Herodotus in Context

Ethnography, Science and the Art of Persuasion

Rosalind Thomas author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Cambridge University Press

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Herodotus in Context cover

An examination of Herodotus' Histories in the context of the intellectual developments of his time.

This book examines the Histories of Herodotus within the context of the intellectual climate of the mid- to late fifth century BC. It sees Herodotus' writings as part of the world of scientific enquiry more familiar from the natural philosophers and medical works of the time.Herodotus called his work an enquiry and wrote before 'history' was a separate discipline. Coming from Halicarnassus, at the crossroads between the Persian and Athenian spheres of influence, he combined the culture of Athens with that of the more pluralistic and less ethnocentric cities of east Greece. Alive to the implications of this cultural background for Herodotus' thought, this study explores the much neglected contemporary connotations and context of the Histories, looking at them as part of the intellectual climate of his time. Concentrating on Herodotus' ethnography, geography and accounts of natural wonders, and examining his methods of argument and persuasion, it sees the Histories, which appear virtually without antecedents, as a product of the late fifth-century world of the natural scientists, medical writers and sophists - a world of controversy and debate.

"The "Father of History," Herodotus, has developed into a particularly active field of research in the past 25 years and hardly goes by without an important new study. This book by Thomas is one of the best." Choice
"...this leads to a provacative, yet highly compelling, new perspective on the intellectual and cultural dynamics of this seminal era... Thomas has made a valuable contribution to our appreciation of Herodotus and his work, and to our understanding of the fertile, fluid, and contentious intellectual atmosphere in which he lived and to which he contributed." New England Classical Journal
"The 'Father of History,' Herodotus, has developed into a particularly active field of research in the past 25 years and hardly a year goes by without an important new study. This book by Thomas is one of the best." --Choice

  • Runner-up for Runciman Award 2001

ISBN: 9780521662598

Dimensions: 236mm x 159mm x 27mm

Weight: 665g

332 pages