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. 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 portrays the conflict as one between the forces of slavery on the one hand, and freedom on the other. 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. The history of herodotus, by herodotus project gutenberg. All search options view abbreviations home collectionstexts perseus catalog research grants open source about help. Greek text with facing vocabulary and commentary 2nd ed. Creative commons attributionnoncommercialsharealike.
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. Greek, ancient to 1453 click here for edition record. Herodotus is not only the father of the art and the science of historical writing but also one of the western traditions most compelling storytellers. Herodotus the histories complete audio book recording. May 19, 2014 a delightful new translation of what is widely considered the first work of history and nonfiction. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content noncommercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the. Cassandane had died in the lifetime of cyrus, who had made a great mourning for her at her death, and had commanded all the subjects of his empire to observe the like. I really enjoyed this book because it is the first book of history ever written by man. Id love to hear about this translation from a student or scholar who knows greek its a beautiful book, but the translator is a businessman with no formal training who did it in his free time. Im still on the fence mostly because its a very expensive albeit beautiful, book. If you think history is a dry, dull, boring subject, reading herodotus s history of the persian wars just might change your mind. The internet classics archive the history of herodotus by. Reading herodotus, one can often get bogged down in the loops of geography, people, history, culture and meandre through miles of esoterica.
Herodotus, the histories, book 2, chapter 49 perseus digital library. Herodotus is often called both the father of histories as well as the father of lies. Written about 440 bc, the histories tell the story of the war between the persian empire and the greek citystates in the 5th. Click anywhere in the line to jump to another position. His great history, the first major prose work in world literature, is an account of his world at the time of the persian wars. What is the best translation of herodotus the histories.
The histories was at some point divided into the nine books that appear in. Herodotus book also contains ethnographic descriptions of the peoples that the persians have conquered, fairy tales. 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 internet classics archive the history of herodotus. Herodotus on burial in egypt ancient history encyclopedia. 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. The audiobook gives you a good pace and forcemarches you through to the end. Remarks on the phoenician origins of the clan to which the tyrannicides belonged 57. Godley, read by librivox volunteers, proofed, coordinated, and produced by karen merline. His histories primarily deals with the lives of croesus, cyrus, cambyses, smerdis, darius, and xerxes and the battles of marathon, thermopylae, artemisium, salamis, plataea, and. With a wealth of information about ancient geography, ethnography, zoology, comparative anthropology, and much else, the histories is also filled with bizarre and fanciful stories, which awardwinning historian tom holland vividly captures in this major new translationhighlighting herodotuss superb storytelling gifts and displaying his delightful curiosity alongside his flair for riveting epic drama. Herodotus histories book ii the second book of the histories, called euterpe 1.
Herodotus the histories complete audio book recording book vii polymnia 2 of 2. The writings of herodotus were written to educate,amaze and to entertain. Herodotus histories book ii classical wisdom weekly. 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. The histories the histories audiobook, by herodotus. The father of history, as cicero called him, and a writer possessed of remarkable narrative gifts, enormous scope, and considerable charm, herodotus has always. The histories 19 messengers in different directions, some to delphi, some to abae in phocis, and some to dodona. The book, here ably translated by university of chicago scholar david grene, earned herodotus the epithet the father of history in ancient times.
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. Asia abounding in men, and vast sums flowing into the treasury, the desire seized him to exact vengeance from the scyths, who had once in days gone by invaded media, defeated those who met them in the field, and so begun the quarrel. He wrote the histories one of the first historical books. Written from the 450s to the 420s 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 around the mediterranean and western asia at that time. Herodotus, the earliest greek historian in the proper sense of the term, and the father of history, was according to his own statement, at the beginning of his work, a native of halicarnassus, a doric colony in caria, which at the time of his birth was governed by artemisia, a. The passage, from book i of his histories, is interesting in the way herodotus contrasts the behavior and values of the persians with those of the greeks, with the. His histories is regarded as one of the seminal works of history in western literature. Herodotus portrays the conflict as one between the forces of slavery the persians on the one hand, and freedom. In this, the first prose history in european civilisation, herodotus describes the growth of the persian empire with force, authority and style. After a short digression on thracian customs, herodotus tells us about megabazus conquest of thrace and the ensuing submission of eastern macedonia. The biblical writers borrowed from it to create characters such as the judges samson. The histories of herodotus is considered the founding work of history in western literature.
Herodotus tells the story of croesus in the first tale, or logos, of his great work the histories. Herodotus clearly enjoys his subject and enjoys writing about it. Godleys translation is based on steins translation. Smiths dictionary of greek and roman biography and mythology. Flowers and john marincolas commentary on book ix of herodotus s histories for the cambridge green and yellow series. The rise of the persian empire is chronicled, and the causes for the conflict. Histories book v cambridge greek and latin classics 9780521703406. Histories, the, sixth and seventh books of herodotus, with a life of herodotus, and epitome of his history, a summary of the dialect, and explanatory notes. In order to begin in my research of mapping the histories, i first needed to locate a downloadable fullbody textfile of herodotus writing. Herodotus the histories book one book two book three book four book five book six book seven book eight book nine. Herodotus histories by herodotus of halicarnassus free at. Utilizing the perseus digital library, an opensource digital library that i am familiar with, i was able to locate a full english translation of the text by a.
