[Herodotus2010] Introductory comments and study guide questions

Mon Nov 1 01:41:03 UTC 2010

Dear fellow readers,
As a mosaic is a work of art, so is the History of Herodotus.  Both are
comprised of many small pieces, each of which is a gleaming splash of
color among many.  Like small mosaic tiles, Herodotus’ anecdotes are
indeed colorful.  Up close each anecdote seemingly stands alone, a tale
perhaps of people and places unfamiliar and exotic, sometimes tragic. 
Like a mosaic, allow the individual pieces to work together for the full
effect.  From the beginning, let us assume that Herodotus is leading us to
this larger view with each digression.  The result is as indeed
spectacular as the journey along the way.
	This is no ordinary “history.”  It is an original in every sense of
the word.  As with most Greek literature, it is a combination of genres: 
historical yes, but also literary, geographical, sociological, political,
dramatic.  We are introduced to the Greek world of the 6th and 5th
centuries B.C.E., a time when some of the greatest advances in art,
science and math were beginning to take place.  Herodotus’ aim from the
beginning is to prepare his readers to understand historically (as opposed
to mythologically) the events, people and places leading to the famed
Greek resistance at Marathon and Thermopylae, and their victories against
the Persians at Salamis and Plataea.  Thankfully, he uses nine books to
set the stage for these dramatic events.
	Book I begins with the mention of the “feud” between Greeks (both
Ionian and Mainland) and Persians back to 'mythical' times, yet Herodotus'
aim is to try to de-mythologize some very commonly held ideas of the story
of Io and even of Troy.  Herodotus’ two main subjects of Book I are
Croesus, king of Lydia and Cyrus, king of Persia.  The setting is Asia
(Minor) or what is today known as Turkey, Herodotus’ home turf, having
been born in the coastal town of Halicarnassus in a Greek speaking region
called Ionia.  Many great Greek thinkers came from this region including
Thales, the earliest known Greek philosopher/scientist and Homer, the
earliest known Greek epic poet.  Ionia was a very prosperous area and
would later contribute to Athens’ ascendance as an empire.  Get
acquainted with Herodotus’ world with the great maps of the Aegean Sea
and adjacent lands provided in this edition.  The names and places will be
very unfamiliar to you at first, but you will use all of this knowledge
over and over again in reading other Greek authors, especially Homer,
Thucydides, Sophocles, Aeschylus, Euripides etc.  It is worth the effort
also when visiting a museum to be able to recognize those strange place
names mentioned by these writers and to understand the artifacts at a new
level.

Questions to ponder as we begin Book I, Chapters 1-94:
The role of prophecy is very prominent in these chapters.
1.  What part does an oracle play in the story of Candaules and Gyges? 
How is a curse associated with it?
2. How does Croesus’ dream about his son Atys become prophetic?  Why
does Croesus accept Adrastus so warmly?
3. How does Croesus read the Delphic oracles?  What is he not
understanding and why?  When does he understand Solon’s earlier words of
advice to him?