#9: The Histories

Written by Allison Sudol; Edited by Nick Renart

Themes in The Histories

The majority of the themes are contained within Book 1. These themes are seen again in Book 7.

1. Repetition of History: History repeats itself, leaving humanity subject to fortune and the unpredictability of events. The world is in flux and constantly changing. A man might be on top of the world one day. The next day, he could be on the bottom and vise versa. Small events in history, such as private occurrences within individual households, can trigger much larger events and eventually affect history. Many times, these small acts cause a series of acts of retribution or revenge: one crime leads to another.

2. Cause of Initial Acts: Misjudgment and misinterpretation can eventually lead to larger events that have a profound effect on history. Croesus misinterprets the message from the oracle because he can only interpret the oracle literally, not figuratively, and he refuses to believe that his empire will fall. Croesus is "taking the gods' portion" and acting arrogant or hubristic. Indeed, his empire does fall as a result of misinterpretation and inability to save his empire. In Book 7, Herodotus examines Xerxes' hubris and how this trait leads the Persian Empire into destruction because Xerxes tried to extend beyond his bounds. On a larger scale, the country of Persia has hubris, in that it tries to extend beyond its geographical boundaries and as a result, Persian die in the sandstorm while invading the Ameronians

3. Outrageous and Unexplainable Acts: Some hubristic acts are so horrible that they cannot be dealt with civilly or even understood according to natural civil customs. Retribution is the only method for dealing with these acts because there is no place for them under the law. Herodotus cannot make sense of war because acts of war result from a breakdown of reason and are fueled by emotions. In the same light, individual madness does not make sense. Herodotus can only explain Cambyses' attack on the Ethiopians, who are loved by the gods because they are just, as an act of insanity. Personal acts, such as incest and cannibalism, result from a breakdown of reason and are performed by "the savagery of a lunatic." Feeding children to their parents is outrageous. Astyages roasts Harpagus' son and feeds him to Harpagus for dinner. In the end, this outrageous act brings about his destruction.

4. People cannot prosper forever: The cycle is as follows: despotism leads to revolt, which leads to freedom, which leads to personal freedoms, which leads to complacency, which leads to softness, which leads to despotism. When Sparta defeats Persia, this cycle can be seen clearly. Herodotus refers to reversals of fortune in history when he says, "For most of those who were great once, are small today; and those which used to be small were great in their own time"(p.5). Later, Croesus addresses Cyrus and informs him "human life is like a revolving wheel and never allows the same people to continue long in prosperity"(p.81).

5. Suffering, Loss, and Pain: The theme of shared suffering has a place in The Histories, The Iliad, and The Odyssey. Humans can relate to the pain of other people because they have already experienced suffering themselves. Solon, who is known for being wise, cannot tell Croesus whether he has had a happy life because he "will not answer until I know that you have died happily"(p.14).

Sympathy goes out to different people at different times and in different circumstances.

Cyrus demonstrates sympathy toward Croesus when he decides not to have Croesus burned alive. Cyrus changes his mind because "the story touched him. He himself was a mortal man, and was burning alive another who had once been as prosperous as he"(p.36). Even as Cyrus understands that they share a common bond of a similar past, he also makes note of the "instability of human things," and his sympathy goes out to Croesus because he realizes that he might suffer a similar reversal of fortune.

Oracles

Herodotus includes many scenes with oracles. He does not denounce them, or say whether he feels they are good or bad, but he does give examples of different interpretations. The people who seek the oracle tend to be weak leaders. The good leaders do not need the oracle because they heed the advise of their wise advisors.

Herodotus describes how an intelligent reading of an unfavorable oracle can produce positive results. Periander intercepts an oracle to Alyattes. When Thrasybulus hears the news, he devises a clever plan to collect all the grain in the city in the public square and have all the town people begin drinking and reveling on his command. Alyattes' messenger views the town people and concludes that the Melesians were not hungry and therefore he will not declare war against them. The two groups make peace and become friends and allies.

The oracles are hard to understand because they are not transparent and never give a direct answer. Like the gods, oracles are not a sufficient source of causation. Events take place because people make choices. Croesus does not know how to comprehend the oracle figuratively, only literally. As a result, he cannot come up with a clever plan and destroys his own empire.

The Spartans consult the oracle to learn that they will be victorious after they find and bring home the bones of Orestes. Eventually, Lichas solves the riddle "by the aid of luck and his own wits"(p.27). This suggests that only the ones with exceptional wit and intelligence can understand the oracle. The irony is generally that their information makes sense in hindsight. They are generally useless as guides to action.

