Tabloid Herodotus

Fifth-century Greece produced two major historians: Thucydides, who wrote “The History of the Peloponnesian War” and Herodotus, who gave us “The Histories”, his account of the struggle between the Greek states and The Persian Empire. Thucydides is dauntingly focused on his subject, so much so that over the years, after several attempts, I have never been able to get to the end. Herodotus, on the other hand, is chatty and always wandering off into fascinating asides. It is these side-bar stories that will be the subject of my posts. I have two reasons for sharing the stories with you. First, they are interesting, funny, sometimes shocking and even scurrilous. Tabloid material. Second, I hope this task will keep me focused on The Histories until the end. As I get older, I find the more I read, the less I retain, the faster I forget. Hopefully, I will not have to read the damned thing again. I hope you enjoy these curious tales.