The internet classics archive the history of herodotus. Written in 440 bc in the ionic dialect of classical greek, the histories serves as a record of the. Summary of herodotus this is a chapterbychapter summary, with occasional notes, of the histories of herodotus, based mostly on the translation by peter greene 1987, with occasional reference to translations by a. Herodotus attempts to relate the whole history of the kings of egypt, although he does not describe all 350 pharaohs he claims have ruled the country. Having there arrived he was entertained as a guest by cr. This paper will offer a commentary on herodotus histories 2. The rise of the persian empire is chronicled, and the causes for the conflict with greece. The histories also known as the history of herodotus is considered the founding work of history in western literature. The history of herodotus book i the first book of the histories, called clio this is the showing forth of the inquiry of herodotus of halicarnassos, to the end that1 neither the deeds of men may be. The aim of this paper is to show that book 2 can be seen as a coherent part of the histories as a whole, looking in. Their rule endured for two and twenty generations of men, a space of five hundred and five years.
Almasy keeps this book with him everywhere he goes, a fat volume that could explode at any moment like george costanzas wallet. The history of herodotus by herodotus the internet classics archive. Her name is derived from the greek word meaning delight. The history book ii great books of the western world. Free download or read online the histories pdf epub book. The history book ii book 2 is named after the greek muse euterpe.
Tomyris, queen of the massagetae, suggests that cyrus cease trying to bridge the araxes under duress, and that the two sides meet in a fair fight on either side of the river 2056. Histories by herodotus translated by george rawlinson book 2 euterpe. His great history, the first major prose work in world literature, is an account of his world at the time of the persian wars. The history of herodotus by herodotus, part of the internet classics archive. In book 3, passages 102 to 105, herodotus reports that a species of foxsized, furry ants lives in one of the far eastern, indian provinces of the. Simultaneously, it tells the story of the growth of the persian empire. The rise of the persian empire is chronicled, and the causes for the conflict. Im becomming a little obsessed with history after getting this book.
Herodotus, the father of history, researched and wrote the histories in the middle of the 5th century bce. Book ii the histories also known as the history of herodotus is considered the founding work of history in western literature. Herodotus claims that since this legendary king 330 pharaohs have ruled he does not mention all of them, but gives some attention to the great conqueror sesostris, who has conquered the whole world. Thoughts on book 2 of the histories of herodotus first. Herodotus the great greek historian was born about 484 bce, at halicarnassus in caria, asia minor, when it was subject to the persians. Essay about commentary on book two of herodotus histories. Herodotus account of egyptian history and customs, contained in book ii of his long narrative history. Book 2 of herodotus opens up with what must be one of history s earliest recorded descriptions of a scientific experiment, also one the stupidest. Book two is distinct from the other books in histories as it is in this book that we predominantly experience herodotus as an investigator. Herodotus histories book ii the second book of the histories, called euterpe 1.
Herodotus, a greek from the city of halicarnassus in asia minor todays bodrum in turkey, published his histories sometime between 426 and 415 bce. Pdf the histories book by herodotus free download 716 pages. Cambyses becomes king of the persian empire 530522 bc. In book one of the histories, when herodotus describes the physical and political atmosphere in persia, he greatly exaggerates how massively fortified the city of babylon is. This book has great scope covering the geography, history, anthropology and zoology of the known world a the time.
The internet classics archive the history of herodotus by. The first five books look into the past to try to explain the rise and fall of the. The writings of herodotus are the ground zero of western history. Since the release of the film version of michael ondaatjes the english patient, there has been renewed interest in the histories of herodotusthe book the dying patient treasures so much. His longer wandering covered a large part of the persian empire. Herodotus herodotus of halicarnassus hereby publishes the results of his inquiries, hoping to do two things.
The histories, herodotus the histories of herodotus is the founding work of history in western literature. Greek researcher, often called the worlds first historian. Divided by later editors into nine books named after the muses, the history traces the growth of the persian empire, starting with croesus of lydia, though cyrus and xerxes. In particular, passage eightysix describes the practice of an ancient ritual that has fascinated people for millennia. He has been called the father of history, and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a wellconstructed and vivid narrative. So solon, having left his native country for this reason and for the sake of seeing various lands, came to amasis in egypt, and also to cr. The history of herodotus, volume 1 by herodotus full text.
