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Introduction

The Open University — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 15:07:08 GMT

With the information explosion online, how can you tell fake news from the real thing, or be more sensitive to how information can be weaponised? In the fifth century BCE, a Greek by the name of Herodotus faced a similar challenge when he set out to examine why his people, the Greeks, and the Persians went to war with each other. Chief among his tasks was deciding what and whom to believe, as he pieced together the events of the past. His response was to produce an enquiry (in Greek: historiē, which is where the English word ‘history’ comes from). Explore how Herodotus puts together his enquiry and learn how he makes the problem of finding out what happened to ours too.

After studying this course you will be able to:

identify the context in which Herodotus was writing and the subject matter of his Histories, as well as key episodes, themes and issues
analyse passages of Herodotus’ text in order to learn how he presents his material and his methods as a historian
evaluate sources (including Herodotus’ writing as well as modern-day material) as you assess their reliability and significance
discuss aspects of identity in the ancient Greek world, especially the opposition between Greeks and non-Greeks
reflect on personal experiences as an informed critical reader.

Before you get started we would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations for this course, in our optional start-of-course survey. Participation will be completely confidential and we will not pass on your details to others.

Maximise

Figure 1 The roots of ‘fake news’, from UNESCO’s 2017/2018 Report into World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development Global.

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A drawing of a tree. In the leaves of the tree are the words ‘Fake news’. In its branches are written ‘rumour, hoaxes’, ‘information’, and ‘disinformation’; its trunk has ‘social media’. Its roots point to two word bubbles, in which are written: ‘Loss of confidence in traditional media’ and ‘Low levels of critical thinking and news literacy’ on the left; and on the right, ‘Shifts in business models’ and ‘Malicious actors’.

Figure 1 The roots of ‘fake news’, from UNESCO’s 2017/2018 Report into World Trends in Freedom of Expression and Media Development Global...

Study note: a note on names

In this course, you will come across a number of names of places and people from the ancient Mediterranean world that may be unfamiliar to you. We have given you a guide to the standard pronunciation of some of the more commonly occurring ones, but do bear in mind that you will often hear ancient names, places and words pronounced in slightly different ways. The key here is not to worry too much about getting it ‘right’ and to be open to the fact that there are different conventions in operation.

1 Introducing Herodotus: thinking historically

The Open University — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 15:07:08 GMT

In this section, you are going to learn about Herodotus, his context, what he sets out to do, and why that’s important. But first, take a minute to reflect on how we (think we) know things.

Figure 2 Communication concept.

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A diagram of two heads facing each other. Out of the heads come a series of gears and cogs which connect the two figures. The diagram tries to represent the communication concept.

Figure 2 Communication concept.

Study note: a note on dates

You will notice that this course uses the abbreviations ‘BCE’ and ‘CE’ when dating events, texts and objects. These abbreviations stand for ‘Before the Common Era’ and ‘Common Era’. You may be familiar with an alternative method of referring to dates as ‘BC’ (‘before Christ’) and ‘AD’ (Anno Domini, Latin for ‘in the year of our Lord’), and you may find that the authors of other things you read on the topics discussed here use instead BC and AD instead of BCE and CE. Remember that BCE years count backwards – therefore the sixth century BCE is earlier than the fifth century BCE.

1.1 How do we know what we know?

The Open University — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 15:07:08 GMT

If you wanted to know about a specific topic, what would you do?

Activity 1

Timing: Allow approximately 5 minutes for this activity

Using Herodotus as an example, think about what you would do to find out who he is. Jot down two or three sources where you’d look to find out this information.

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Discussion

There are many different ways you may have answered this question. Perhaps you know someone who you think will know the answer, and you asked them. Perhaps you looked the answer up in a book you have to hand. Or perhaps you typed ‘Herodotus’ into Google.

All of these possibilities are fine, but can we trust them? Or, to put that slightly differently, how can we trust them? What kinds of elements do we look out for? Let’s take one particular popular internet source for information: Wikipedia and its entry for Herodotus.

Study note: a note on Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a free online encyclopaedia. Maintained and updated by community contributions, it allows multiple users (known as Wikipedia editors) to create and edit content. As such, it is a powerful means of gathering and sharing knowledge. When you perform a search online using Google or another search engine, it’s likely that one of the highest-ranked results that you’ll see will be a Wikipedia article. Because of the collaborative way it is compiled, Wikipedia pages change often. The text that appears in the activity below is what the page on Herodotus looked like when accessed in March 2024. It may look different if you search for it yourself now.

Activity 2

Timing: Allow approximately 20 minutes for this activity

Read the first three paragraphs of the Wikipedia entry on Herodotus reproduced below (see also Figure 3 below). You may well encounter names of people, places and events that are unfamiliar to you, as well as some technical words. Try not to get too bogged down in these details for now, but rather focus on the following tasks.

First, identify one bit of information about Herodotus from each paragraph.
Second, jot down how you think any of this is known.

Herodotus^[1] (c.484 – c.425 BCE) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria (Italy). He is known for having written the Histories – a detailed account of the Greco-Persian Wars. Herodotus was the first writer to perform systematic investigation of historical events. He is referred to as ‘The Father of History’, a title conferred on him by the ancient Roman orator Cicero.^{[2] [3]}
The Histories primarily cover the lives of prominent kings and famous battles such as Marathon, Thermopylae, Artemisium, Salamis, Plataea, and Mycale. His work deviates from the main topics to provide a cultural, ethnographical, geographical, and historiographical background that forms an essential part of the narrative and provides readers with a wellspring of additional information.
Herodotus has been criticized for his inclusion of ‘legends and fanciful accounts’ in his work. The contemporaneous historian Thucydides accused him of making up stories for entertainment. However, Herodotus explained that he reported what he could see and was told.^[4] A sizable portion of the Histories has since been confirmed by modern historians and archaeologists.
[1] ‘Herodotus’. Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
[2] Luce, T. James (2002). The Greek Historians. p. 26.
[3] ‘Herodotus’. Encyclopædia Britannica. Archived from the original on 4 April 2021. Retrieved 30 March 2021.
[4] Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Antony; Eidinow, Esther (11 September 2014). The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization. OUP Oxford. p. 372.

Figure 3 Screenshot of the Wikipedia entry on Herodotus, taken 1 March 2024.

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A screenshot of the Wikipedia entry for Herodotus, with the text on the left and the image of a bust of Herodotus on the right. The text has a series of words in blue (indicating hyperlinks to other Wikipedia entries), as well as footnote references.

Figure 3 Screenshot of the Wikipedia entry on Herodotus, taken 1 March 2024.

