Histories (Herodotus)
The Histories of
Herodotus of
Halicarnassus is considered the first work of
history in
Western literature. Written about
440 BC,
The Histories tells the story of the war between the
Persian Empire and the
Greek city-states in the
5th century BC. Herodotus traveled extensively around the
ancient world, conducting interviews and collecting stories for his book. At the beginning of
The Histories, Herodotus sets out his reasons for writing it:
Herodotus of Halicarnassus here displays his enquiry, so that human achievements may not become forgotten in time, and great and marvellous deeds – some displayed by Greeks, some by barbarians – may not be without their glory; and especially to show why the two peoples fought with each other. (Aubrey de Selincourt translation)
The Histories is divided into nine books, each named after one of the
Muses. The rise of the Persian Empire is chronicled, and the causes for the conflict with
Greece. Herodotus treats the conflict as an ideological one, frequently contrasting the absolute power of the Persian king with the democratic government of the Greeks.
The Histories contains a famous account of the
Battle of Marathon, of which Herodotus wrote:
So when the battle was set in array, and the preliminary sacrifice promised success, instantly the Athenians, so soon as they were let go, charged the barbarians at a run. Now the distance between the two armies was little short of eight furlongs. The Persians, therefore, when they saw the Greeks coming on at speed, made ready to receive them, although it seemed to them that the Athenians were bereft of their senses, and bent upon their own destruction; for they saw a mere handful of men coming on at a run without either horsemen or archers. Such was the opinion of the barbarians; but the Athenians in close array fell upon them, and fought in a manner worthy of being recorded. (unknown translation)
Book I (Clio)
 |
View of Delphi, looking down from the theater. |
* The rulers of
Lydia (on the west coast of modern
Turkey):
Candaules,
Gyges,
Sadyattes,
Alyattes,
CrÅ"sus* How
Gyges took the kingdom from
Candaules* The singer
Arion's ride on the
dolphin*
Solon's answer to CrÅ"sus's question that
Tellus was the happiest person in the world
* CrÅ"sus's efforts to protect his son
Atys, his son's accidental death by
Adrastus* CrÅ"sus's test of the oracles
* The answer from the
Oracle of Delphi concerning whether CrÅ"sus should attack the Persians (famous for its ambiguity):
If you attack you will destroy a mighty empire*
Pisistratus' rises and falls from power as tyrant of Athens
* The rise of
Sparta* CrÅ"sus's defeat by
Cyrus II of Persia, and how he later became Cyrus's advisor
* The rulers of the
Medes:
Deioces,
Phraortes,
Cyaxares,
Astyages,
Cyrus II of Persia* The rise of Deioces over the Medes
*
Astyages's attempt to destroy Cyrus, and Cyrus's rise to power
*
Harpagus tricked into eating his son, his revenge against Astyages by assisting Cyrus
* The
culture of the Persians* The history and geography of the
Ionians, and the attacks on it by Harpagus
* The culture of
Assyria, especially the design and improvement of the city of
Babylon and the ways of its people
* Cyrus's attack on Babylon, including his revenge on the river
Gyndes and his famous method for entering the city
* Cyrus's ill-fated attack on the
Massagetæ |
Statue of the Egyptian goddess Hathor. |
* The proof of the antiquity of the
Phrygians by the use of children unexposed to language
* The geography of
Egypt* Speculations on the
Nile river
* The religious practices of Egypt, especially as they differ from the Greeks
* The animals of Egypt:
cats,
dogs,
crocodiles,
hippopotamuses,
otters,
phoenixes, sacred
serpents, winged
snakes,
ibises
* The culture of Egypt: medicine, funeral rites, food, boats
* The kings of Egypt:
Menes,
Queen regnant Nitocris,
MÅ"ris,
Sesostris,
Pheron,
Proteus*
Helen and
Paris' stay in Egypt during the
Trojan War* More kings of Egypt:
Rhampsinitus (and the story of the clever thief),
Cheops (and the building of the
Great Pyramid),
Chephren,
Mycerinus,
Asychis,
Anysis,
Sethôs* The line of priests
* The
Labyrinth* More kings of Egypt: the twelve,
Psammetichus (and his rise to power),
Necôs,
Psammis,
Apries,
Amasis II (and his rise to power)
 |
The ruins of Persepolis, capital of the Persian Empire. |
*
Cambyses II of Persia's (son of Cyrus II and king of Persia) attack on Egypt, and the defeat of the Egyptian king
Psammetichus III.