Herodotus was an ancient greek historian who lived in the fifth century bc c. Herodotus histories book ii classical wisdom weekly. After journeys to india and pakistan, french ethnologist michel peissel claimed to have discovered an animal species that may illuminate one of the most bizarre passages in herodotus s histories. The history of herodotus rawlinsonbook 2 wikisource, the free. Oct 09, 2017 the histories of herodotus of halicarnassus, volume 1. The herdsman obeyed his orders for two years, and at the end of that time, on his one day. Composed in the ionic dialect of ancient greek, this expansive account of the grecopersian war that occurred during the first two decades of the 5th century. Herodotus lays out the history of egypt until the reign of amasis, the pharaoh that cambyses will defeat in histories. After the death of king cyrus, his son cambyses becomes the new shah of persia. The book, here ably translated by university of chicago scholar david grene, earned herodotus the epithet the father of history.
Book 2 of the histories largely concerns itself with egypt. The work, as we have it, is divided into nine books, named after the nine muses, but this division is probably due to the alexandrine grammarians. Being the second book of his histories called euterpe when cyrus had brought his life to an end, cambyses received the royal power in succession, being the son of cyrus and of cassandane the daughter of pharnaspes, for whose death, which came about before his own, cyrus had made great mourning himself and also had proclaimed to all those over whom he bore rule that they should make mourning. The history of herodotus, volume 2, free pdf global grey. The first book of the histories, called clio this is the showing forth of the inquiry of herodotus of halicarnassos, to the end that 1 neither the deeds of men may be forgotten by lapse of time, nor the works 2 great and marvellous, which have been produced some by hellenes and some by barbarians, may lose their renown. Book 2 of the history, which describes the egyptian land and people, illustrates herodotuss skill as a narrator as well as his weaknesses as a historian. In the first logos of book two, he gives a description of the country, the desert, and the river nile. The histories, were divided into nine books, named after the nine muses. Written from the 450s to the 420s bc it remains one of the wests most important sources. Now, for the stories which i heard about the gods, i am not desirous to relate them, saving only the names of the deities.
This is the story which i heard from the priests of hephaestus temple at memphis. At the beginning of the histories, herodotus sets out his reasons for writing it. It is in part a gripping and much revered tale of colossal confrontation between freedomloving greekspeaking peoples the athenians, spartans, and others and the seemingly unstoppable forces of the persians. Herodotus often accepted stories and reputations uncritically and reported them as facts. His plan to conquer egypt gives herodotus the opportunity to dedicate three logoi to the ancient kingdom on the boards of the nile. The history of herodotus volume 1 by herodotus free ebook. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 716 pages and is available in paperback format. The history of herodotus, parallel englishgreek, tr. In the histories, he describes the expansion of the achaemenid empire under its kings cyrus the great, cambyses, and darius i the great, culminating in xerxes expedition to greece 480 bce, which met with disaster in the naval engagement at salamis and the battles at plataea and mycale. Clio these are the researches of herodotus of halicarnassus, which he publishes, in the hope of thereby preserving from decay the remembrance of what men have done, and of preventing the great and wonderful actions of the greeks and the barbarians from losing their due meed of glory. His plan to conquer egypt gives herodotus the opportunity to dedicate three logoi to the ancient kingdom on the.
Book two herodotus quickly moves from the failure of cyrus to beat the massagetae to egypt. When cyrus had brought his life to an end, cambyses received the royal power. When cyrus had brought his life to an end, cambyses received the royal power in succession, being the son of cyrus and of cassandane the daughter of pharnaspes, for whose death, which came about before his own, cyru. The histories of herodotus is the founding work of history in western literature. Introduction this paper will offer a commentary on herodotus histories 2. Written about 440 bc, the histories tell the story of the war between the persian empire and the greek citystates in the 5th century bc. Histories, by herodotus, is an ancient greek text that tells the history of the wars between greece and persia. Composed in the ionic dialect of ancient greek, this expansive account of the grecopersian war that occurred during the first two decades of the 5th century is the first prose masterpiece in european literature.