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Discussion

You may have noted the following points:

In paragraph 1 we’re told where Herodotus comes from, or what he’s known for, or how he’s been thought about.
In paragraph 2 we learn a little bit about his work: the main battles of the war, or alternatively his broad range of interests from ethnography (‘the study of peoples’) to history.
In paragraph 3 we’re introduced to the question of how he’s assessed as a historian, whether critically or more positively.
As for the question, ‘How is this known?’, perhaps you noticed some references — notes letting us know where the information comes from.

Wikipedia, then, is a useful resource for supplying a quick answer to our question, ‘Who is Herodotus?’, including information about why he’s important – for example, that he is the author who records the battle of Thermopylae, which was famous for being the last stand of the 300 Spartans. At the same time, you may have noticed a structure to this entry that is shared with many Wikipedia entries on people: who (someone is), where (they’re from), what (they did). Underpinning this common structure is a concern to evidence each claim – not just with footnotes (including references to more traditional encyclopaedias) but also with the use of the modern-day name for the ancient place of Herodotus’ birth. This kind of information provides the entry with authority. It encourages us to believe it.

By the same token, a comment that is not referenced can, and perhaps should, strike us as being less persuasive. Ironically, no reference is provided for the criticism of Herodotus for including ‘legends and fanciful accounts’, though the quotation marks suggest that a source is being cited. Similarly, the claim that ‘Herodotus explained that he reported what he could see and was told’, is supported by a reference to a work of scholarship, not to the Histories themselves. Yet, what Herodotus actually says is: ‘While I am obliged to say what was said, I'm in no way obliged to believe it’ (Herodotus 7.152.3). Perhaps this warning does a better job than the Wikipedia article in rebutting that criticism of Herodotus for including ‘legends and fanciful accounts’: Herodotus himself is aware that many of the accounts he relates may be fanciful, but he includes them nonetheless because they are important for some reason. As you will find out, Herodotus is keenly alert to the problem of sources.

This course will shine a light on the process of information gathering. You will learn about the kinds of challenges that Herodotus faced when wanting to find out about past events and, critically, why they happened. And, just as importantly, you’re going to learn what Herodotus does in response – how he constructs history as an active enquiry (historiē) into whom and what to believe. In short, you’re going to learn how to think historically.

Study note: how to refer to the Histories

The conventional way of referring to a section of the text of the Histories of Herodotus is to provide the book, chapter and paragraph numbers. So the reference ‘Herodotus 7.152.3’ refers to Book 7, chapter 152, paragraph 3 of the Histories. You may also sometimes see ‘Herodotus’ abbreviated to ‘Hdt.’.

1.2 Herodotus’ opening pitch (1.1.1)

The Open University — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 15:07:08 GMT

The Wikipedia entry which you read in Activity 2 informed us that Herodotus is known as ‘the first writer to perform systematic investigation of historical events’. You’ll begin by examining this claim, by thinking about what kind of (ancient Greek) literature came before Herodotus. To better understand what Herodotus is doing, you’re going to compare Herodotus’ introduction to the beginning of Homer’s Iliad.

Homer’s Iliad is a poem on an epic scale (it is 15,693 lines long!). One of the first complete works of ancient Greek literature to have come down to us, in fact the Iliad stands at the end of a long oral tradition of song stretching back centuries. These songs star a mythical generation of hero men and preserve their exploits for future fame (kleos). At the same time, epic poetry provided Greek audiences with a shared past and a sense of how their current world came into being.

From around a generation before Herodotus (i.e. some time in the sixth century BCE), two of these epics, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, became incorporated into the repertoire of an important panhellenic (‘all Greek’) festival put on by the Athenians every four years: the Great Panathenaia – an ‘all Athenian’ cultural festival of sport, dance, drama and poetry. Soon after, both Homeric poems become fixed in form and content by being written down, which is why they have survived and other epic poems have not. With the advent of writing, there was an information explosion in the Greek world, as a new wave of thinkers took to recording in prose all kinds of things: how the natural world worked; how and why people got ill; what different lands and peoples looked like, etc. Among this group of radical thinkers is Herodotus.

Figure 4 The Trojan Horse. Pithos (a large storage container) found at Mykonos, about 670 BCE, Archaeological Museum of Mykonos, ID: 2240.

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Close up of the clay storage container (dark red in colour), which has been pieced back together. The image shows a large horse, in which there are seven windows, revealing (Greek) fighters inside, carrying arms (helmets, shields, and swords). Around the horse are at least six other warriors (Trojans), appearing to lead the horse (into the city).

Figure 4 The Trojan Horse. Pithos (a large storage container) found at Mykonos, about 670 BCE, Archaeological Museum of Mykonos, ID: 2240.

In the next activity you will read a short passage from the Iliad. There are many aspects that may well appear odd or confusing. For example, Homer refers to several gods worshipped by the ancient Greeks – Hades, the god of the underworld; Zeus, the leader of the gods; and Apollo (‘the son of Leto and Zeus’). Homer also uses unfamiliar terms – labels such as ‘the Achaeans’ to mean the Greeks who fought at Troy or the ‘son of Atreus’ to mean Agamemnon.Try not to let these unfamiliar aspects put you off: your task is about extracting specific information.

Activity 3

Timing: Allow approximately 20 minutes for this activity

Compare the opening lines of Herodotus’ Histories and the Iliad. Reading them as many times as you need, answer the questions in the table below, jotting down a short sentence or phrase to sum up your thoughts.

Question	Homer’s Iliad	Herodotus’ Histories
What do we learn about the author of each work?	1, Your response 1	2, Your response 2
What will the work be about? Try to find three things.	3, Your response 3	4, Your response 4

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Homer, Iliad 1.1-8 [Book 1, lines 1-8]

About the wrath of Peleus’s son Achilles, sing goddess,
a destructive wrath that put a myriad of hurt on the Achaeans,
and sent into Hades the many mighty souls
of heroes, and made them food for all kinds of dogs
and birds; and the will of Zeus was being accomplished,
from that time when the two of them first stood apart in strife,
Son of Atreus, lord of men, and godlike Achilles,
Which one of the gods brought them together in strife?
The son of Leto and Zeus: for he was angry with the king...

Herodotus, Histories 1.1.1

This is the display of the enquiry (historiē) of Herodotus the Halicarnassian – an enquiry made so that the things people have done don’t get lost over time, and that the great and astounding actions of both Greeks and barbarians (barbaroi) alike don’t lose their glory (kleos). And especially it’s an enquiry into the cause of why they went to war with each other.
Men skilled in argument among the Persians say that the Phoenicians were the cause of the division...