In tales such as that of gygeswho murders candaules, the king of lydia, and unsurps his throne and his marriage bed, thereby bringing on, generations later, war with the persianshe laid bare the intricate human entanglements at the core. Hide browse bar your current position in the text is marked in blue. The first words of the histories, in which he presents himself as the author, may have shocked some of his audience, which was. Herodotus, the histories english xml header word count hdt. Few sections in the whole of book ii of herodotus history present such difficulties as chapter 91. The history of herodotus by herodotus written 440 b. Herodotus has a wonderful, gossipy style that makes reading these histories more fun than studying. Against this amasis then cambyses the son of cyrus was making. Cambyses becomes king of the persian empire 530522 bc.
Herodotus, the histories, book 1, chapter 1, section 0. 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 persian empire and the greek citystates in the 5th century bc. The histories, herodotus the histories of herodotus is the founding work of history in western literature. Think about the extent to which herodotus deserves his title father of history. After babylon had been taken, the march of dareios himself 1 against the scythians took place. Herodotus histories full audiobook book 1 of 3 youtube.
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. In book 1, herodotus announces his purpose to memorialize the great and marvelous deeds of the greeks and their barbarian neighbors, and, more particularly, to show why they came into conflict. Despite herodotus historical significance, very little is known of his personal life and academic history. A phoenician version of io story makes her responsible. Herodotus was an ancient greek historian who lived in the fifth century bc c.
Herodotus the great greek historian was born about 484 bce, at halicarnassus in caria, asia minor, when it was subject to the persians. While much of the information he gives has proved to be astonishingly accurate, he also entertains us with delightful. Melpomene after the taking of babylon, an expedition was led by darius into scythia. Jul 01, 2001 free kindle book and epub digitized and proofread by project gutenberg. Perseus and chemmis herodotus ii 91 cambridge core. 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. Book i 299k book ii 249k book iii 221k book iv 230k book v 162k book vi 174k book vii 286k book viii 179k. A delightful new translation of what is widely considered the first work of history and nonfiction. The history of herodotus has been divided into the following sections. The histories of herodotus is considered one of the seminal works of history in western literature. Herodotus 484425 bce the greek historian who wrote extensively on the persian empire, here describes persian customs as they would have been practiced around the year 430 bce at susa and other persian communities.
Herodotus the histories audio book jacob macdonald. The two primary sources on the wikipedia page for herodotus histories both trace back to godleys translation. He was a greek historian who wrote from a unique perspective in that he was not a mainland greek, although he is thought to have lived in athens for a period of time. The histories by herodotus, first edition abebooks. The rise of the persian empire is chronicled, and the causes for the conflict with greece. But the war between persia and greece is unimpeachable. Perhaps most famously, the book tells the heroic tale of the greeks resistance to the vast invading force assembled by xerxes, king of persia. The dream of hipparchus presages his death in 5143 bc 56. To read the history herodotus only book is to seek ones roots as a member of western democratic civilization. He describes the rise of the lydian empire under croesus, who first subdued the greek settlements on the. The histories of herodotus of halicarnassus is considered the first work of history in western literature.
The histories have survived until this time despite attempts by subsequent writers to impeach herodotus and his version events up to the persian clash with greece. The histories, however, is one of those books where an audiobook helps. Prior to that were the illiad and the oddyse by homer during the 700s b. Explore the contradictions in his narrative with other contemporary and archaeological evidence. Herodotus, the histories, book 1, chapter 39, section 1. Where can i find the primary source for herodotus histories. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The histories were written by herodotus of halicarnassus ca. Herodotus traveled extensively around the ancient world, conducting interviews and collecting stories for his book. Herodotus traveled extensively around the ancient world. Jan 29, 2011 herodotus the histories george rawlinson translation 1858 the art of war full audiobook. Here begins book iii of herodotus histories, being the continuation of the narative from book ii. Sep 21, 20 herodotus traveled extensively around the ancient world, conducting interviews and collecting stories for his book.
The history of herodotus volume 1 by herodotus free ebook. Despite herodotus historical significance, little is known about his personal life. Perseus collection herodotus search for documents in search only in herodotus. Steins translation is in german, which i dont read. Herodotus has a wonderful, gossipy style that makes reading these histories more fun than studying the rise of the persian empire and its clash with greecehowever, thats exactly what readers will do in this engaging history, which is full of interesting digressions and asides. Buy a cheap copy of the histories book by herodotus. Herodotus histories read by david timson unabridged. He wrote these accounts of the fifthcenturybc wars.
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