Herodotus Primary Sources

Hesiod was another important poet in the transition period between myth and Presocratics. He wrote of a story of how everything was created. He stated that in the beginning there was chaos or a yawning gap. This was because the Greeks did not believe in creation from nothing. He used personification to tell a story of how the earth and sky mated to create the gods. Hesiod and Homer were both credited with the theogony, or creation of gods, of Greek civilization. The reason they both have the mythic worldview is because they both include supernatural and fictional aspects in their works. By including these aspects they are creating a false story that has aspects of truth hidden behind it. Hesiod also states in his works that he is not really the person who created the story. He states that he was told the story by muses, or goddesses, while he was tending to his sheep. This is also an aspect that keeps him in the category of myth. Hesiod is the first real transition between the mythic worldview and the Presocratic. He is considered a transitional writer because in his work of explaining the creation he is getting some form of a rational explanation as to how the earth was made, while Homer was mainly focused on telling the stories of the Golden Age.

In The Histories, Herodotus describes the cultural values of the Greeks. The Greeks had many differences, but in times of danger, they set aside their

The history of the Greece can be traced back to the Stone Age. There were only a few historians in the time of Ancient Greece. Three major ancient historians were able to record their time of Ancient Greek history, which includes Herodotus, known as the “Father

Throughout Herodotus’ The History, Oracles, and dreams play an important role. While the gods have almost no presence throughout the book, the Oracles and/or dreams are linked to many of the major events.

Herodotus' writes his Histories for Greeks. Specifically for Greeks living in Herodotus' own time. The statement of purpose which begins the work seems to contradict this hypothesis. Herodotus claims to wish to "prevent the traces of human events from being erased by time, and to preserve the fame of the important and remarkable achievements…" [Herodotus, 1.0]. The underlying assumption here is that the author is preserving these events and achievements for future generations and perhaps even future civilizations. The text however does not does not follow these guidelines. Herodotus assumes that his reader will have certain amount of common knowledge.

The Underworld—an ultimate challenge, facing the darkest parts of human nature or dealing with death

Herodotus used the account of people and their own traditions as his references in his works. During the beginnings of the war between the Persians and the Greeks Herodotus speaks of the Persian invasion of the Delians. During the Persians departure Herodotus uses the Delians as the reference for the events that unfolded next (Herodotus p. 108). Aside from the mentions of how the stories are sourced from the people Herodotus does not mention where else his sources came from. Herodotus relied heavily on

It is important to note that primary and secondary sources have differing levels of reliability. Primary sources originate from the times of the ancient Greek people, whilst secondary sources have emerged in more modern times. Primary sources show variation in myths, which is due to several factors; myths were never written down and were only orally presented thus pieces may be left out or altered when they weren’t remembered, also the variation is in part due to the fact that people who told the tales often exaggerated to make their version of the story more interesting, and finally the nature of the Greek religion meant that there was no one correct version of the myths and hence contributes significantly to the variation seen. Another issue for primary sources is that fact that they were not traditionally written in English, thus there may be minor errors in translation. However, these factors are not significant enough to drastically reduce the reliability of these sources, especially when compared to secondary sources. Secondary sources are

Throughout history, tales of great heros, gruesome monsters, beautiful enchantresses, and mighty gods have been told. One such tale that is very important to the greeks is the Odyssey. The main character, “Odysseus, was very important to the greeks because he was relatable to the greeks because he was a mortal man who relied not on superhuman strength, but the power of his own mind” (Mr. Carroll). Although clever, Odysseus has many flaws, and because he was greedy, arrogant, and he lets his crew die, Odysseus is not a hero.

The Odyssey is a Greek story written by Homer about Odysseus, a greek soldier who is on a long journey that includes fighting monsters from greek mythology and dangerous quests so that he can make it back home to his wife and son. A hero is a main protagonist of a story and is typically courageous, strong, honorable, and intelligent. Odysseus is a hero because he is a selfless, reliable, and unselfish leader trying to get his men home.

They used stories and pictures to tell their multiple views on heroic figures. In The Odyssey written by Homer, Odysseus should be considered a hero because he has many strengths, physically and mentally, that make him a great heroic figure to many Greeks. Odysseus is a hero in many aspects of the ancient Greeks. In an ancient Greek world, a hero is a divine being or even a great and brave warrior (“Institute of Etnography. Human or Superhuman: The Concept of Hero in Ancient Greek Religion And/in Politics”).

Herodotus and Sima Qian: The First Great Historians of Greece and China is a book that provides historical context on both ancient Greece and ancient China written by Thomas R. Martin; Additionally the book provides primary source documents written by ancient historians Herodotus and Sima Qian, who tell the history of their nations through numerous anecdotes. Although the two historians have different motives behind their works since Sima Qian writes the history of ancient China for personal gain and Herodotus writes to preserve the history and doings of ancient Greece, they both share topics such as honor in war and women in leadership positions that represent the morals and ideals of the two ancient civilizations.

Many people consider him the father of history; others prefer to call him the father of lies. Whatever may be your perception of Herodotus’ work, the truth is that Herodotus began a new manner of writing history in which human psychology takes a fundamental place. He was the first historian who really considered the reasons why things happen and did not limit his narrative to just facts. His book The Histories evidences all the distinctive features that he employs through his description of facts as well as the intrinsic analysis that he includes to his storyline about controversial topics like the definition of what heroes really are. Indeed, The Histories’ book 7 reveals Herodotus’ astonishing and unique view of heroism. During his

As Herodotus develops his History he diverges from the main aspect of his narrative many times throughout the text. Many wonder why Herodotus diverges from the main point by introducing minor characters who do not seem relevant to the central theme. Some consider this method of narrative confusing and pointless but I believe that Herodotus has a purpose for including these minor figures and that these characters help express Herodotus ideology towards proper moral and political systems. These minor figures are developed and manipulated by Herodotus in order to express his ideas and he is able to accomplish this because these characters are flexible in the sense that the readers (and listeners) do not have a

Who is a hero? How does the definition of a hero change over time? The Epic of Gilgamesh is perhaps the “longest and greatest literary composition written in cuneiform Akkadian” (Dalley 39) and told to an audience, while The Odyssey, and Oedipus the King came many centuries later. However, they all have a hero that represents the values of the society at the time. This paper is going to compare and contrast the ideal of the hero from ancient Mesopotamia in Gilgamesh in approximately 2000 BC, The Odyssey, from the close of the 8th century BC focusing on Odysseus’ long journey home to Ithaca, and Oedipus the King written in about 430 BC and telling the story of the King, Oedipus who fulfills a prophecy.