Herodotus Differences

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As humans, understanding the ways in which we connect with each other is crucial to understanding ourselves. In a globalized world, with increased interconnectedness and invasive embedded nature, communities have significantly changed from Herodotus' time. Although there are many aspects of community found in today's societies that resonate with the societies Herodotus describes, the differences are significant. In the English language we have multiple words to express the same idea, but Herodotus only uses one, ethnos. This linguistic change reflects the changes that have occurred to societies across the globe.
In the ancient world, identity was often determined by the location of your home. In the city of Athens, one would identify
The location of Piraeus within the larger city of Athens and its proximity to other Greek ethnos. When introducing the Ethiopians, Herodotus acknowledges the divergence between the Ethiopians' culture and the culture of the Greeks and Egyptians, stating "they have customs very different from everyone else" (Herodotus, 3.20). In this example, Herodotus shows how distance can play a role in determining similarities between ethnea. Herodotus further elaborates on the Egyptians and speaks about their victory over the Ethiopians and their change in customs due to assimilation. When the Egyptians had "settled the Ethiopians, the Ethiopians became more civilized, through learning the manners of the Egyptians"; Herodotus uses this example to denote the changes in the Ethiopians' customs provides judgment on how it is an improvement on their ethnos (Herodotus, 2.30). Although the Ethiopians were conquered by the Egyptians and assimilated into their culture, the Ethiopians were still their own ethnos, proving that customs are mutable within an ethnos. The Ethiopians were used as an example of a conquered people changing their customs in response to foreign rule, but Herodotus also uses the Persians an
Herodotus qualifies the languages that the Pelasgians spoke as a factor in the amount of power they possessed, stating “the Pelasgian people, so long as it spoke another language other than Greek, never grew great anywhere” (Herodotus, 1.58). By stating that they weren’t great, due to the language, it symbolizes the culture of the people; furthermore, language is mutable, because the Pelasgians spoke many languages over time, but were simply one ethnos because as a people they evolved. Similarly, Herodotus tells the story of great Persian rulers and their contributions; while doing so, Herodotus uses the word “barbarian” to describe the antagonist in the story, which according to the footnote is an example of Herodotus putting this Greek expression into the mouth of another people (2.159). Additionally, Herodotus introduces the Geloni and speaks to their language, which “is partly Scythian and partly Greek”; this fusion of language is due to their location, but also helps to demonstrate how language does not place a people in an ethnos, but is simply a mutable factor of an ethnos. Language overall is one of the most crucial elements of a community and thus as that community changes, the language changes as well, but not the ethnos