Discussion

Here is an example table of responses:

Question	Homer’s Iliad	Herodotus’ Histories
What do we learn about the author of each work?	nothing	The author’s name and the place he’s from
What will the work be about? Try to find at least three things.	the anger of Achilles Zeus’s plan the strife between Achilles and Agamemnon why they came into strife	the display of an enquiry things done by people the great and astounding actions of Greeks and barbarians why they went to war

Question

Homer’s Iliad

Herodotus’ Histories

What do we learn about the author of each work?

nothing

The author’s name and the place he’s from

What will the work be about? Try to find at least three things.

the anger of Achilles

Zeus’s plan

the strife between Achilles and Agamemnon

why they came into strife

the display of an enquiry

things done by people

the great and astounding actions of Greeks and barbarians

why they went to war

Study note: a note on Greek terms

historiē is the English transliteration of the Greek ἱστορίη. Similarly, barbaroi renders βαρβάροι, kleos κλέος, and aitia αἰτία. If you would like to learn more about the language in which Herodotus wrote, you can try the free OpenLearn course, Getting started on Ancient Greek.

Don’t worry if you didn’t get all of these points or found different ones. The beginning of the Iliad in particular is quite a challenge. (Who are these people?, you might be asking. If you’d like to learn more, see the ‘Taking it further’ section of this course.) Perhaps the most striking thing of note is the lack of any author: there’s no name (no Homer!) and no place associated with them. Instead, there’s an appeal to the ‘goddess’. Contrast this to the Histories, where we learn not only who has put this together (Herodotus) but also where they’re from (Halicarnassus). Yet, you may also have noticed some points of correspondence. Both beginnings describe a conflict and set out to provide the origins for it.

By placing himself at the beginning of his account – in the Greek, ‘Herodotus’ is literally the first word – Herodotus was doing something new and radically different from poets like Homer who had gone before him. At the beginning of the Iliad, the poet appeals to a ‘goddess’ (the Muse) for information about the Troy story (the war between the Greeks and Trojans over Helen of Sparta). Herodotus’ opening gambit is revolutionary because he takes ownership of the account that we are about to read. His authority doesn’t come from an external source; he’s going to be personally responsible for this account.

Equally, however, you may also have noticed aspects of Herodotus’ preparatory remarks that are what we might call ‘epic adjacent’, meaning that Herodotus draws on epic, even as he marks his departure from it. So, for example, when Herodotous writes that he’s keen that important actions don’t lose their recognition, he uses the epic term kleos (glory or fame), while, like Homer, he too ends with a question and, specifically, an interest in the cause of conflict. That is to say, right from the outset, Herodotus is also making the claim that his ‘enquiry’ will have similarities with epic: it is grand in scale and importance; it recounts famous past actions; and, fundamentally, it is interested in finding out why a particular conflict happened. Doing history is moving on to the ground that had previously been occupied by poems like the Iliad.

Figure 5 Helen on the Ramparts of Troy. Oil on canvas, by Gustave Moreau, late nineteenth century. Musee Gustave Moreau, Paris, France.

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A portrait representation of a richly attired woman. With a blank expression on her face, the woman holds a flower in her crossed arms as she gazes into the distance. Her pale face (matching the pale sky behind) contrasts with the detail of her brightly coloured patterned robes, which cover her from her head down to the floor.

Figure 5 Helen on the Ramparts of Troy. Oil on canvas, by Gustave Moreau, late nineteenth century. Musee Gustave Moreau, Paris, France.

Study note: a note on transliterating Greek names

Greek names frequently have more than one English spelling. For instance, Achaeans may be spelled as Achaians or even as Akhaians, Achilles as Achilleus (or Akhilleus), Herodotus as Herodotos, and so on. The reason is that there are different conventions for transliterating words from Greek into the English alphabet: the Greek κ can be rendered as 'k’ or ‘c’, αι as ‘ai’ or ‘ae’, ος as ‘os’ or ‘us’. This course generally uses the Latinised spellings of the more familiar names – Herodotus (not Herodotos) and Achilles (not Akhilleus), as well as Croesus (Kroisos) and Candaules (Kandaules).

1.3 The first account (1.1.1–1.5.4)

The Open University — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 15:07:08 GMT

As you have just seen from his trailer, Herodotus’ primary aim is to answer the question why two sides came into conflict – which is the question posed at the beginning of the Iliad too. In the Iliad we receive an immediate answer: the god Apollo (referred to in the poem as ‘the son of Leto and Zeus’) was the cause of the quarrel between the heroes Agamemnon and Achilles. In Herodotus, the reader is similarly given an immediate answer, though in a way that makes us pause. In the next activity you will find out how hard that ‘in a way’ is working in the last sentence, and how Herodotus’ first account prepares us for thinking historically.

Study note: terminology for non-Greeks

In his opening pitch Herodotus writes that he will preserve the deeds done by Greeks and non-Greeks. The term he uses for non-Greeks is barbaroi (singular barbaros). This term derives from the Greek view that to their ears other peoples spoke gibberish, i.e. ‘bar bar’ (like the English ‘blah blah’). How much other baggage to attach to term ‘barbaros’, namely whether or to what extent these foreigners are, or should be seen as, different from Greeks (i.e. as ‘barbarians’), is a question that this course will get you to ponder.

The first episode of the Histories (1.1.1–1.5.4) throws us straight into a story that is supposed to answer why the two groups, Greeks and barbarians, came into conflict. It includes a lot of to-ing and fro-ing between various places and peoples. Since it can be rather bewildering, a map of those places and peoples, colour-coded according to whether they are Greeks or non-Greeks is provided (see Figure 6). While this episode is short on detail, the thematic thread linking the various movements concerns the abduction of women. If you are likely to find this section distressing, please consider carefully when and how you might want to engage with it. You can find suggestions in the Guidance on studying emotive topics and developing emotional resilience, from The Open University.

Activity 4

Timing: Allow approximately 30 minutes for this activity

First, using the text supplied, skim read Herodotus 1.1.1–1.5.4 to get a sense of what’s going on. Then, using both the map and the text, jot down some notes in answer to the following questions:

Where does the first event (1.1.1–1.1.4) take place? Who is involved and what happens?
Where does the second event (1.2.1) take place? Who is involved and what happens?
Where does the third event (1.2.2–1.2.3) take place? Who is involved and what happens?
What is the pattern that’s emerging?
What is different about the fourth event (1.3.1–2)?

