I dont know if this translation was drier, more awkward, etc. While the histories were occasionally criticized in antiquity, 41 modern historians and philosophers generally take a positive view. I read the old heritage press harry carter translation. Author of the histories of which book ii euterpe is dedicated to egypt, a country. The same pattern is used in a looser thematic way as well. The first book of the histories, called clio this is the showing forth of the inquiry of herodotus of halicarnassos, to the end that 1 neither the deeds of men may be forgotten by lapse of time, nor the works 2 great and marvellous, which have been produced some by hellenes and some by barbarians, may lose their renown.
Of this tree they cut logs of four feet long and lay them like courses of bricks, and. Herodotus halfway between egyptology and nubian studies 3. May 03, 2016 i read the nine books of the histories which can also be translated as investigations, or researches over two months as part of a goodreads group, and the consensus was that tom hollands translation is the pick of the bunch, although the landmark herodotus edition has the best resources. Information from its description page there is shown below. Reading herodotus, one can often get bogged down in the loops of geography, people, history, culture and meandre through miles of esoterica. Id love to hear about this translation from a student or scholar who knows greek its a beautiful book, but the translator is a businessman with no formal training who did it in his free time. The first part of the presentation will be devoted to a general introduction about translation alignment. While much of the information he gives has proved to be astonishingly accurate, he also entertains us with delightful.
Being the second book of the famous history of herodotus london. His accounts of the great battles of marathon and thermopylae, of salamis and plataea, retain. Marshs library has two copies of this particular edition. Written in 440 bc in the ionic dialect of classical greek, the histories serves as a record of the ancient traditions, politics, geography, and clashes of various. Herodotus now relates stories of how the minyans settled in lacedaemon sparta and how their arrogance sparked discontent, their imprisonment and escape. He is known for having written the book the histories greek. Perhaps most famously, the book tells the heroic tale of the greeks resistance to the vast invading force assembled by xerxes, king of persia. The kingdom of kush from the eighth to the fifth century bc. This timeline provides a snapshot of events herodotus wrote about in the context of the classical world, with links to explore the hestia project text and map. In the histories, he describes the expansion of the achaemenid empire under its kings cyrus the great, cambyses, and darius i the great, culminating in xerxes expedition to greece 480 bce, which met with disaster in the naval engagement at salamis and the battles at plataea and mycale. Book i clio these are the researches of herodotus of halicarnassus, which he publishes, in the hope of thereby preserving from decay the remembrance of what men have done, and of preventing the great and wonderful actions of the greeks and the barbarians from losing their due meed of glory. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them.
There is no cartographic evidence from his lifetime. Commons is a freely licensed media file repository. Greek text with facing vocabulary and commentary, 2nd ed. Welcome then is a guide which sets out the complex narrative structure clearly and gives the reader an insight into herodotus preoccupations and the reception. Cambyses becomes king of the persian empire 530522 bc. In so many ways we have changed, but in also so many ways, we still share much in common with our ancient ancestors. From the editor of the widely praised the landmark thucydides, a new landmark edition of the histories by herodotus cicero called herodotus the father of history, and his only work, the histories, is considered the first true piece of historical writing in western literature. The histories, herodotus the histories of herodotus is the founding work of history in western literature. What is the best translation of herodotus the histories.
Herodotus histories read by david timson unabridged. The histories of herodotus, completed in the second half of the 5th century bc, is generally regarded as the first work of history and the first great masterpiece of nonfiction writing. The histories of herodotus of halicarnassus is considered the first work of history in western literature. If a new translation of herodotus does not justify itself, it will hardly be justified in a. Site contains many greek and latin texts, translations and related material. Herodotus project gutenberg selfpublishing ebooks read. Herodotus was a greek writer and geographer credited with being the first historian. Our division of the histories in nine books goes back to an edition by scholars of the third century bce, working in the great library of alexandria. Aristagoras accordingly, after having caused ionia to revolt, thus brought his life to an end. Here are the relevant passages, in the godley translation.
The histories by herodotus is a series of books about the war between greece and persia during the 5th century. Volume 2 of a four volume work on the graecopersian wars of 490 and 48079 bc. George rawlinson 18121902 the history of herodotus. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. The text was a canon rawlinsons translation, with the. Mellon foundation contributor robarts university of toronto. If you go to the right it is on the aisle marked between d7d117 on the top shelf. With lucid prose, herodotuss account of the rise of the persian empire and its dramatic war with the greek city. Godley, read by librivox volunteers, proofed, coordinated, and produced by karen merline.
