The Histories Study Guide: Day 2
Motivations Behind The Histories
Herodotus was primarily interested in describing the “known world”. For example, book 2 was originally a separate book about Egyptian customs, which he later inserted. His motive was to show how history is one continuous story, and how many different events are actually interwoven. One can read The Histories as an illustration of the different societies and cultures in the area with the Persian War as a backdrop.
Key Stories & Themes
Candaules and Gyges
• Key Question: Who does Herodotus sympathize with?
• Key Quote: “She realised what her husband had done; despite the fact that she had been humiliated, she did not cry out and did not let …show more content…
What would his motivation be for doing this?
- Parabolic nature, this story would appeal to Greek audiences
- Shows personality flaws of both characters
- This could also be a dig at Herodotus’ contemporaries—Solon’s speech is longwinded and confusing (Herodotus 1.31-33)
• Hard for Homer to get credible information
Dialogue and Credibility
• Key Question: Is it good that Herodotus fills narrative with long dialogue? Does this take away from his credibility?
• Histora means enquires; Herodotus had to enquire about the stories which is why there are different narratives
• Herodotus takes creative license with dialogue to make the stories more dramatic
• Combination of the oral transmission and Herodotus’ transcription create a book that has overlap between folktale, myth and actual history reads like literature
Tyranny
• Key Question: What Makes a Tyrant? How do people choose a monarch? Why do people take power from
Motivations Behind The Histories
Herodotus was primarily interested in describing the “known world”. For example, book 2 was originally a separate book about Egyptian customs, which he later inserted. His motive was to show how history is one continuous story, and how many different events are actually interwoven. One can read The Histories as an illustration of the different societies and cultures in the area with the Persian War as a backdrop.
Key Stories & Themes
Candaules and Gyges
• Key Question: Who does Herodotus sympathize with?
• Key Quote: “She realised what her husband had done; despite the fact that she had been humiliated, she did not cry out and did not let …show more content…
What would his motivation be for doing this?
- Parabolic nature, this story would appeal to Greek audiences
- Shows personality flaws of both characters
- This could also be a dig at Herodotus’ contemporaries—Solon’s speech is longwinded and confusing (Herodotus 1.31-33)
• Hard for Homer to get credible information
Dialogue and Credibility
• Key Question: Is it good that Herodotus fills narrative with long dialogue? Does this take away from his credibility?
• Histora means enquires; Herodotus had to enquire about the stories which is why there are different narratives
• Herodotus takes creative license with dialogue to make the stories more dramatic
• Combination of the oral transmission and Herodotus’ transcription create a book that has overlap between folktale, myth and actual history reads like literature
Tyranny
• Key Question: What Makes a Tyrant? How do people choose a monarch? Why do people take power from