Herodotus, The Histories, Book 1 Sections 1–5

1.1
(1) Men skilled in arguments among the Persians say that the Phoenicians were the cause of the division. For these men (the Persians say) came from what’s called the Red Sea to our sea [the Mediterranean], and, once they had settled in the land in which they live to this day, they immediately began to embark on long voyages. They carried their Egyptian and Assyrian merchandise to many places before arriving in Argos. (2) Argos at this time was preeminent in every way in the land now called Hellas [Greece]. Arriving in Argos, (the Persians say) the Phoenicians set out their wares. (3) On the fifth or sixth day after they had arrived, when nearly all had been sold, there came to the seashore many women, chief among them the daughter of the king. Her name — and on this the Greeks say the same — was Io, daughter of Inachos. (4) As these women stood about the stern of the ship, bargaining for the wares that they had set their hearts on, (the Persians say) the Phoenicians incited one another to assault them. Most of the women escaped, but Io, along with some others, was abducted. Throwing her into the ship, the Phoenicians sailed off to Egypt.
1.2
(1) In this way, Io arrived in Egypt say the Persians (though not the Greeks), and that this was the first injustice done. After this, they say that some Greeks (the Persians aren’t able to recount the name) landed at Tyre in Phoenicia and abducted the king’s daughter Europa. (These Greeks would have been Cretans.) Up until now it had been like for like; but after this point it was the Greeks (the Persians say) who were guilty of the second injustice. (2) For Greeks sailed in a long ship down to Aea in Colchis and to the river Phasis; then, once they had completed the business on account of which they had come, (the Persians say) they abducted the king’s daughter Medea. (3) The king of the Colchians sent a herald to Greece to demand both a penalty for the abduction and his daughter back. But the Greeks (the Persians say) replied that, since those other men hadn’t paid any penalty for the abduction of Argive Io, nor would they pay a penalty to the Colchians.
1.3
(1) In the second generation after this, they say, Alexandros, the son of Priam, got to hear about these events and decided to get himself a wife by abducting one from Greece. He was completely convinced that he wouldn’t have to pay any penalty, since the others hadn’t. (2) So, he abducted Helen. The Greeks first resolved to send messengers to demand both Helen back and a penalty for the abduction. But, when these measures were proposed, they (the Trojans) brought up the abduction of Medea and the fact that they (the Greeks) wanted justice from others, though they had not paid any penalty or given up what had been demanded of them.
1.4
(1) Up until this point it was a matter only of abduction on both sides. But after this the Greeks (the Persians say) were the cause of an escalation: for the Greeks first launched an invasion against Asia before they launched one against Europe. (2) The Persians consider abducting women an action of unjust men, but to be out for revenge when an abduction has happened nonsensical. Level-headed people have no concern for abductions, for (the Persians say) it is clear that the women wouldn't have been abducted, had they not wanted it themselves. (3) The Persians say that for their part they made no account of the abductions of women. But the Greeks, on account of a single woman from Lacedaemonia, gathered a massive army, came to Asia, and tore down the power of Priam. (4) Ever since then the Persians have considered the Greek to be an enemy. For the Persians think of Asia and the foreign peoples living there as their own, but Europe and the Greek people they consider separate from themselves.
1.5
(1) This is what the Persians say happened. And they trace the beginning of their hatred of the Greeks to the sack of Troy. (2) About Io, though, the Phoenicians do not agree with the Persians. For they say that they did not use force to carry her off to Egypt. Rather, she had sex with the captain of the ship while still in Argos. When she learned that she was pregnant, she was ashamed for her parents, and so she willingly sailed off with the Phoenicians before her shame became visible. (3) These are the things that the Persians and Phoenicians say. For my part, I’m not going to say whether these things happened in this or some other way. Rather, I’ll identify and speak about the person who I know first wronged the Greeks, as I march on farther into my account, going through both small and great cities alike. (4) For those cities that were once great have now become small, while those that were great in my time were before small. Knowing that human happiness doesn’t stay in the same place, I’ll mention both alike.

Figure 6 A map of the places and peoples mentioned in Herodotus 1.1.1–1.5.4, with the settlements of Greeks or Greek majority populations in green.

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The map shows the eastern part of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The largest fonts read ‘Europe’ (on the land above the Aegean Sea) and ‘Asia’ (below the Black Sea). Words in smaller font indicate ‘Hellas’ (in green, where modern-day Greece is located), ‘Assyria’ (north-east of Cyprus), ‘Persia’ (modern-day Iran), and ‘Aegyptos’ (the Nile Delta). There are four places marked in green (Argos, Sparta, Crete, and Halicarnassus), and four in red (Troy, Colchis, the river Phasis, and Tyre). Troy and Halicarnassus are located on the same Ionian coastline (now modern-day Türkiye).

Figure 6 A map of the places and peoples mentioned in Herodotus 1.1.1–1.5.4, with the settlements of Greeks or Greek majority populations...

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Discussion

These are some points you may have noted:

The first event takes place in Argos, when some Phoenicians abduct Io, the daughter of the king, and take her back to Egpyt.
The second event takes place in Tyre, when some Greeks abduct Europa, the daughter of the Phoenician king.
The third event takes place in Colchis, when some Greeks abduct Medea, the king’s daughter.
The common element in each episode is the abduction of a woman by outsiders (both Greeks and non-Greeks).
The fourth episode is different because we are given an insight into the thinking of the aggressor, Alexander (otherwise known as Paris), before he carries out an abduction.

Figure 7 The Kidnapping of Europa. Mosaic, between first and second centuries CE. Zeugma Mosaic Museum, Gaziantep, Türkiye.

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Photograph of a rectangular mosaic floor. The central panel shows a scene from mythology, as the young woman Europa is carried off on the back of a bull (the god Zeus in disguise) across the sea (represented by fish). Geometric patterns frame the scene.

Figure 7 The Kidnapping of Europa. Mosaic, between first and second centuries CE. Zeugma Mosaic Museum, Gaziantep, Türkiye.

In fact, Alexander uses the evidence from the other episodes to suppose that he too can abduct a woman (in this case, Helen) without facing any consequences. But he’s wrong and the Greeks send an army against Troy to get her back. In this way, this opening account acts as both the context for Homer’s Iliad and a kind of precedent for the war between Greeks and ‘foreigners’ that is the focus of Herodotus’ enquiry. Or to put that differently: Herodotus here provides a brief sketch of how events from the past (including those represented in the Iliad) could be seen to have led to the war between the Greeks and the Persians of his lifetime.

1.4 Re-reading the first account (1.1.1–1.5.4)

The Open University — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 15:07:08 GMT

Reading this first account, however, is more complicated than that. Next you’ll dig into it further to analyse how Herodotus presents the information.

Activity 5

Timing: Allow approximately 15 minutes for this activity

Re-read the account with one simple question in mind: What does Herodotus tell us about where he got his information? Picking out phrases from each section (1–5), make a list of all the indications where a point of view is identified.

