Historia IV

Ιστορίαι #4

by Herodotus

Contemporáneo de Protágoras y de Sófocles, Heródoto de Halicarnaso es el primer escritor en prosa con una extensa obra conservada, su Historia, dividida en nueve libros. Fundador de la historia como género literario y como perspectiva intelectual. Herodóto es un buen representante de lo mejor de la Ilustración del Siglo V a.C., influido por el pensamiento sofístico y el trágico. Ingenioso, receptivo y crítico, este viajero jonio acoge en su amplia Historia apuntes muy diversos: lógoi o breves tratados sobre los pueblos vecinos de Oriente -Lidia, Asiria, Persia, y luego Egipto, y también algo de Escitia- pra salvar del olvido tantos hechos, monumentos y figuras memorables. En la segunda parte se centra en las Guerras Médicas, el imponente conflicto y la bélica contienda de los persas y los griegos, imagen del choque entre Oriente y Occidente, la gran conmoción de su época.

A menudo se le ha considerado fabuloso y demasiado ingenuo, en contraste con el austero y crítico Tucídides, pero un examen atento de sus noticias restituye pronto su credibilidad. Nuca se ha dudado de su amenidad, su inteligencia, su enorme capacidad para recoger, recortar y criticar los hechos más diversos, con un estilo directo y claro.

La versión de Carlos Schrader, profesor de Filología Griega en la Universidad de Zaragoza, está acreditada por un excelente y largo trabajo de investigación, con muy numerosas y precisas notas, con un exhaustivo manejo de la bibliografía actual, y un empeño de fidelidad total a estilo del gran prosista jonio.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Iran

300 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 441

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

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting read with tales of the legendary Amazon tribe of women, evil dictators and more assumptions of mythological explanation for the unexplained, it reiterates the deception of reality created from the crevices bordering ancient civilizations. Herodotus’ books about the perception of the past in his day truly expresses how the lack of knowledge leaves rationalization as the precluding deficit in reasoning. I found the book entertaining at time, baffling at other and a conduit for lunacy for the unstable, but worth the time and effort.

[Zach Vowles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Historically, it is great. However, I find some parts unrealistic e.g. building the bridge; maybe it's true though, I don't know.
Mostly though, I just didn't find it enjoyable, and it just seemed to drag on and on.