How Did Herodotus Use Of Identity To The Modern Historian?

When dealing with complex historical topics, it is common for historians to develop systems of identity to impart a historical narrative. This system is developed independently from the various groups the historian wishes to discuss. Thus, each system of identity is largely alien to the historical group it seeks to describe. While this may seem contradictory to a historian’s effort to impart a sense of validity to their theses, it is necessary as a way for the modern reader to identify with the topic being related. In reality, the historian’s use of identity is crucial for the modern reader, especially for readers that are largely unfamiliar with a given topic. Nowhere is this notion clearer than when it comes to Ancient Egypt. Realistically, Ancient Egyptian history is a truly complex mix of overlapping dynasties and invading cultures coupled with profound periods of territorial expansion and retraction. To make sense of this complex mix,
Throughout the course of his life, Herodotus traveled extensively across the Greek and Persian worlds collecting stories, mythology, fables, and tales. Using these resources Herodotus sought to create a narrative of the Greek and Persian Wars. However, this narrative, in a manner similar to Hegel, saw the historical conflict as a war between worlds. Herodotus’s The Histories begins with “here is the account of the inquiry of Herodotus of Halicarnassus in order that the deeds of men not be erased by time, and that the great and miraculous works…both of the Greeks and the barbarians…not go unrecorded.” Herodotus, from the very beginning of his narrative, uses the identifiers of Greeks verses barbarians to illustrate to his audience the nature of the conflict, at least as he saw it. This use of identity to detail the conflict was also evident when it came to Herodotus detailing when the Greek was with the Persians