Herodotus, The Histories, Book 1 Sections 1–5

1.1
(1) Men skilled in arguments among the Persians say that the Phoenicians were the cause of the division. For these men (the Persians say) came from what’s called the Red Sea to our sea [the Mediterranean], and, once they had settled in the land in which they live to this day, they immediately began to embark on long voyages. They carried their Egyptian and Assyrian merchandise to many places before arriving in Argos. (2) Argos at this time was preeminent in every way in the land now called Hellas [Greece]. Arriving in Argos, (the Persians say) the Phoenicians set out their wares. (3) On the fifth or sixth day after they had arrived, when nearly all had been sold, there came to the seashore many women, chief among them the daughter of the king. Her name — and on this the Greeks say the same — was Io, daughter of Inachos. (4) As these women stood about the stern of the ship, bargaining for the wares that they had set their hearts on, (the Persians say) the Phoenicians incited one another to assault them. Most of the women escaped, but Io, along with some others, was abducted. Throwing her into the ship, the Phoenicians sailed off to Egypt.
1.2
(1) In this way Io arrived in Egypt, say the Persians (though not the Greeks), and that this was the first injustice done. After this, they say that some Greeks (the Persians aren’t able to recount the name) landed at Tyre in Phoenicia and abducted the king’s daughter Europa. (These Greeks would have been Cretans.) Up until now it had been like for like; but after this point it was the Greeks (the Persians say) who were guilty of the second injustice. (2) For Greeks sailed in a long ship down to Aea in Colchis and to the river Phasis; then, once they had completed the business on account of which they had come, (the Persians say) they abducted the king’s daughter Medea. (3) The king of the Colchians sent a herald to Greece to demand both a penalty for the abduction and his daughter back. But the Greeks (the Persians say) replied that, since those other men hadn’t paid any penalty for the abduction of Argive Io, nor would they pay a penalty to the Colchians.
1.3
(1) In the second generation after this, they say, Alexandros, the son of Priam, got to hear about these events and decided to get himself a wife by abducting one from Greece. He was completely convinced that he wouldn’t have to pay any penalty, since the others hadn’t. (2) So, he abducted Helen. The Greeks first resolved to send messengers to demand both Helen back and a penalty for the abduction. But, when these measures were proposed, they (the Trojans) brought up the abduction of Medea and the fact that they (the Greeks) wanted justice from others, though they had not paid any penalty or given up what had been demanded of them.
1.4
(1) Up until this point it was a matter only of abduction on both sides. But after this the Greeks (the Persians say) were the cause of an escalation: for the Greeks first launched an invasion against Asia before they launched one against Europe. (2) The Persians consider abducting women to be the act of unjust men, but seeking revenge, when an abduction has already happened, to be nonsensical. Level-headed people have no concern for abductions, for (the Persians say) it is clear that the women wouldn't have been abducted, had they not wanted it themselves. (3) The Persians say that for their part they made no account of the abductions of women. But the Greeks, on account of a single woman from Lacedaemonia [i.e. Helen of Sparta], gathered a massive army, came to Asia, and tore down the power of Priam. (4) Ever since then the Persians have considered the Greek to be an enemy. For the Persians think of Asia and the foreign peoples living there as their own, but Europe and the Greek people they consider separate from themselves.
1.5
(1) This is what the Persians say happened. And they trace the beginning of their hatred of the Greeks to the sack of Troy. (2) About Io, though, the Phoenicians do not agree with the Persians. For they say that they did not use force to carry her off to Egypt. Rather, she had sex with the captain of the ship while still in Argos. When she learned that she was pregnant, she was ashamed for her parents, and so she willingly sailed off with the Phoenicians before her shame became visible. (3) These are the things that the Persians and Phoenicians say. For my part, I’m not going to say whether these things happened in this or some other way. Rather, I’ll identify and speak about the person who I know first wronged the Greeks, as I march on farther into my account, going through both small and great cities alike. (4) For those cities that were once great have now become small, while those that were great in my time were before small. Knowing that human happiness doesn’t stay in the same place, I’ll mention both alike.

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Discussion

You may have come up with something like the following list:

1.1

Men skilled in arguments among the Persians say that
(the Persians say)
(the Persians say)
— and on this the Greeks say the same —
(the Persians say)

1.2

say the Persians (though not the Greeks)
they say
(the Persians aren't able to recount the name)
(These Greeks would have been Cretans.)
(the Persians say)
(the Persians say)
(the Persians say)

1.3

they say

1.4

(the Persians say)
The Persians consider
(the Persians say)
The Persians say that
the Persians think
they consider

1.5

This is what the Persians say happened
the Phoenicians do not agree with the Persians
These are the things that the Persians and Phoenicians say
For my part, I’m not going to say
I’ll identify the man whom I know
I'll mention

Again, don’t worry if you didn’t catch all these instances. The important point to note is that this opening account is mostly assigned to the Persians. You’re now going to consider the significance of this point for our reading of the text.

Activity 6

Timing: Allow approximately 5 minutes for this activity

Think about two follow-up questions:

What difference does it make that Herodotus represents his opening account as largely described from the perspective of another group (i.e. the Persians) rather than the Greeks?
What other voices (aside from the Persians) are heard in the text and what difference do they make?

In both cases jot down in your own words the impact that identifying perspective has on your understanding of what’s going on.

Figure 8 Audience scene of Darius (or Xerxes I). Stone relief. Iran National Museum, Tehran, ID: 1765.

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Stone carving showing three figures. One (with a neat, but long beard) is seated on a throne. He holds a staff in his right hand, which reaches to the ground; in his left hand he carries a cup; his feet are rested on a footstall. Behind him, also bearded, stands a man who is the same height as the seated figure. He also carries a cup in his left hand, and holds his right hand out straight in from of him. Before them stands a third bearded figure, much smaller, carrying a staff in his left hand, while with his right he touches his lips, as he looks up to the figure seated in front of him.

Figure 8 Audience scene of Darius (or Xerxes I). Stone relief. Iran National Museum, Tehran, ID: 1765.

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Discussion

These are the points you may have observed:

Knowing that this account derives from one group’s point-of-view affects what is recorded. We are being given a particular angle on the events, namely what the Persians think.
Herodotus also records, at specific moments, the perspectives of others (the Greeks and the Phoenicians). Providing different points of view sets in relief the Persian line of thinking, particularly when those other accounts are said to be in disagreement (as with the Greeks at 1.2.1 or the Phoenicians at 1.5.2).