Herodotuss famous history of warfare between the greeks and the persians has an epic dignity which enhances his delightful style. To read the history herodotus only book is to seek ones roots as a member of western democratic civilization. This map is from a translation, published in london, 1897. I also purchased the histories from barnes and noble with translation by g.
A map entitle the world according to herodotus, which you can see below, has been created by cartographers influenced from herodotus descriptions. He passed, it is true, a youth enlivened by pleasure, and practised more selfrestraint in. Euterpe on the death of cyrus, cambyses his son by cassandane daughter of pharnaspes took the kingdom. The histories by herodotus, first edition abebooks. A delightful new translation of what is widely considered the first work of history and nonfiction. I found this book on the third floor of moody library in the d section. Book 1 book 2 book 3 book 4 book 5 book 6 book 7 book 8 book 9 2. The session introduces the students to the topic of translation alignment. Part of a complete english translation of herodotus. The text was a canon rawlinsons translation, with the notes abridged by a. Cambyses, the son of this lady and of cyrus, regarding the ionian and aeolian greeks as vassals of his father, took them with. It is in part a gripping and much revered tale of colossal confrontation between freedomloving greekspeaking peoples the athenians, spartans, and others and the seemingly unstoppable forces of the persians. Im becomming a little obsessed with history after getting this book.
It assumes that the reader has opened the book at random to any page and if a location is mentioned as recently as the previous page, a footnote cites a relevant map. The landmark herodotus solves this by placing maps specific to the surrounding text throughout the book so i am rarely more than a page or two away from the appropriate map. Contents map of egypt and nubia political and geographical terms chapter one herodotus nubia in modern scholarship 1. From there, he offers a lengthy commentary on how libya was founded by a descendent of theras, and then the city of cyrene in libya by battos, the dividing of the cyrenians into three tribes. Written about 440 bc, the histories tell the story of the war between the persian empire and the greek citystates in the 5th. Power of vast thracian nation limited by disunity 3. Oftentimes reading this book, it reminded me of star wars and lord of the rings, and made me wonder if george lucas and j. Im still on the fence mostly because its a very expensive albeit beautiful, book. Herodotus the histories refer to the war between athens and sparta, we can assume he died c. Cassandane had died in the lifetime of cyrus, who had made a great mourning for her at her death, and had commanded all the subjects of his empire to observe the like.
This image was extracted from page 387 of volume 2 of herodotus histories. The 1592 edition of herodotus histories edited and printed by. And translates to the second five lines being the latin translation of the first five. Godley loeb classical library edition, 4 volumes in greek and english.
It is clear from the beginning of book 1 of the histories that herodotus utilizes or at least claims to utilize various sources in his narrative. Purvisthe landmark herodotus is a stunning edition of the greatest classical work of history ever written. Macauly is very lyrical and a true joy to read i cannot. In book 9, at the end of the persian wars, the narrative focuses on an image that recalls both the beginning of xerxes invasion in book 7 and the beginning of the histories themselves in book 1. Herodotus, the histories, book 1, chapter 1, section 0.
These and like thoughts made him waver between hope and fear. A guide to reading herodotus histories classics for all. To herodotus, at least, measuring the world, mapping new territory, noting. Sep 28, 2010 the landmark herodotus solves this by placing maps specific to the surrounding text throughout the book so i am rarely more than a page or two away from the appropriate map. In order to begin in my research of mapping the histories, i first needed to locate a. Written in 440 bc in the ionic dialect of classical greek, the histories serves as a record of the ancient traditions, politics, geography, and clashes of various cultures that were known in western asia, northern africa and greece at that time. The internet classics archive the history of herodotus. The struggle between east and westbetween asia and europe2,500 years ago was the grand theme chosen by herodotus for his histories. The histories open with a prologue in which the author announces that he will describe the conflict between the greek and the nongreek peoples persians and will explain how they came into conflict. The herodotus histories was starting to interest me after appearing on the searches, but didnt purchase until researching more what it was about. Greek researcher, often called the worlds first historian. Several english translations of the histories of herodotus are readily available in multiple editions. The histories, by ancient greek historian, herodotus, is full of myths, folklore, legends, historical facts and tall tales.