The histories of herodotus of halicarnassus is considered the first work of history in western literature. The main characters of this classics, non fiction story are. Herodotus traveled extensively around the ancient world, conducting interviews and collecting stories for his book. For anyone with even the slightest interest in ancient history, herodotus s history is compulsory reading an authentic voice from the past that takes us back into the 5th and 6th centuries bce, to let us witness the epochmaking confrontation between the greeks and the all powerful persian empire. The history of herodotus book i the first book of the histories, called clio this is the showing forth of the inquiry of herodotus of halicarnassos, to the. Written in 440 bc in the ionic dialect of classical greek, the histories serves as a record of the ancient traditions, politics, geography, and clashes of various cultures that were known in western asia, northern africa and greece at that time. His justification for his study of egypt is vague and amounts to the interest he has in the artifacts and monuments found here. The first edition of the novel was published in 440, and was written by herodotus. Jul 01, 2001 free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Herodotus the histories complete audio book recording book euterpe ii 1 of 2 duration.
After herodotus died, editors divided his histories into nine books. He took two children of the common sort, and gave them over to a herdsman to bring up at his folds. Click anywhere in the line to jump to another position. The histories of herodotus is considered the founding work of history in western literature. Herodotus the histories book one book two book three book four book five book six book seven book eight book. These are the researches of herodotus of halicarnassus, which he publishes, in the hope of thereby preserving from decay the remembrance of what men have done, and of preventing the great and wonderful actions of the greeks and the barbarians from losing their due meed of glory. He travelled widely in most of asia minor, egypt as far as assuan, north africa, syria, the country north of the black sea, and many parts. I also purchased the histories from barnes and noble with translation by g. The subject of the history of herodotus is the struggle between the greeks and the barbarians, which he brings down to the battle of mycale in 479 b. Book 2 of the history, which describes the egyptian land and people, illustrates herodotus s skill as a narrator as well as his weaknesses as a historian. The third logos of herodotus histories is entirely devoted to egyptian history. For if we take the boundaryline commonly received by the greeks, we must regard egypt as divided, along its whole length from elephantine and the cataracts to cercasorus, into two parts, each belonging to a different portion of the world, one to asia, the other to libya. Hide browse bar your current position in the text is marked in blue.
According to herodotus, the city of babylon had magnificence greater than all other. Nechos, king of egypt, sent phoenicians to sail around libya, back through the pillars of herakles, into the mediterranean and back to egypt. The herodotus histories was starting to interest me after appearing on the searches, but didnt purchase until researching more what it was about. Here are presented the results of the enquiry carried out by herodotus of halicarnassus. Herodotus the histories book one book two book three book four book five book six book seven book eight book nine. He remains the leading source of original information not only for greek history between 550 and 479 bce but also for much of that of western asia and of egypt at that time.
If all you want is a cheap copy of the greek text, this book is fine, but if you want an english translation, youre better off getting a more modern version. Herodotus histories book ii classical wisdom weekly part 6. The histories 19 messengers in different directions, some to delphi, some to abae in phocis, and some to dodona. Book 1 book 2 book 3 book 4 book 5 book 6 book 7 book 8 book 9 2. Written from the 450s to the 420s bc in the ionic dialect of classical greek, they serve as a record of the ancient traditions, politics, geography, and clashes of various cultures that were known. Amazon second chance pass it on, trade it in, give it a second life. In the meantime those of the persians who had been left behind in europe by dareios, of whom megabazos was the commander, had subdued the people of perinthos first of the hellespontians, since they refused to be subject to dareios. The histories of herodotus of halicarnassus, volume 1.
Herodotus is not just the father of history, he is also the father of ethnography, and his description of the egyptians suggests that they often do the opposite of whatever the greeks do. The histories of herodotus of halicarnassus is considered the first work of. Herodotus, greek author of the first great narrative history produced in the ancient world, the history of the grecopersian wars. Herodotus will give his account, starting with the four nations between the two seas, then describing the asian peninsula. What made the experience of listening to the histories the most enjoyable. In order to try and prove whether the egyptian or phrygian nation was the elder, the pharaoh had two.
The history of herodotus, parallel englishgreek index. Book two is distinct from the other books in histories as it is in this book that we. To read the history herodotus only book is to seek ones roots as a member of western democratic civilization. Charles fornara was a pioneer in herodotean studies by showing how deeply the histories reflected on the political and intellectual conditions of the authors own time, but he considered book 2 as an exception, representing an early stage within herodotus development. Herodotus claims to have traveled extensively around the ancient world, conducting interviews and collecting stories for his book, almost all of which covers territories of the persian empire. So its fitting that, through herodotus book, the english patient reveals his own history.
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