Different voices characterise this opening section of the Histories and invite different ways of responding to the events recorded. So, for example, when Herodotus observes that the Greeks agree on the name of Io (1.1.3), this passing note lends authority to the ongoing Persian account. It subtly shows that the ‘men skilled in arguments among the Persians’ have done their homework and attempted to align their thinking with Greek sources. Not that it makes it right. Capping this account, Herodotus pithily remarks: ‘In this way Io arrived in Egypt, say the Persians (though not the Greeks)’. The parenthesis equally subtly introduces a note of dissent. The Greeks have their own version of how Io ended up in Phoenicia, which is far more fantastical (see the Glossary entry for Io). At the end of the first episode as a whole, Herodotus introduces yet another account: the Phoenicians maintain that Io left of her own accord (1.5.2)! This new information contradicts the Persian account (not to mention the Greek version) and further complicates our reading of Io’s journey to Egypt. Which account do we agree with?

Figure 9 Io (on the left, with horns) is welcomed in Egypt by Isis (sitting, holding a snake and with a crocodile at her feet). Roman fresco from the temple of Isis in Pompeii. Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Naples, ID: 9558.

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A wall painting. Two central figures (both women) clasp hands. The one on the left, as the viewer sees it, is naked to the waist. She has two small horns in her head and looks up; she is higher because she is being carried on the shoulders of a bronzed and bearded figure. Below her, to the right, is the second woman. Clothed simply in a white dress, and crowned, she holds a snake in her left hand, which is wrapped around her wrist. A tiny figure sits to her left. In the background are another pair (faint, possibly a man and a woman), holding accruements.

Figure 9 Io (on the left, with horns) is welcomed in Egypt by Isis (sitting, holding a snake and with a crocodile at her feet). Roman ...

1.5 Thinking historically

The Open University — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 15:07:08 GMT

There are three key points worth taking from what has been discussed so far.

First, according to the Phoenicians, Io went willingly with their ship’s captain. But the earlier account related that she had been abducted. By recording different accounts, assigning them each a source, and juxtaposing them, Herodotus puts us on guard about where information comes from, precisely what information is communicated, and how information is used. This is important because, as the Phoenician example shows, sources invariably present versions of events from their point of view or to cast themselves in the best light. Taking a critical stance like this can come in useful not just when we’re thinking about an ancient writer's account of historical events, but when we’re reading contemporary news articles or posts on social media.

Second, being alert to sources can help us better understand the content of this opening account and how it’s being presented. Right at the beginning, Herodotus assigns this account to ‘men skilled in arguments among the Persians’ (1.1.1). It is they who identify the Phoenicians as beginning all the troubles, and who identify the Greek response to Alexander’s seizure of Helen as marking the critical escalation in hostilities. They (they say) are not to blame; on the contrary, they are so fair-minded as to acknowledge that Europe belongs to the Greeks – so long as they (the Persians) have power over all the communities, Greek and otherwise, in Asia. Being alert to the source, then, can help reveal why things are presented in a particular way.

Third, what does Herodotus think about all of this? At the end of this episode he simply notes: ‘These are the things that the Persians and Phoenicians say. For my part, I’m not going to say whether these things happened in this way or some other way’ (1.5.3). The fact that Herodotus not only withholds judgement but explicitly tells us that he is withholding judgement is important to his self-representation as an author. We see him impartially weighing the evidence, struggling to come down on either side, and showing the value of doing that weighing and struggling. By being so blunt about what he cannot record, paradoxically he encourages us to believe in what he can and does record.

Figure 10 Phoenicians ship carved on the face of a sarcophagus, second century CE.

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A picture of a ship on the sea. The hull is curved and lined (suggesting a wooden construction), with a curved bow to the right, as the viewer sees it. A central mast carries a massive sail which spans almost the length of the ship.

Figure 10 Phoenicians ship carved on the face of a sarcophagus, second century CE.

The clearest limitations in this account, as Herodotus has shown, is the need to rely on what others say. The people involved in these events are lost to time. All these women – Io, Europa, Medea, Helen – are from a world that we now recognise as myth. In fact, it is Herodotus who here first draws a distinction between myth and history. The point is not that these events didn’t happen, but rather that there is no way of knowing whether they did or not, and, even if they did, whether they happened in this or some other way. Their truths cannot be questioned or determined.

Included in this world of untestable testimony is Homer’s Troy story, which the Persians bring to mind when they assert that it was the Greeks who were to blame for sending an army to get Helen back. The lesson is that such stories, while familiar and perhaps even comforting (in that they conform to preconceived ideas), cannot be verified and are just as likely to mislead our understanding of more recent events than not.

If this, then, is a ‘false start’, where, and how, does Herododus begin his writing of history? This is the question which you’ll now consider.

2 Constructing the Histories: writing historically

The Open University — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 15:07:08 GMT

In Section 1 you learned what Herodotus doesn’t think can count as history (even if it makes a good story), namely a past that is so distant that it cannot be examined. Just as importantly, you also learned that sources are not impartial. People provide accounts that are influenced by their own perspective and experience. In this section you will investigate what Herodotus does think counts as history, and how he goes about writing it in such as way as to alert us to the stakes involved.

Figure 11 Fragment from Herodotus’ Histories, Book 8. Papyrus, early second century CE. Sackler Library, Oxford, Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 2099.

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A picture of a fragment of papyrus. The piece of papyrus is roughly square in form and clearly torn. The writing on it in Greek capitals is neat and runs in a single column down the centre of the papyrus roll. A ruler on the right indicates that the size of the fragment is roughly 9 cm in length.

Figure 11 Fragment from Herodotus’ Histories, Book 8. Papyrus, early second century CE. Sackler Library, Oxford, Papyrus Oxyrhynchus 2099...

2.1 Beginning with Croesus

The Open University — Wed, 27 Mar 2024 15:07:08 GMT

Directly after his refusal to comment on the accounts given by the Persians and Phoenicians, Herodotus states that he will start from the person ‘who I know first did wrong against the Greeks’ (1.5.3). This someone isn’t a Persian at all but a Lydian – Croesus, who was ‘leader of all the nations inside the river Halys, which flows from the noon sun between Syria and Paphlagonia and empties towards the north into the Euxine Sea’ (1.6.1). These next activities will ask you to explore the account Herodotus gives about Croesus, starting with why he begins his history proper with this figure.

Activity 7

Timing: Allow approximately 5 minutes for this activity

Read the passage below. Then, using the map as an aid, answer the following questions, jotting down your thoughts in a sentence or two:

Why does Herodotus start his history with Croesus?
What relations does Croesus have with the Greeks?
What territories do the Greek communities mentioned occupy?

