Herodotus in Context
Herodotus in Context
$53.00
USDHerodotus 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.
- Concentrates on the ethnography and geography rather than the historical narrative alone
- Undertakes an extensive comparison with the contemporary and near-contemporary thinkers who wrote about natural philosophy and the nature of man
- Sees Herodotus as a writer who does 'fit' into the exciting developments of the world of the late fifth century BC in his own way
Reviews & endorsements
"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
Product details
August 2002Paperback
9780521012416
332 pages
228 × 151 × 20 mm
0.504kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgements
- References and texts
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Medicine and the ethnography of health
- 3. Dividing the world: Europe, Asia, Greeks and barbarians
- 4. Nomos is king: nomos, environment and ethnic character in Herodotus
- 5. 'Wonders' and the natural world: natural philosophy and historie
- 6. Argument and the language of proof
- 7. Polemic and persuasion
- 8. Performance, competitive display and apodeixis
- 9. Epilogue
- Appendix. beavers and female ailments
- Bibliography
- Indexes.
