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Herodotus in Context

Herodotus in Context

Herodotus in Context

Ethnography, Science and the Art of Persuasion
Rosalind Thomas, Royal Holloway, University of London
August 2002
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Paperback
9780521012416
$53.00
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Paperback
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Hardback

    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.

    • 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

    Awards

    Runner-up for the Runciman Award 2001.

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    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

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    Product details

    August 2002
    Paperback
    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.
      Author
    • Rosalind Thomas , University of Oxford

      Rosalind Thomas is Reader in Ancient History at Royal Holloway, University of London. She is the author of Oral Tradition and Written Record in Classical Athens (1989 HB 0521350255; 1991 PB 0521425182) and Literacy and Orality in Ancient Greece (1992/HB 0521373468; PB 0521377420).