I also recommend the excellent introduction and the translation provided by david grene. Herodotus has a wonderful, gossipy style that makes reading these histories more fun than studying the rise of the persian empire and its clash with greecehowever, thats exactly what readers will do in this engaging history, which is full of interesting digressions and asides. The histories, however, is one of those books where an audiobook helps. Nine books of the histories of herodotus of halicarnassus, inscribed with the. Nechos, king of egypt, sent phoenicians to sail around libya, back through the pillars of herakles, into the mediterranean and back to egypt. More about herodotus isidoreofseville a map of the world as herodotus envisioned it full online translations. Later, sataspes, an achaimenid persian, raped a girl who was the granddaughter of megabyzos but since his mother was sister to. Consider for example his opening statement in the beginning of the book. He aligns himself with the arabs which offers herodotus an opportunity to digress on their customs and habits, defeats the egyptians at pelusium and takes the egyptian capitals sais and memphis. It is a detailed account of the men that served and the battles that were fought. Bce herodotus was a resident of halicarnassus modern bodrum in turkey and wrote the histories of herodotus, a greek history of the persian invasion of greece in the early fifth century bce. Overview partially extracted from the grene text and prepared for a womans book discussion group to read the history herodotus only book is to seek ones roots as a member of western democratic civilization. The history of herodotus, by herodotus project gutenberg.
The nine books of herodotus histories, translated by g. Herodotus was an ancient greek historian who was born in halicarnassus in the persian empire modernday bodrum, turkey. Some supposed that he retraced his steps for love of queen berenice, nor was his young heart averse to her charms, but this affection occasioned no hindrance to action. Woods, for example, in his edition of the first book published in 1873 gives a list of readings for the first and second books, in which he almost invariably prefers the authority. Few history books since can compare for sheer drama with herodotuss narrative of the persian invasions of greece. Jul 01, 2015 the story is actually embedded in the history of herodotus, at 2. Nevertheless, donald lateiners excellent introduction allowed even a novice like me to gain an understanding of the marvelous world which herodotus describes, of the historian himself and of his methods, and of the lasting influence of the histories.
Histories by herodotus translated by george rawlinson book 2 euterpe. Translated from the ancient greek by george rawlinson, m. The climax of his story was the astonishing repulse of. Herodotus was a resident of halicarnassus modern bodrum in turkey and wrote the histories of herodotus, a greek history of the persian invasion of greece in the early fifth century bce. Publication date 1921 publisher london heinemann collection robarts. His principal aim was to explain the unlikely greek victory against the much stronger persian army in the socalled persian wars that ravaged the greek world between 500 and 449 bce.
Herodotus bilingual anthology studies herodotus in print table of contents book 1 clio book 2 euterpe book 3 thaleia book 4 melpomene book 5 terpsichore book 6 erato book 7 polymnia book 8 urania book 9 calliope. An available reprint of an english translation from 1932, including the maps, is. The audiobook gives you a good pace and forcemarches you through to the end. Herodotus, a greek from the city of halicarnassus in asia minor todays bodrum in turkey, published his histories sometime between 426 and 415 bce. Illustrated, annotated, and filled with mapswith an introduction by rosalind thomas, twentyone appendices written by scholars at the top of their fields, and a new translation by andrea l. But there is so much more to this version that i enjoyed. Herodotus the histories book one book two book three book four book five book six book seven book eight book nine. It was tougher going than the bible, war and peace and even don quixote. In this, the first prose history in european civilisation, herodotus describes the growth of the persian empire with force, authority and style. Herodotus and a courtesan from naucratis classical inquiries. Since he offers our earliest outside account of india, herodotus is uniquely important. Herodotus the reader wiki, reader view of wikipedia. Waters relates that herodotos did not work from a purely hellenic standpoint.
The 1592 edition of herodotus histories edited and printed by henry ii estienne in geneva by dr noreen humble, university of calgary. Estimates of the year of his birth are based on the observation that in the histories, he does not claim to have witnessed the persian invasion that took. Greek text and english translation of the histories in a. The 1592 edition of herodotus histories edited and printed. Classical egyptologists egyptologists electronic forum.
In the first logos of the third book, herodotus returns to the beginning of book two. July 20 this link contains a free pdf copy of herodotus book i. Herodotus will give his account, starting with the four nations between the two seas, then describing the asian peninsula. Estimates of the year of his birth are based on the observation that in the histories, he does not claim to have witnessed the persian invasion that took place in 480. The man who was responsible for this, was, according to herodotus, king croesus of lydia, a country in the west of. So its fitting that, through herodotus book, the english patient reveals his own history. There are strong indications that this is not the original division.
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