This, coming from a translator of the histories, may sound like special. May 03, 2012 edith foster is associate professor of history at ashland university. Herodotus histories full audiobook book 1 of 3 youtube. In book 3, passages 102 to 105, herodotus reports that a species of foxsized, furry ants lives in one of the far eastern, indian provinces of the persian empire. Power of vast thracian nation limited by disunity 3. The history of herodotus, volume 1 by herodotus full. During the space of eightandtwenty years, as i have before mentioned, the. To be sure, herodotus fondness for storytelling frequently gets the better of him. In this eight volume collection on the persian wars, greek historian herodotus, the father of history, gives a cultured and firsthand examination of the ancient world surrounding the rise and rule of the persian empire alongside a concise history and cultural background of scythia and egypt. The history of herodotus by herodotus, part of the internet classics archive. I also recommend the excellent introduction and the translation. The internet classics archive the history of herodotus.
Terpsichore 1 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120. 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. Herodotus 1 greek and latin texts with facing vocabulary. Greek text with facing vocabulary and commentary, 2nd ed. Written from the 450s to the 420s 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 around the mediterranean and western asia at that time. To simplify the subject for schoolchildren, only the key sections are translated, and. But once you get used to it, and provided you take a decent set of notes as you read or an index of names at this book is one of the greatest gems of antiquitya treasure trove of story. Feb 06, 2010 generally just a lurker here, but i have been investigating the various translations for a group read later this year. Xerxes i khshayarsha, 486466 bce in books 7, 8, and 9. Translator tom holland argues that the father of history is not only hugely entertaining but has an amazing capacity to. Herodotus recounts the career of polycrates, the tyrant of samos, the most powerful greek ruler in the aegean.
Macmillan, london and ny 1890 contents start reading text zipped. Prior to that were the illiad and the oddyse by homer during the 700s b. The history of herodotus has been divided into the following sections. How herodotus might have come to know the scythians. Herodotus, who spent much of his life traveling, was one of the most erudite historians. Darius expanded the territory of the persian empire, crushing a revolt by babylon and seizing the greek island of samos. Convenient and wellprinted pocket volumes feature uptodate text and accurate and literate english translations on each facing page.
A serialized new translation of the ancient greek historical narrative by the fifth century bce thinker, herodotus of halicarnassus. This work has been summarized using the university of chicago edition transl. Sep 21, 20 herodotus traveled extensively around the ancient world, conducting interviews and collecting stories for his book. 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. 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. 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. Book description penguin books ltd, penguin classics, 3774.
He is known for having written the book the histories greek. The histories of herodotus is considered one of the seminal works of history in western literature. Translator tom holland argues that the father of history is not. July 20 this link contains a free pdf copy of herodotus book i. The audiobook gives you a good pace and forcemarches you through to the end. After babylon had been taken, the march of dareios himself 1 against the scythians took place. A delightful new translation of what is widely considered the first work of history and nonfiction. No other edition has so much informationanalysis as well as many maps. Darius set out to avenge their earlier invasion of media.
Cambyses ii, kabujiya, 530522 bce in books 2 and 3. The histories is considered the first work of history in western literature, and was written in the ionian dialect of ancient greek, ca. I will chime in to recommend the landmark translation for the additional materials included with the book. Some people apparently dont like the way waterfield has cut up herodotus long, elaborate sentences into short ones in english, but to get an adequate idea of what herodotus really wants to say i think this is clearly the best option. In book 4, herodotus describes darius invasion of scythia, its geography, and the customs of its inhabitants. May 19, 2014 a delightful new translation of what is widely considered the first work of history and nonfiction. Inquiries by herodotus translated by shlomo felberbaum. Herodotus s histories dealt with the clash of civilisations east v west. The histories, however, is one of those books where an audiobook helps. Herodotus was an ancient greek historian who was born in halicarnassus in. Herodotus portrays the conflict as one between the forces of slavery the persians on the one hand, and freedom. The editors provide substantive introductions as well as essential critical and.
Here are presented the results of the enquiry carried out by herodotus of halicarnassus. The biblical writers borrowed from it to create characters such as the judges samson. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content noncommercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the. Herodotus, who spent much of his life traveling, was one of the most erudite historians of his. Simultaneously, it tells the story of the growth of the persian empire. Of the english translations, look at the history of herodotus, translated by george rawlinson in 1858 and available at the second site below. And again, rather than jumping to the conclusion that herodotus just had not visited the black sea, he offers an important discussion of modes of measuring distance on 4. For herodotus histories, i like the oxford worlds classics edition, translated by robin waterfield. As such, its of course not very useful as a crib for reading the original. 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. The history of herodotus parallel englishgreek english translation. My favorite translation of herodotus is found in a beautiful two volume edition from the heritage press. Reading herodotus, one can often get bogged down in the loops of geography, people, history, culture and meandre through miles of esoterica. The annenberg cpbproject provided support for entering.
Several english translations of the histories of herodotus are readily. The history of herodotus book i the first book of the histories, called clio this is the showing forth of the inquiry of herodotus of halicarnassos, to the end that1 neither the deeds of men may be forgotten by lapse of time, nor the works2 great and marvellous, which have been produced some by hellenes and some by barbarians, may. Linking commentaries explain greek and persian strategies and battle manoeuvres. Herodotus claims to have traveled extensively around the ancient world, conducting interviews and collecting stories for his book, almost all of which covers territories of the persian empire. The rise of the persian empire is chronicled, and the causes for the conflict. 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. The translated extracts include herodotus descriptions of the preparations for war and of the great land and seabattles which took place. For the scythian women, when they saw that time went on, and their. He records their ritual for his inquiries herodotus histories book 4. Godley loeb classical library edition, 4 volumes in greek and english. Melpomene 1 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 140 150 160 170 180 190 200 book 5. Harry carters rendering is readable and accurate throughout.
