of these philosophers had much of a practical impact on the day to day practices of religion or believes in myth

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The Histories

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his great work

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first sentences

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Herodotus of Halicarnassus here displays his inquiry (histories), which mean "looking into things"

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not having a muse inspire you

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conducting your own examination

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questioning sources

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so that human achievements may not become forgotten in time

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histories not only of the Greeks, but foreigners as well

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very open minded to other cultures

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sources

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traveled widely

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first-hand interviews

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looking at things

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Hecataeus

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Homer

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underlying tensions of East and West

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says, "I know who first injured the Greeks"

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King Croesus (595–547 BC)

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paradigm of what happens when people get power

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Herodotus jumps back five generations to tell another story

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King Candaules

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had a beautiful wife

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had a trusted courtier Gyges [GIGH-geez]

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says that Gyges has to see his wife naked

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Gyges says it is against all customs

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tells Gyges to hide and watch her undress

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Gyges succumbs to this persuasion

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while Gyges is watching her, she sees him

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she goes to bed, he slips out

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next days she summons him

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you can kill Candaules, marry me, and become king

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or you can die

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Gyges chooses the former

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Herodotus says vengeance would come in the fifth generation after Gyges

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if there is an injury, there will be some kind of penalty, even if it takes five generations to work out

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the fifth generation was King Croesus

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King Croesus [KREE-sus]

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spectacularly wealthy

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asks Solon who the happiest man in the world is

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three have been happier than Croesus

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Tellus the Athenian

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had sons

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his sons had sons who he lived to see

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died fighting for his country

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was given the honor of being buried on the battlefield with a monument

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Kleobis [KLEE-ah-bis] and Biton [BIGH-tawn]

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painting by Nicolas-Pierre Loir (1624-1679)

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brothers who died peacefully in their sleep when their mother prayed for their perfect happiness after they had demonstrated filial piety by drawing her to a festival in an oxcart themselves

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a hero cult was established in their honor

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a pair of statues was set up for them at Delphi

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human life changes from second to second

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"count no man happy until he's dead"

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this interview with Solon is in the nature of the question "Which man is happy?"

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Solon is a Greek, a lawgiver, emphasizes quality

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Croesus is Asian, a monarch, attention is fixed on quantity

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Croesus' son dies

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Croesus decides to attack Persia

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Croesus was fond of the God at Delphi

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sent lavish gifts to this god of the Greeks

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asks what will happen if I attack Persia

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Oracle: you will destroy a great empire

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neglects to ask whose empire

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attacks, driven back, captured in palace by Persian king Cyrus [SIGH-rus] (600-530 BC)

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put on a funeral pyre

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Cyrus repents to this Barbarism but flames are already too great

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Croesus prays to Apollo, god at Delphi

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Apollo sends a rain shower down which quenches the flames

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Croesus is rescued

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Croesus and Cyrus establish a kind of rapport

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Croesus becomes, as Solon had been, a wise adviser

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Croesus asks Cyrus was are his men doing

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sacking your city

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no, they're sacking your city

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Cyrus admires his wisdom

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Herodotus sees Croesus as historical pattern that repeats itself: a ruler who

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has enough

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wants more

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commits a rash act

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suffers consequences

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Herodotus is intensely interested in the customs of other people