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The Cambridge Companion to Herodotus

(Cambridge Companions to Literature)

Carolyn Dewald (Editor),

John M. Marincola (Editor)

3.92 · Rating details · 24 ratings · 5 reviews

Popularly known as the 'Father of History', Herodotus is the first major prose writer in the history of Western literature whose work has survived in full. At a time when the ancient Greeks' knowledge of the past relied on orally transmitted memories, he was a pioneering historical practitioner who explored the interplay of myth and history and the role of narrative in his ...more

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Paperback, 378 pages

Published June 1st 2006 by Cambridge University Press (first published March 1st 2006)

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May 05, 2019 Liz rated it liked it

Shelves: 2019-books

3.5 stars, for being mostly useful but probably more academic than I was looking for.

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Oct 12, 2008 Bentley rated it it was amazing

An Armchair Companion

"Arnaldo Momigliano remarked of Herodotus nearly forty years ago that 'the secrets of his workshop are not yet all out', and this is still the case; paradoxically, new approaches to the ancient world and to the writing of history in general have shown more clearly how little we understand the genesis of this great work and Herodotus' own accomplishment."

-- The Cambridge Companion to Herodotus (Cambridge Companions to Literature series)

I am in the process of reading THE H An Armchair Companion

"Arnaldo Momigliano remarked of Herodotus nearly forty years ago that 'the secrets of his workshop are not yet all out', and this is still the case; paradoxically, new approaches to the ancient world and to the writing of history in general have shown more clearly how little we understand the genesis of this great work and Herodotus' own accomplishment."

-- The Cambridge Companion to Herodotus (Cambridge Companions to Literature series)

I am in the process of reading THE HISTORIES by Herodotus and I just wanted to post what an invaluable resource this book is. I will not list the table of contents and the vast number of classical scholars that have contributed to this book (you only have to take a peek at the Table of Contents in Amazon to gain that useful information); but I would like to note that Carolyn Dewald and John Marincola who edited this book did a fantastic job; not solely as editors, but also as contributors.

There are few editors who can do such a credible job of evaluating the literary aspects of a work as great as this undertaking was. Some believe Herodotus to be the father of history -- while others cannot understand or fathom some of his other portrayals of the non-Greek lands; and yet others like to criticize his stories which were steeped in oral tradition.

But Dewald and Marincola get beyond all of the above and have focused in this book on the literary aspects of Herodotus and point simply to the greatness of his writing. That despite some of the factual debates that rage on, that his words still do make him the first historian of Western tradition and that their focus was on this literary masterpiece viewing him as an artist who was "also" the creator of this first inquiry into cause and effect.

Some of the chapters examine Herodotus as a "literary craftsman". These essays show how Herodotus was able to bridge for his readers the wonder of the literary past of his own Greek culture with the wonderful achievement and historical work which we have with us today. This ancient was able to give us a glimpse into what life was like and what was valued over 2500 years ago!

In reading Herodotus, I have found this resource a valuable one and frankly there are not many resources which span multiple topic areas as does this compilation. Many of the others seem to focus on historical references or their specific hypotheses. This book synthesizes the various views of Herodotus as a literary work and assists the reader who may be meeting Herodotus in his travels for the very first time as I am. For those of you who are traveling with Herodotus like I am doing today and are reading his formidable work for the first time, Dewald's and Marincola's edition will become your staunch and faithful armchair companion.

Bentley/2008 ...more

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Oct 27, 2017 Joshua Lister rated it liked it

This is a collection of essays from various scholars. Many of them are very good and helpful for appreciating why Herodotus's Histories is a masterpiece. ...more

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Oct 27, 2015 Mateen Ar rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: read-parts-of

The essay 'Herodotus and Persia' by Flower showcases more questions than giving an answer to anything at all. The essay seemed void of any new information and most of what I read from it was already evident from having read Herodotus. I did enjoy the bibliography and the long list of sources, as that was probably the most helpful information I found.

...more

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