* Cambyses's abortive attack on
Ethiopia* The madness of Cambyses
* The good fortune of
Polycrates king of
Samos*
Periander, the king of
Corinth and
Corcyra, and his obstinate son
* The revolt of the two
Magi in
Persia and the death of Cambyses
* The conspiracy of the seven to remove the Magi
* The rise of
Darius I of Persia.
* The twenty
satrapies* The culture of
India and their method of collecting gold
* The culture of
Arabia and their method of collecting spices
* The flooded valley with five gates
*
OrÅ"tes's (governor of
Sardis) scheme against Polycrates
* The physician
Democêdes* The rise of
Syloson governor of Samos
* The revolt of
Babylon and its defeat by the scheme of
Zopyrus* The history of the
Scythians (from the land north of the
Black Sea)
* The miraculous poet
Aristeas* The geography of Scythia
* The inhabitants of regions beyond Scythia:
Sauromatae,
Budini,
Thyssagetae,
Argippaeans,
Issedonians,
Arimaspi,
Hyperboreans * A comparison of Libya (
Africa),
Asia, and
Europe* The rivers of Scythia: the
Ister, the
Tyras, the
Hypanis, the
Borysthenes, the
Panticapes, the
Hypacyris, the
Gerrhus, and the
Tanais* The culture of the Scythians: religion, burial rites,
xenophobia (the stories of
Anacharsis and Scylas), population
* The beginning of
Darius's attack on Scythia, including the bridge over the
Bosphorus* The brutal worship of
Zalmoxis by the
Getae* The customs of the surrounding peoples:
Tauri,
Agathyrsi,
Neuri,
Androphagi (man-eaters),
Melanchlaeni,
Geloni,
Budini,
Sauromatae* The wooing of the
Amazons by the Scyths, forming the Sauromatae
* Darius's failed attack on Scythia and consequent retreat
* The story of the Minyæ (descendants of the
Argonauts) and the founding of
Cyrene* The
kings of Cyrene:
Battus, Arcesilaüs, Battus the lame (and the reforms of Demônax), Arcesilaüs (his revolt and death)
* The peoples of Libya from east to west
* The revenge of Arcesilaüs's mother Pheretima
* The attack on the
Thracians by
Megabazus* The removal of the
Paeonians to Asia
* The slaughter of the Persian envoys by
Alexander I of Macedon* The failed attack on the
Naxians by
Aristagoras, tyrant of
Miletus* The revolt of Miletus against
Persia* The background of
Cleomenes I, king of Sparta, and his half brother
Dorieus* The description of the Persian
Royal Road from
Sardis to
Susa* The introduction of
writing to Greece by the
Phoenicians* The freeing of
Athens by
Sparta, and its subsequent attacks on Athens
* The reorganizing of the Athenian tribes by
Clisthenes* The attack on Athens by the
Thebans and
Eginetans* The backgrounds of the tyrants of
Corinth,
Cypselus and his son
Periander * Aristagoras's failed request for help from Sparta, and successful attempt with Athens
* The burning of Sardis, and Darius's vow for revenge against the Athenians
* Persia's attempts to quell the
Ionian revolt
* The fleeing of
Histiaeus to
Chios* The training of the
Ionian fleet by
Dionysius * The abandonment of the Ionian fleet by the
Samians during battle
* The defeat of the Ionian fleet by the Persians
* The capture and death of Histiaeus by
Harpagus* The invasion of
Greece under
Mardonius and enslavement of
Macedon* The destruction of 300 ships in Mardonius's fleet neer
Athos * The order of Darius that the Greeks provide him earth and water, in which most consent, including
Aegina* The Athenian request for assistance of
Cleomenes of Sparta in dealing with the traitors
* The history behind Sparta having two kings and their powers
* The dethronement of
Demaratus, the other king of Sparta, due to his supposed false lineage
* The arrest of the traitors in Aegina by Cleomenes and the new king
Leotychides* The suicide of Cleomenes in a fit of madness, possibly caused by his war with
Argos, drinking unmixed wine, or his involvement in dethroning Demaratus
* The battle between Aegina and Athens
* The taking of
Eretria by the Persians after the Eretrians sent away Athenian help
*
Pheidippides's encounter with the god
Pan on a journey to Sparta to request aid
* The assitance of the
Plataeans, and the history behind their allience with Athens
* The Athenian win at the
Battle of Marathon, led by
Miltiades and other
