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Herodotus and the invention of history
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). In this free course, Herodotus and the invention of history, explore how Herodotus puts together his enquiry and learn how in doing so he makes the problem of finding out what happened to our own history too.
Interested in taking your learning further? You might find it helpful to explore the Open University’s Classical Studies courses and qualifications.
Course learning outcomes
After studying this course, you should 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.
First Published: 22/04/2024
Updated: 22/04/2024
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In terms of the stated objective that “You have also learned several useful strategies for better navigating online information and fake news in particular”, there seemed to be insufficient emphasis on gaining details through primary and secondary verifiable sources. Particularly confirming that all sources are recognised as being academically reliable.
The course might well have benefitted from an appendix containing a chronology of the relevant events covered within the extracted text from the Histories. Once this was undertaken far greater insight was readily attained. For example, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗮:
• ~560 BC (Sparta’s Failed Battle): The Spartans consulted the oracle regarding Tegea, suffered the catastrophic "Battle of the Fetters," and were enslaved. This happened at the very beginning of Croesus’s reign (~560 BC), a time when Croesus was busy securing his own throne against his half-brother and conquering the Ionian Greek cities. He was not yet focused on Cyrus.
• ~550 BC (Sparta's Freedom and Victory): Sparta quickly rebounded. Only a few years after their defeat, they found the "Bones of Orestes," defeated Tegea, and established the Peloponnesian League. By 550 BC, Sparta was the undisputed dominant military power in Greece.
• ~547 BC (Croesus’s Oracle’s Consultation): Croesus turned his attention to Persia after Cyrus overthrew the Median Empire (~550 BC). Herodotus explicitly states that Croesus panicked over the rising Persian threat and then initiated his famous oracle test.
• 546 BC King Croesus of Lydia was definitively defeated by the Persian king Cyrus the Great.
𝗠𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗼𝘂𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀:
MS Word: “View description” and “View alternative description” for each figure are the same.
𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀: access to the exact English translation of the 𝑯𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 that was used as the basis for this course would have been beneficial, e.g., with regard to the consultation of the Oracles (please see below).
𝗚𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆: Apollo “son of Zeus and 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗮, and god of prophecy and healing. His main site of divination was at Delphi.” 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗮 (Zeus’s wife) or 𝗟𝗲𝘁𝗼 (a Titan goddess)?
𝟭.𝟭 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄? 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝟮
“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.”
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗼𝗱𝗼𝘁𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝘀 "𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵"
If you define truth as 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄, 𝗴𝗲𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀, Herodotus holds the title.
• 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝗽𝗲: He captured the broader context of how people lived, thought, and remembered their own past.
• 𝗩𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: Many of his physical descriptions of places and foreign customs, once dismissed as "tall tales," have actually been proven correct by modern archaeologists.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗰𝘆𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘀 "𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵"
If you define truth as 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆, 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀, Thucydides is much closer to the modern ideal.
• 𝗠𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗱𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆: He rejected myths, folklore, and divine intervention.
• 𝗘𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲: He relied strictly on eyewitness testimony and verifiable state documents.
• 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗶𝘀: He sought the underlying, rational causes of human behaviour and war, rather than attributing events to the whims of the gods.
Both approaches are vital. Thucydides gives us the precise, clinical truth of what happened, while Herodotus gives us the vast, cultural truth of what it felt like to live in that world.
𝟯.𝟮 𝗖𝗿𝗼𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝟭𝟮
In the absence of access to the English translation used by the course author a point of confusion arises. There seems to be an implication that due to winning the test set by Croesus that the oracle at Delphi was the only oracle that he went on to consult regarding entering into a war with Cyrus the Great? Herodotus surely stated (in most other English translations) that at Thebes (the oracle of Amphiaraus) was also given the same question. Both oracles then returned the same response that Croesus mis-interpreted.
Phase 1: Involved the Oracles of 𝗔𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼 𝗮𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗵𝗶 (Greece), Abae in Phocis (Greece), of Dodona (Greece), of 𝗔𝗺𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘂𝘀 (Greece), of Trophonius at Lebadeia (Greece), of Branchidae near Miletus (Asia Minor) and of Ammon at the Siwa Oasis (Libya).
Phase 2: Only the Oracle at Delphi correctly divined what he was doing (boiling a lamb and a tortoise together in a bronze cauldron). Herodotus notes that 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗺𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘂𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗴𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗿.
Phase 3: The 𝗢𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗗𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗵𝗶 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗺𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗮𝗿𝗮𝘂𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗱 with regard to entering into a war with Cyrus the Great.
THE HISTORY OF HERODOTUS By Herodotus
Both translations refer to oracles (plural) within 1.53.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/2707/2707-h/2707-h.htm
https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/historians/herod/herodotus2.html