The Persian Wars Vol III, books 5-7

Loeb Herodotus #3

by Herodotus, A.D. Godley (Translator)

Herodotus the great Greek historian was born about 484 BCE, at Halicarnassus in Caria, Asia Minor, when it was subject to the Persians. He travelled widely in most of Asia Minor, Egypt (as far as Assuan), North Africa, Syria, the country north of the Black Sea, and many parts of the Aegean Sea and the mainland of Greece. He lived, it seems, for some time in Athens, and in 443 went with other colonists to the new city Thurii (in South Italy), where he died about 430. He was 'the prose correlative of the bard, a narrator of the deeds of real men, and a describer of foreign places' (Murray).

Herodotus's famous history of warfare between the Greeks and the Persians has an epic dignity which enhances his delightful style. It includes the rise of the Persian power and an account of the Persian empire; a description and history of Egypt; and a long digression on the geography and customs of Scythia. Even in the later books on the attacks of the Persians against Greece there are digressions. All is most entertaining and produces a grand unity. After personal inquiry and study of hearsay and other evidence, Herodotus gives us a not uncritical estimate of the best that he could find.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of Herodotus is in four volumes.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Classics

592 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 431

About the author

Herodotus (Greek: Ηρόδοτος) (c. 484 – c. 425 BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He is known for having written the Histories – a detailed account of the Greco-Persian Wars. Herodotus was the first writer to perform systematic investigation of historical events. He has been described as "The Father of History", a title conferred on him by the ancient Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero.
The Histories primarily cover the lives of prominent kings and famous battles such as Marathon, Thermopylae, Artemisium, Salamis, Plataea, and Mycale. His work deviates from the main topics to provide a cultural, ethnographical, geographical, and historiographical background that forms an essential part of the narrative and provides readers with a wellspring of additional information.
Herodotus has been criticized for his inclusion of "legends and fanciful accounts" in his work. The contemporaneous historian Thucydides accused him of making up stories for entertainment. However, Herodotus explained that he reported what he could see and was told. A sizable portion of the Histories has since been confirmed by modern historians and archaeologists.

Reviews

[Legens · Rating 3 out of 5]

A curious book - full of digressions and asides ranging from the history of Spartan institutions to the religious rites of certain Thracian tribes, and yet always coming back to its main theme, the struggle between Greeks and Persians. Herodotus sees this as a struggle between Persian empire and Greek freedom. Of course, his sympathies lie with the Greeks - free men, with all the quarrels between the poleis (and within them!) that freedom brings. Whenever we despair over the slow pace of reform and the partisan struggles of our modern democracies, reading Herodotus may remind us that this is the price of freedom, and that it is worth to pay this price.

[Rik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here within lies the story of the Battle of Thermopylae in which 300 Spartans (and 700 Thespians) bravely withstood King Xerxes for seven days--until betrayed--fighting to the death. This so weakened the vastly superior force of Persians in mind and spirit that they were defeated within the year thus ending the Second Persian invasion of Greece.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spends seven books leading up to the confrontation between the Persians and the Greeks at Thermopylae, and two pages on the battle itself. Herodotus makes the proportion seem equitable.