Herodotus 1.6.2

This Croesus was the first of the foreigners [barbaroi, plural of barbaros] who we know rolled over [i.e. conquered] some Greeks and took tribute from them, and made friends with others. He rolled over the Ionians, the Aeolians and the Dorians of Asia, and made friends with the Lacedaemonians [also known as Spartans].

Figure 12 A map showing Lydia and the Greek communities (in green) along the Asia Minor (Anatolia) coast.

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The map shows the eastern part of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Three regions are marked out in bigger font: Lydia (in the middle of the Asia Minor (Anatolian) coast next to the Aegean Sea); Paphlagonia (just under the Black Sea); and Syria (in line with the island of Cyprus). In smaller (green) font are three Greek communities along the Asia Minor coast: Aeolians at the top, Ionians in the middle, and Dorians at the bottom. The settlement of Sparta (Lacedaemon) is marked out (also in green) on the Greek mainland, in the middle of the Peloponnese; the Pontus and the river Halys are both indicated in red.

Figure 12 A map showing Lydia and the Greek communities (in green) along the Asia Minor (Anatolia) coast.

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Discussion

You may have made some notes along the following lines:

Herodotus starts with Croesus because he’s the first figure the Greeks know who conquered and ruled over them.
Croesus conquered some Greeks but he also made friends with others.
The Greek communities mentioned are on both mainland Greece and along the Asia Minor coast.

Three important points follow these observations. First, Herodotus starts with Croesus because, unlike the previous accounts (discussed in Section 1), he is a figure to whom knowledge can be attached. He’s known because of what he did to the Greeks: he conquered and ruled over those who lived along the Asia Minor coast. Second, Herodotus also notes that Croesus made friends with other Greeks, namely the Spartans. That is to say, Croesus is not an exclusively enemy figure, which should make us wary of conflating the term ‘barbaros’ with modern notions of ‘the barbarian’. He’s not all bad and, indeed, shares many things in common with the Greeks, as you shall see. Third, and related, an additional complexity emerges if we map the Greeks whom Herodotus mentions here. Figure 10 is an apt demonstration that the Greek world of antiquity was not limited to the mainland and islands of the Aegean that is now known as modern nation-state of ‘Greece’. There were Greek communities across the Mediterranean, as well as all around the Black Sea (otherwise known as the Pontus or Euxine).

As you have just seen, Herodotus starts with Croesus because, apparently, he is the first foreigner ‘who we know’ (1.6.2) conquered Greeks. But what might an ancient reader of Herodotus’ text already have known about Croesus? To answer this question, we can look at evidence from material culture – that is, physical objects which were produced in the ancient world. Figures 13 and 14 below are images of two pieces of material culture associated with Croesus. These pre-date Herodotus’ Histories, and can therefore help us to fill out the picture Herodotus’ contemporary reader might indeed have known. Interpreting visual sources like these requires analytical skills which are different from those which we use when we read an ancient text. A short audio discussion will help to guide your own analysis of these images.

Activity 8

Timing: Allow approximately 30 minutes for this activity

As you study Figures 13 and 14, listen to the accompanying discussion.

Note: In the audio you will hear the speakers refer to Sardis, which is the capital of Lydia and the seat of Croesus’s power, and the god Apollo, with whom Croesus seems to enjoy a special relationship.

Using the audio discussion and the images, answer the following questions:

What are the two types of evidence that are explored in the audio discussion?
What does the decoration on each source depict?
What did you learn about Croesus? Try to note at least one thing using each source.

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Transcript

ELTON BARKER: Hello, my name is Elton Barker. I'm a professor in Greek literature and culture at The Open University. And I'm joined here today with my colleague Emma.

EMMA BRIDGES: Hello, Elton. Thanks for having me. I'm also in the Department of Classical Studies at The Open University, where I'm a senior lecturer.

ELTON BARKER: And we're going to be using the short audio discussion today to address what a reader might have known about Croesus. To answer this question, we're going to be exploring two objects from the period.

So let's take a look at this first object. Emma, do you think you can describe it for us and just to give a give a sense of what it is that we're looking at here?

EMMA BRIDGES: It's sort of not quite round. It looks like it's made of some kind of shiny metal. I guess I would say it looks like it's made of gold. It's got quite fine detail on it as well. But I'd like to know ideally how big it is before I speculate on what it actually is.

ELTON BARKER: So the diameter, you'll be interested to know, is only 16 millimetres. So this is really quite a tiny object. And its weight is 8 grams.

EMMA BRIDGES: Yes, so that gives us a real clue, doesn't it, as to what this might be used for? And given the shape and the fact that it seems to be made of metal, I would ordinarily guess that something of that size might be quite likely to be a coin?

ELTON BARKER: Yeah, I think that's right. It's definitely going to be something in your hand, something you could easily fit into a pocket, let's say. And I think you're also really spot on to say-- I mean, particularly given now that we've realised that this is a very small object that we're looking at, the fine craftsmanship on it. And I want us to home in on that for a second now. What can you see here?

EMMA BRIDGES: So it's not immediately obvious until you start to look more closely at what exactly we can see on the image. But there's an image of two animals facing one another in profile. One of those animals is a lion. We can see it with its jaw wide open. And the animal on the other side, I would guess, with the horns, is perhaps a bull. The lion in particular, I'm aware, is associated with royalty in this context. And so that might tell us something about the provenance of the coin, where it came from and who produced it.

ELTON BARKER: And that is something I think, again, I want to just to dig into a bit more detail. And for that, let's turn the coin over. If we think of modern-day coins, for example, you'd often have the figure of the-- a representation of the person or the institution who is minting the coin. And then on the other side, you have some kind of writing.

EMMA BRIDGES: It's notable, to start with, that there isn't any actual writing that I can see on here. And actually, what the writing on a modern coin does sometimes is it tells us the value of that coin. So this leads me to think that this is actually some kind of stamp perhaps, which perhaps indicates maybe the consistent weight of a coin or perhaps the purity of the metal or maybe both of those things.

ELTON BARKER: That's a really good point. So we have here the guarantee of the coin's value, essentially. This implies, I think, of a very sophisticated state machinery.

EMMA BRIDGES: So I think we're getting to the kind of sense here that this is a coin from the mint of Croesus. It was actually minted in Sardis, which was the capital of Lydia, where Croesus ruled. And it dates from around the middle of the sixth century. So it's actually a piece of evidence, an object, a piece of what we would call material culture that is contemporaneous with when Croesus was actually on the throne.

ELTON BARKER: I think that's a really important point, that this is evidence that Croesus as a historical figure and shows the kind of figure that Croesus was and what he was known for. And on that subject, I was wondering if we could move on to the second object and use this as a point of comparison with the coin that we've just been discussing.