Herodotus gives one example of the oracle not behaving like an oracle because she interprets the information herself. The Priestess answers the question in a straightforward manner. She explains to Croesus what he did wrong. Croesus decides not to follow the Priestess' advice because he lacks foreknowledge, and his own choices lead to destruction.

Historical Method

Written records and oral tradition constitute the basis of Herodotus' history. Oral tradition eventually becomes the written records of events and the retelling depends on the writer. Information about older events is hard to verify because the story has been retold countless number of times, and no one was there as an eyewitness.

Herodotus is known as the father of history. He uses primary sources and secondary sources and pays attention to detail. Then, he gives his opinion on the matters based on reason and logic as he tries to make sense of different events or phenomenon (p.31). During long speeches, his accuracy diminishes, as these embellishments do not appear to be entirely true. No history is entirely true, since it is necessarily selective. Herodotus is more accurate than Homer and even claims that Homer's stories make good epic poetry, but are poor accounts of history. Herodotus blames the gods only when he cannot explain what happened using reason.

The "truth" of History is only limited by perspective. History and poetry use different methods to convey truth. Whereas Herodotus tries to get at the reasons for moral or political actions by examining their effects, Homer uses myth to get at universal emotional and psychological truths.

1. Objectives of Investigation: Herodotus compiles The Histories for several reasons. He wants to give honor and distribute kleos to the great men of the past. By recording past events, the historian enters these significant events into cultural memory, which he hopes will help later generations learn from past mistakes.

2. Methods of Investigation: The traditional records of the past include traditions, legends, genealogies, hearsay, and oracles. Herodotus incorporates these methods with reason and logic to figure out why an event took place. Herodotus uses new methods of gathering historical data, including eyewitness accounts and oral inquiry. When Herodotus shares his opinion, he is careful to justify his view by common sense. Herodotus acknowledges that sometimes what other people say does not make sense and he is forced to make his historical judgments based on his past experiences and probability.

Epistemology

Epistemology deals with various ways of knowing. Epistemological strategies are the means by which we gain knowledge and determine what constitutes that knowledge. Inductive reasoning (from data to general principles) and deductive reasoning (general principles supported by empirical evidence) are two strategies. Herodotus introduces inductive reasoning to describe cause and effect. Other strategies include comparison (analogy), contrast (antithesis). When discussing the Greeks, Herodotus compares and contrasts them to other groups of people. He uses analogy to describe the Nile River by comparing his previous knowledge of the Danube River to his observations of the Nile River.

In general, when Herodotus gathers information, he first inquires about the event, and then he makes comparisons based on past experiences and uses reason to make sense of the new information. Finally, if there is not enough proof, Herodotus declares that he has nothing left to say about the subject.

Digression

A technique used by Homer and Herodotus to give the reader a fuller understanding of their subject through analogy and association. The many examples reinforce general principles such as hubris. Digression offers perspective and evidence. In The Odyssey, with each digression, the reader learns more about Odysseus' character development even as Odysseus does. Digressions work to display the overall pattern as well as to record linearly convoluted events. Digression gives an otherwise diachronic telling of events a synchronic aspect as well.

Book 7 - Reappearing themes from Book 1

1. Xerxes compared with Croesus: He will evidently make the same mistakes and fail. Xerxes fails to heed the advise of wise advisors (p.378). He is ethnocentric and commits acts of hubris. In addition, he misinterprets signs and brings on the fall of Persia. Xerxes identifies with what it means to be human and expresses sympathy toward human conditions, which render the reader sympathetic to him.

2. The Greeks contrasted to the Persians: Persian character traits include the need to move on, desire for revenge and for an empire, and overall restlessness. These traits drive Persia to imperialization. The Greeks value freedom above all and value debate as the means of discovering the most desirable course of action. These traits drive the Greeks toward democracy.

3. Ethnos and Ethos: The concepts of ethnos and ethos are closely connected. Each ethnos behaves according to its ethos or character. Inability to understand that another ethnos might have another ethos can create conflict. Xerxes cannot understand why the Spartans stay and fight against his army even though they are certain to fail (p.405). For the Spartans who value freedom above life and whose master is law, living under Persian despotism would be a fate worse than death.

4. Ethnography: Herodotus reports that the oldest people are the Egyptians, but they are not as old as they think. The Scydians are the youngest. They are nomadic and the least civilized. Their women marry slaves, and the men kill people and drink the blood from the skulls. The Greeks consist of many tribes that come together during the Persian wars as a united ethnos and fight as a single ethos. Many of the Greek practices are borrowed from the Egyptians who Herodotus considers the most civilized or cultured.