Penguin Classics Histories (Paperback)

Herodotus covers a remarkable swath of time and space, ranging from Egyptian pharaohs from c. 3000 BCE to the final expulsion of the Persians from European soil in 479 BCE and from Libya in the west to India in the south to central Asia in the east and Thrace in the north. His recurrent thematic elements include justice through vengeance, the contrast between free and enslaved peoples, the power of the gods as expressed through oracles, the constantly shifting fortunes of mankind and the disastrous consequences of arrogance and excessive pride.

Herodotus has been described elsewhere as the world's first tourist, a reflection of his apparently wide travel, fascination with other cultures and careful reporting of wondrous facts from the far corners of the world. His story of the primary conflict is frequently interrupted by discussions of the customs of numerous tribes and peoples. Through these interludes we learn that the Persians get drunk to discuss all important decisions, the Lydians prostitute their daughters to raise money for dowries, the Babylonians bury their dead in honey, the Egyptians bathe in cold water four times per day, the Scythians drink the blood of the first man they kill and the Gyzantes paint themselves red and eat monkeys.

Despite his "father of history" title, Herodotus retains several characteristics of earlier oral and written taletellers, including imagined dialogue to lend drama and human texture to events. He is also, whether from poor sources or conscious guesswork, frequently inaccurate in his depictions. To assist the reader in separating fact from fiction and illuminating those issues where scholars disagree, Marincola has in this Penguin Classics edition added an explanatory Introduction and extensive end-notes (627 in total). Reading the notes definitely disrupts the flow of the story but I found them essential to reading The Histories as anything more than a work of fiction.

While the Aubrey De Selincourt translation is extremely readable and, as noted above, the Marincola additions are immensely helpful, this edition suffers from a paucity of good maps. The four that are included are very helpful in keeping track of the large number of no longer existing states and peoples and their geographic relation to each other and to natural landmarks. However, there are numerous cities referenced in the text yet not shown on the maps. More significantly, there are no maps to show in detail the settings of the major battles. This omission, combined with Herodotus' rather sketchy rendering, makes it difficult to holistically visualize the battles.

Notwithstanding these relatively minor issues, The Histories is highly recommended. It is impossible to read without increasing one's recognition of our heritage of rampant, pervasive superstition and lives lived under the constant threat of violence and deepening one's appreciation of the tenuous nature of liberty.

Herodotus was born in Halicarnassus and lived from 484 until 429 B.C. These dates are approximate.

The History of Herodotus is divided into nine 'books' (we would speak of chapters) each with a name of one of the nine Muzes: book 1 is Cleio, book 2 is Euterpe, book 3 is Thaleia, book 4 is Melpomene, book 5 is Terpsichore, book 6 is Erato, book 7 is Polymnia, book 8 Ourania and book 9 Calliope. Their names were given at random without a link to the content of each book.
Scholars believe that it wasn't Herodotus who used these names but that it was done probably by
an unknown copyist from the Hellenistic period (+- 300-200 B.C.).

Many critics say that there is no leading thread running through the nine books and that their digressions are used haphazardly with little explanation of historical events.
Those critics are not entirely wrong. Herodotus is fond of legends, myths and anecdotes ( in book 2
for instance we read an Egyptian horror story ) and let's face it; the Greeks themselves were fond of these things. Herodotus must have been a very popular writer in his time.
Modern historians though are not likely to use such things with minor importance in their scientific works.

There is a leading thread however but you have to simplify things a little. You could summarize Herodotus' work in three steps. 1. How Persia becomes a military power. 2. The conquest of Egypt by Persia. 3. Two attempts to conquer Greece and why they failed.
The first attempt fails in the battle of Marathon (490 B.C.). The second attempt is more complex but takes a turn in favor of the Greeks during the sea-battle of Salamis where the Persian fleet is almost destroyed. Legend ( or historical fact ? ) has it that Aeschylus - one of the three Tragedy Poets - participated in that battle. ( 480 B.C. ).

I give Herodotus 4 stars because - though he's an interesting read - Thycidides uses a more scientific and 'modern' approach in his description of the Peloponnesian War