EMMA BRIDGES: Absolutely. So what I'm seeing here is a large two-handled vessel, a painted pot, which looks like it would be made of terracotta. And it's decorated with black paint work over the top of that and very fine detailed decoration. A two-handled pots like this is known as an amphora. This is the sort of object that would be used for storing and transporting liquids like maybe olive oil or wine.

The other interesting thing about this is the level of detail and the decoration. It's very finely decorated with a detailed image showing two figures. And I wonder if, Elton, I could hand over to you to talk a bit more about who those figures might be or what they're doing in the image.

ELTON BARKER: Thanks, yeah. You've set me a good challenge there. I see two figures. One figure is seated and is on top of some kind of construction and looking a bit more closely, it looks like a wooden construction. I'm seeing logs. I'm seeing layers of wood.

And then I see another figure bended in front of that seated person with a couple of sticks that are connected to this wooden structure. That second figure I just talked about, the one bending down in front, is naked to the waist, is barefoot, and very simply dressed.

The contrast couldn't be greater with the other figure. The seated figure is very finely dressed. He's holding a staff. He's seated on a throne. This looks to be like a king. In his other hand, he seems to be turning something over above the head of the figure in front of him.

EMMA BRIDGES: If we look a bit more closely, we can identify that there's also some writing on this pot. It's quite hard to see from the coloured images, but we do have it rendered in black and white, which actually gives a clearer sense of what that writing might say. And if we look closely at the writing to the side of the seated figure, well, that actually says Croesus' name in Greek capital letters.

ELTON BARKER: That's brilliant. Yes, I hadn't seen that before from that first image, but you're quite right. Once you almost turn the pot around in your hands and particularly once it's rendered in black and white and you get rid of the colour and the shine, you can clearly see those etchings. What's going on there? What is this moment in Croesus's life?

EMMA BRIDGES: This is the point at which Croesus is sent to die on the pyre. And actually, again, we can see from the black and white image that what seems to be happening with the figure who's bending over is that perhaps he's got some objects in his hand, which looks like he's probably lighting the pyre.

I'm seeing a laurel crown on the head of the seated figure. And he's also got something in his hand, which he seems perhaps to be pouring over either the pyre or the figure in front. And I wondered what you think might be going on there, Elton.

ELTON BARKER: It's quite clear that something seems to be pouring down from that object in his right hand, some kind of libation perhaps. It certainly seems to be contrasting with what you might expect that figure to be experiencing. I mean, he's seated on top of this wooden construction that's about to be set on fire, and yet he's seated there very calm, making this libation.

And I think that's interesting here because you mentioned this crown or this wreath that that figure has around his head. And I think, knowing that Apollo is in the scene here, we can easily see that as one of Apollo's key artifacts. We have this image of serenity and a real sense that the gods are going to look after him, that Apollo is going to intervene.

And that is one of the myths that Herodotus will be dealing with when he comes to his own narration of the Croesus episode. And you'll see in that narration how Herodotus provides a rather different spin on that episode.

EMMA BRIDGES: That's actually really interesting that even not long after his own lifetime, there were these different versions of Croesus' story and that this was being sort of visualised and later written about in different contexts, almost as though this historical figure had become a mythical version of himself, with different people creating different stories about him.

ELTON BARKER: That's a really interesting point, Emma. And in fact, that's what I was going to ask next actually. Can we date this image?

EMMA BRIDGES: This pot was found in Vulci, in what we now know as southern Italy. But we know it was made in Athens. And it dates to the first quarter of the fifth century BCE, so sometime between 500 and 475 BCE. So we can date it relatively precisely.

Now what's interesting about that is that, in comparison with the coin that we looked at earlier, which was from a period contemporary with Croesus himself, this is from a later date and from a very different location. So we're getting that sense already that Croesus and his story have already begun to travel through space and through time. And Herodotus, of course, is also part of that storytelling and that reversioning of Croesus' story.

ELTON BARKER: That's brilliant. I really like-- really love that idea that we have here essentially a foreign king who is being represented on a pot that's produced in Athens, and yet that pot is then found in an entirely different community in what is now southern Italy. I think you're absolutely right that here we get a real sense of the currency of the story of Croesus, one version of which we're going to learn more about in Herodotus.

Thank you so much, Emma, for leading me through these images. I learnt a lot. And I think it really shows the value of taking some time to look through the material cultural evidence more closely and in dialogue with the textual evidence.

EMMA BRIDGES: Absolutely. Thank you very much, Elton.

End transcript

RSS feed for Herodotus and the invention of history

Introduction

Study note: a note on names

1 Introducing Herodotus: thinking historically

Study note: a note on dates

1.1 How do we know what we know?

Activity 1

Discussion

Study note: a note on Wikipedia

Activity 2

Discussion

Study note: how to refer to the Histories

1.2 Herodotus’ opening pitch (1.1.1)

Activity 3

Homer, Iliad 1.1-8 [Book 1, lines 1-8]

Herodotus, Histories 1.1.1

Discussion

Study note: a note on Greek terms

Study note: a note on transliterating Greek names

1.3 The first account (1.1.1–1.5.4)

Study note: terminology for non-Greeks

Activity 4

Herodotus, The Histories, Book 1 Sections 1–5

Discussion

1.4 Re-reading the first account (1.1.1–1.5.4)

Activity 5

Herodotus, The Histories, Book 1 Sections 1–5

Discussion

Activity 6

Discussion

1.5 Thinking historically

2 Constructing the Histories: writing historically

2.1 Beginning with Croesus

Activity 7

Herodotus 1.6.2

Discussion

Activity 8

Transcript

Discussion

2.2 Candaules’s wife

Activity 9

Herodotus 1.7.2, 4

Herodotus 1.8.1–2

Discussion

Activity 10

Herodotus 1.9.2–3 (Candaules instructs Gyges how he can spy on his wife without being seen)

Herodotus 1.10.1–2 (Herodotus narrates what actually happens when Gyges spies on Candaules's wife)

Discussion

2.3 Reading historically

3 Looking to the end: reading historically

3.1 The oracle at Delphi

3.2 Croesus tests the oracles

Activity 11

Herodotus 1.46.3–1.48.2

Discussion

Activity 12

Herodotus 1.53.2–54.1–2

Discussion

3.3 Putting two and two together

Activity 13

Herodotus 1.67.4

Discussion

Herodotus 1.68.3–5

3.4 Croesus on the pyre

Activity 14

Herodotus 1.91.1, 3–4, 6

Discussion

Conclusion: writing historically

Taking it further

Pronunciation guide

Tell us what you think

References

Acknowledgements

Glossary