Herodotus emerges in all his charm and complexity as a writer and the first historian in the western tradition, perhaps unique in the way he has seen the interrelation of fact and fantasy. This happens quite literally in one scene, where hana uses miscellaneous books from the library to repair the stairs. One night, after hearing katharine read a passage from his book of herodotus, almasy realized he was in love with her. Cambyses ii, kabujiya, 530522 bce in books 2 and 3.
The histories also stands as one of the earliest accounts of the rise of the persian empire, as well as the events and causes of the grecopersian wars between the achaemenid empire and the greek citystates in the 5th century bc. Without booksthe herodotus book in particularthe gaps between the characters would be unable to bridge. History historie, inquiry in its broadest context here includes anthropology, natural history and virtually any piece of antiquarian information that appealed to. The histories herodotus translated by george rawlinson book 1 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. Book ix is the final book of herodotuss histories and contains, among other things, herodotuss accounts of the battles of plataea and mycale, the immediate aftermath of the persians defeat in and withdrawal from mainland greece, and the siege of sestos. He moreover alone of all the egyptian kings had rule over ethiopia. Herodotus traveled extensively around the ancient world, conducting interviews and collecting stories for his book. Book one provides the fully formed method of herodotus.
This region, he reports, is a sandy desert, and the sand there contains a wealth of fine gold dust. Histories by herodotus translated by george rawlinson book 2 euterpe. Cyrus is succeeded as king of persia by his son, cambyses. However, more interesting methods of investigation are used from the beginning of book one. Without going into details for more extensive abstract see wesselmann 2011, chapter i. He is known for having written the book the histories greek. Woods, for example, in his edition of the first book. Permission to reprint in nonprofit venues is hereby granted, although.
Book six opens with the arrival of histiaeus at sardes, something that herodotus who holds histiaeus responsible for the outbreak of the ionian revolt has already announced in the preceding logos. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Herodotus only book, known to posterity as the histories, is the first complete, extant prose work from the great intellectual flourishing of fifthcentury greece. Herodotus portrays the conflict as one between the forces of slavery the persians on the one hand, and freedom. Book 1 summary in the opening sentence, herodotus introduces himself as a native of halicarnassus, a greek city on the western coast of asia minor modern turkey, announces his theme, and describes his purpose in writing the histories. The histories of herodotus is the founding work of the greek historical tradition, documenting the rise of the persian empire, the ionian revolt and the subsequent war between the persians and the greeks led by athens and sparta. Herodotus uses this as an excuse to spend book 2 describing egypt at length, as he is fascinated by the country. 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. Through his frequent digressions on the various cultures of the known world herodotus, known as the father of history, imparted to the. Moreover the naming of almost all the gods has come to hellas from egypt. Herodotus account of egyptian history and customs, contained in book ii of his long narrative history of the persian wars, is a classic example of the father of history at work.
Herodotus is called the father of history, since rather than write history as an epic, he approached his work as a research project. Herodotus lays out the history of egypt until the reign of amasis, the pharaoh that cambyses will defeat in histories. Supersummary, a modern alternative to sparknotes and cliffsnotes, offers highquality study guides for challenging works of literature. For anyone with even the slightest interest in ancient history, herodotuss 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. Herodotus the histories book one book two book three book four book five book six book seven book eight book nine. Herodotus notes quickly that cambyses had ambitions to conquer egypt. The book shows literature and historys power to repair. Everywhere they agamemnon preface of the theme and consequently to have, amid all their dramatic solidity, a further significance which is almost symbolic. His plan to conquer egypt gives herodotus the opportunity to dedicate three logoi to the ancient kingdom on the. The history of herodotus, volume 2, free pdf global grey. Cassandane had died in the lifetime of cyrus, who had made a great mourning for her at her death. Book 1 book 2 book 3 book 4 book 5 book 6 book 7 book 8 book 9 2.
Reading herodotus in english has never been so much fun. 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. 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 persian empire. Herodotus was a greek writer and geographer credited with being the first historian. Thucydides history of the peloponnesian war is the second. Wiedemann, herodots zweites buch mit sachlichen bemerkungen leipzig, 1890. 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. Book 2 summary in book 2, herodotus discusses the geography, zoology, customs, and history of ancient egypt. Some of his most famous stories are recounted here such as arion escaping death by riding on a dolphin. Herodotus subject is the conflict between the greeks and their asiatic neighbors, whom he calls barbarians a. Book i 299k book ii 249k book iii 221k book iv 230k book v 162k book vi 174k. Histiaeus cannot deceive artaphernes, who compares him to the maker of a shoe that aristagoras has put on. Opening alludes to homer, suggests epic scale and purpose memorialization.
The rise of the persian empire is chronicled, and the causes for the conflict. 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. With glowing columns and all sorts of abnormalities, herodotus some times has a large than life mythological obstructions to a historic view of events. Histories book 2 the history of egypt summary course hero. Rape of io by phoenician traders as persian version of origin of eastwest conflict 1. Darius i, the great, darayavahush, 522486 bce in books 3, 4, 5 and 6. Herodotus notes quickly that cambyses had ambitions to conque.
This excursus on the countrys natural and manmade marvels sets the scene for his account of egypts invasion in 525 bce by the persian king cambyses, cyrus son, in the following book. But he promised to show it to her when he returned. He attempts to calculate the dimensions of the country, then describes the river nile. In particular, passage eightysix describes the practice of an ancient ritual that has fascinated people for millennia. Book ix is the final book of herodotus s histories and contains, among other things, herodotus s accounts of the battles of plataea and mycale, the immediate aftermath of the persians defeat in and withdrawal from mainland greece, and the siege of sestos. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read herodotus. Oct 22, 2017 internet classics archive, the history of herodotus, translated by george rawlinson. 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. The history of herodotus by herodotus, part of the internet classics archive. Herodotus crowds his frescolike pages with all shades of humanity. Herodotus, he gracefully declined to give it to her, as his notes were in it.
Greek researcher, often called the worlds first historian. Simultaneously, it tells the story of the growth of the persian empire. Histories, by herodotus, is an ancient greek text that tells the history of the wars between greece and persia. After initial successes and the execution of the last pharaoh, cambyses goes crazy. Reading the summary associated with euterpe, one might think that this was a book about almost anything related to the persian war, but instead would find a historic view of ancient egypt. This 147page guide for histories by herodotus includes detailed chapter summaries and analysis covering 9 chapters, as well as several more indepth sections of expertwritten literary analysis.
The internet classics archive the history of herodotus by. Book 2 of herodotus opens up with what must be one of historys earliest recorded descriptions of a scientific experiment, also one the stupidest. Xerxes i khshayarsha, 486466 bce in books 7, 8, and 9. Topics how to cite this sparknote chapter ix summary chapter ix page 1 page 2 page 3 analysis the concept of history plays a large and crucial role in the english patient. Having related cyruss conquests of the medes and lydians, herodotus begins to narrate cyruss campaigns of expansion.
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