The history of herodotus, volume 1 by herodotus full text. It covers the persian war as described in books 59 of herodotus histories. At its worst it sometimes degenerated to the level of gossip, but at its best it was a multidisciplinary portrayal of the. Summary the essential herodotus breathes new life into the writings of the wests first historian, interleaving succinct commentary and notes with balanced selections of herodotus s work. Herodotus meets the scythians and learns about strange burial rituals. Herodotuss history, notes and translations for easy access.
Herodotus was more of a storyteller than a historian. An easy to read and understand annotated version is herodotus. Herodotus on burial in egypt ancient history encyclopedia. At the beginning of the histories, herodotus sets out his reasons for writing it. Herodotus 484425 bce the greek historian who wrote extensively on the persian empire, here describes persian customs as they would have been practiced around the year 430 bce at susa and other persian communities. More about herodotus isidoreofseville a map of the world as herodotus envisioned it full online translations. This region, he reports, is a sandy desert, and the sand there contains a wealth of fine gold dust. Which is the best version of herodotus the histories. Darius i, the great, darayavahush, 522486 bce in books 3, 4, 5 and 6. The history of herodotus, by herodotus project gutenberg. The histories also stands as one of the earliest accounts of the rise of the persian empire, as well as the events and causes of the grecopersian wars between the achaemenid empire and the greek citystates in the 5th century bc. Feb 24, 2018 herodotus histories book 4 melpomene, part 1. Numbers provided in square brackets or parentheses refer to the page numbers in this edition.
In the book 4 of herodotus, melpomeni, the two campaigns of darius, the one against the scythians and the other against libya, are given. Such was the mode in which the scythians, after being for a time the lords of asia, and being forced to quit it by the medes, returned and. Oct 04, 20 herodotuss histories dealt with the clash of civilisations east v west. The introduction provides context for the translation to come. 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. I am no scholar of the classics and all of these additions made the book more accessible for me. The persian war by herodotus meet your next favorite book. The passage, from book i of his histories, is interesting in the way herodotus contrasts the behavior and values of the persians with those. Jun 18, 2007 i also like fagles translations of the odyssey and the iliad. Herodotus s subject in his history is the wars between greece and persia 499479 bce and their preliminaries. The history of herodotus by herodotus the internet classics archive.
Herodotus histories book 4 melpomene, part 1 youtube. Herodotus histories is divided into nine books and each of these books is divided into chapters and each chapter into line numbers. The loeb classical library is the only series of books which, through original text and english translation, gives access to our entire greek and latin heritage. Sep 03, 2019 i really enjoyed this book because it is the first book of history ever written by man. The histories by herodotus translated by george rawlinson this text was designed to accompany roman roads medias 4 year video course old western culture. Site contains many greek and latin texts, translations and related material. This is a thoroghly enjoyable and entertaining book, a must read in the western canon. While much of the information he gives has proved to be astonishingly accurate, he also entertains us with. Generally just a lurker here, but i have been investigating the various translations for a group read later this year. Being the second book of the famous history of herodotus london. Nov 29, 2008 of the english translations, look at the history of herodotus, translated by george rawlinson in 1858 and available at the second site below.
Histories, by herodotus, is an ancient greek text that tells the history of the wars between greece and persia. Cambyses becomes king of the persian empire 530522 bc. Creative commons attributionnoncommercialsharealike. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the histories. He distinguishes between the things seen with his own eyes and those of which he had only heard. Asia abounding in men, and vast sums flowing into the treasury, the desire seized him to exact vengeance from the scyths, who had once in days gone by invaded media, defeated those who met them in the field, and so begun the quarrel. The nine books of herodotus histories, translated by g. 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.
Thucydides, history of the peloponnesian war, book iv, chapter 40. The third and last part of the session is going to be a live demonstration of how to do produce a translation alignment using the alpheios alignment editor integrated. In book 4 of his history, herodotus relates the expedition of darius against the scythians, who were located in the western highlands of the persian empire. It is useful and functional, although knox introductions to the iliad and the odyssey fagles translations strike me as better at putting the work in its place.
What is the best translation of herodotus the histories. David grenes translation of herodotus the history is a good version of the greek historians magnum opus. When his uncle asks him the reason for his tears, xerxes answers that. Herodotus translation, philippeernest legrand translator 4. Melpomene 1 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 140 150 160 170 180. Herodotus often presents a number of different opinions on an issue, and then proceeds to state his own opinion and the reasons why he supported it.
Books iv describe the background to the grecopersian wars. The second part will give them an overview of both direct i. The history of herodotus, parallel englishgreek index. A phoenician version of io story makes her responsible. Herodotus, the histories, book 1, chapter 1, section 0. George rawlinson 18121902 the history of herodotus. Herodotus has 270 books on goodreads with 124150 ratings. This is a chapterbychapter summary, with occasional notes, of the histories of herodotus, based mostly on the translation by peter greene 1987, with occasional reference to translations by a. The history of herodotus, parallel englishgreek, tr. 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. She is the author of thucydides, pericles, and periclean imperialism, of articles on thucydides and lucretius in the american journal of philology 2009 and in sea of languages.
The history of herodotus by herodotus written 440 b. Books viix contain the history of the wars, culminating in an account of the. I have no knowledge of ancient greek and so have no opinion of the accuracy of the translation. The internet classics archive the history of herodotus by. As it has survived, the history is divided into nine books the division is not the authors. Greek researcher, often called the worlds first historian. Johnsons clear and lively translations lead the reader through complex materials, making the text accessible in all its. Part of a complete english translation of herodotus.
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