strategoi * The Spartans late arrival to assist Athens
* The history of the
Alcmaeonidae and how they came about their wealth and status
* The death of Miltiades after a failed attack on
Paros and the successful taking of
Lemnos* The amassing of an army by
Darius after learning about the defeat at
Marathon* The quarrel between which son should succeed Darius in which
Xerxes I of Persia is chosen
* The death of Darius in
486 BC* The defeat of the Egyptian rebels by Xerxes
* The advice given to Xerxes on invading Greece:
Mardonius for invasion,
Artabanus against
* The dreams of Xerxes in which a phantom frightens him and Artabanus into choosing invasion
* The preparations for war, including a canal and bridge across the
Hellespont* The offer by
Pythius to give Xerxes all his money, in which Xerxes rewards him
* The request by Pythius to allow one son to stay at home, Xerxes' anger, and the march out between the butchered halves of Pythius's son
* The destruction and rebuilding of the bridges built by the
Egyptians and
Phoenicians at
Abydos* The siding with Persia of many Greek states, including
Thessaly,
Thebes,
Melia, and
Argos* The refual of aid after negotiations by
Gelo of
Syracuse, and the refusal from
Crete * The destruction of 400 Persian ships due to a storm
* The small Greek force (appox. 6000) led by
Leonidas I, sent to
Thermopylae to delay the Persian army (approx. 3.4 million)
* The
Battle of Thermopylae in which the Greeks hold the pass for 3 days
* The secret pass divulged by
Ephialtes in which
Hydarnes uses to lead forces around the mountains to encircle the Greeks
* The retreat of all but the Spartans,
Thespians, and Thebans (forced to stay by the Spartans).
* The Greek defeat and order by Xerxes to remove Leonidas' head and attach his torso to a cross
* Greek fleet is led by
Eurybiades, a Spartan
* The destruction by storm of two hundred ships sent to block the Greeks from escaping
* The retreat of the Greek fleet after word of a defeat at
Thermopylae* The supernatural rescue of
Delphi from a Persian attack
* The evacuation of
Athens assisted by the fleet
* The reinforcement of the Greek fleet at
Salamis, bringing the total ships to 378
* The destruction of Athens by the Persian land force after difficulties with those who remained
* The
Battle of Salamis, the Greeks have the advantage due to better organization, and less loss due to ability to swim
* The description of the
Angarum, the Persian riding post
* The rise in favor of
Artemisia, the Persian woman commander, and her council to Xerxes in favor returning to Persia
* The vengeance of
Hermotimus, Xerxes' chief
eunuch, against
Panionius* The attack on
Andros by
Themistocles, the Athenian fleet commander and most valiant of Greek at Salamis
* The escape of Xerxes and leaving behind of 300,000 picked troops under
Mardonius in
Thessaly* The ancestry of
Alexander I of Macedon, including
Perdiccas* The refusal of an attempt by Alexander to seek a Persian alliance with Athens
* The second taking of an evacuated
Athens* The evacuation to
Thebes by
Mardonius after the sending of
Lacedaemonian troops
* The slaying of
Masistius, leader of the Persian cavalry, by the Athenians
* The warning from
Alexander to the Greeks of an impending attack
* The death of Mardonius by
Aeimnestus* The Persian retreat to Thebes where they are afterwards slaughtered
* The description and dividing of the spoils
* The speedy escape of
Artabazus into Asia.
* The Persian defeat in
Ionia by the Greek fleet, and the Ionian revolt
* The mutilation of the wife of
Masistes ordered by
Amestris, wife of Xerxes
* The death of Masistes after his intent to rebel
* The Athenian blockade of
Sestos and the capture of
Artayctes*
Pharaoh, a
historical novel by
Bolesław Prus incorporating the
Labyrinth scenes inspired by Herodotus' description in Book II of
The Histories*
George Rawlinson, 1858:
full text*
George Campbell Macaulay, 1904:
full text, vol. 1,
full text, vol. 2*
Alfred Denis Godley, 1921:
full text*
Harry Carter, 1958
*
Aubrey de Sélincourt, 1962
excerpts*
David Grene, 1985
*
Walter Blanco and
Jennifer Tolbert Roberts, 1992
*
Robin Waterfield, 1998
