Herodotus Histories: why read it?

Some weeks ago, I travelled for the first time to Athens. Since I like to read local literature on my travels abroad, I decided to take with me a book that has been on my wish list for a long time: Herodotus Histories. It may seem an odd choice to pick a 2500 year old book with around 700 pages of dense text (in the Penguin classics edition), but this book has been mentioned in so many of my previous readings, so I felt that now was the time to engage this beast. And since I was travelling alone and had plenty of time to burn, why not? 

In this post I will try to answer the following question:

- what is this book and what is it about? 

- why read it? 

- which kind or reader would (probably) enjoy this book?

- what is my impression of it?

- recommendations for further reading. 

What is Histories and what is its subject?

Histories was written by the Greek writer and traveller Herodotus (Ἡρόδοτος, c. 484-425 BC) from Halicarnassus (nowadays Bodrum on the west coast of Turkey) and it was published around the year 430 BC. As far as it is known today, it is his only work. It consists of 9 books (or chapters), and in it the author describes the rise of the Persian Achaemenid empire and the Greco-Persian wars of the beginning of the 5th century BC (499-479 BC). Herodotus is nevertheless known for his digressions and big parts of the book are long descriptions of the countries, peoples and events that he considered to be (sometimes loosely) connected to the conflict in question. A whole book (book 2) is dedicated to the history, culture, mythology, climate, fauna and flora of Egypt, for example. Thanks to this, we get an overview of how ancient greeks saw and interpreted the world around them. A point in favour of Herodotus work is that the author was almost contemporary with the main events of the Greco-Persian Wars and based his accounts in second hand sources (some of the witnesses were still alive by the time he did his travels). He is also born in one of the polis that was under Persian rule during the conflict, although his (assumed) only language was ionian greek, putting him under the greek cultural sphere. Herodotus tries to give a neutral and impartial view of the conflict, although several later authors accused him of being biased or of making up stories to embellish the narrative (example: Plutarch).  

Why read Histories?

In my eyes, there are three main reasons for reading Histories. The first, and the one that is the most commonly cited, is the fact that this is considered to be the first history account in Western literature. That is, it is considered to be the founding work of the subject that bears its title name, History. As a matter of fact, it is exactly because of this book that the term exists. The original (ancient) greek word ιστορίες meant something like 'investigations' or 'inquiries' and that is, according to the author, the main purpose of the book: to find out not only how the Greco-Persian wars occur, but mostly why it occurred. There were other written accounts of earlier conflicts or historical events in the greek tradition, like the Illiad/Odissey or Hesiod's works, but no author had tried to rationalise and analyse the reliability and the causality of historical events. Herodotus is the first, and is therefore called (since Cicero) the father of History. Herodotus does not shy from mixing mythology, facts and his own interpretation of the truth at times, but at least it makes the first honest attempt to explain past events in a rational way. He often writes the different, and sometimes conflicting accounts of the same event from the perspective of different witnesses and openly weighs their possibility and reliability. 

The second reason has to do with something I already mentioned in the previous section. This book is not only a history book but it is also one of the first works on geography, ethnography and cultural anthropology in the western culture. It describes almost all of the known world from the point of view of the aegean greek observer. Herodotus provides a detailed description of his known world, from his own eyes and ears, and his judgements are based on his own cultural and moral context. 

The third, and often forgotten, good reason, is that, when one thinks about it, this is one of the very first prose works and probably the very first non-fiction book in western literature. There are previous works in the fields of epic and lyric poetry, music and drama, but not in prose. This is (as far as I know) the first one. And this is a book that is almost 2500 years old! Just think about it. This is one of the oldest firsthand descriptions of the (known) world. Isn't it a good enough reason by itself?  

Which kind of reader would (probably) enjoy this book?

The main target group for this book is historians, history students and history enthusiasts in general. This  is the seminal work of the whole field, and an obligatory reading for anyone interested in history or historiography. People with a special interest on the classical period, greek history and culture, or that engage in classical studies would also enjoy this book. It could also be an essential reading for readers that want to understand the foundations of western culture in general. I believe that this work is mentioned and partially studied as high school curriculum in Greece, for example. It was also obligatory reading for high school or university students in the UK and Germany in the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.  

People who enjoy travel diaries or descriptions will probably enjoy this book, although there is no continuous spatial thread between the locations he describes, only a chronological one.  

Some readers that enjoy crossovers between myth and history or the phantasy genre may (surprisingly) enjoy this book, mostly due to the (almost Tolkien style!) world building that is provided by the author on his steps to explain the oncoming conflict. 

People interested in military history, definitively. Books 6 to 9 give the (almost) only accounts of the battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis and Plataea.   

Finally, it is my opinion that everyone should read (or maybe get to known about its content through a summary) this book on the basis that it is the first prose book in western culture. It is like the Bible, the Homeric classics, Confucius works, Plato's Republic or Shakespeare plays: you do not necessarily need to read them, but you should know a bit about them, for your own cultural enrichment. 

My impression of the book

Histories is long, but definitively entertaining. It requires that the reader has a solid background in the greek classical period, because Herodotus mentions many places, events and traditions that he assumes to be common knowledge to his readers. That is the reason most modern editions are extensively annotated. You certainly learn a lot about that place and time in history, but the reading is never heavy because the author spices it up with a lot of digressions, thoughts and anecdotes, often exaggerated or distorted, but  always entertaining. There are recurring themes that run along the narrative, like the notion of hybris permeating the whole work. Herodotus also likes to share some of his judgements about human nature, and these are still recognisable and valid today. This is not a light read-before-sleeping sort of book, it requires a bit of concentration, but it is a rewarding read. 

Recommendations for further reading

The three modern editions that I browsed/read are:

- Penguin Classics edition (revised edition 2003), translated by Aubrey Sélincourt and introduction and notes by John Marincola. 

- Tom Holland's recent translation (supposedly very good), with introduction by Paul Cartledge (2014).

- The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories (2009), translated by Andrea Purvis and editing by Robert Strassler (heavily annotated edition, with maps, essays and expert explanations - best for students). 

Other books around the same theme: 

- The History of the Peloponnesian War (Thucydides, around 405 BC): the worthy continuation of Herodotus Histories; generally acknowledged as the first scientific history book. 

- Hellenica (Xenophon, ca. 360 BC): the third volume on the trilogy started by Herodotus. These three books cover the entirety of the classical period of greek history. 

- The World of Athens: an introduction to classical athenian culture (Cambridge University Press, 2008): an overview of the history, culture and literature of the period. 

- Persian Fire: The first world empire and the battle for the west (Tom Holland, 2006): this was my first long read about the Persian empire and the greco-persian wars. 

- Persians: the age of the great kings (Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones, 2022): history of the Persian Achmaenid empire. 

- Gates of Fire (Steven Pressfield, 1998): fictionalised firsthand account of the battle of Thermopylae 

- 300 (Frank Miller, Lynn Varley, 1999): the same as the previous, but more extreme, and in the cartoon version. 

- Travels with Herodotus (Ryszard Kapuscinsky, 2004): a widely travelled polish journalist reflects about his career using Herodotus travel experiences as a reference. 

- The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje, 1992): one of the first books I read where episodes of Herodotus are mentioned by the protagonists of the story.