Jeremy Popkin's work From Herodotus to H-Net is a wonderful book, and it covers the topic very well. It includes necessary content, and it gives readers enough background information to help them along in the narrative, specific details about each historian he mentions to give the reader the reasons why they did things in different ways, but not enough to drown them in too many details. Popkin has a definite passion in the topic and does his best to convey the ideas to the readers, though he does make a mistake in one crucial aspect.…
Polybius: Greek historian born in Arcadia c. 200 BCE. He was the son of the Calvary Commander of the Achaean League, and a close friend of commander Scipio Aemilianus. Polybius wrote The Histories- a work which describes the rise of the Republic of Rome and its eventual domination of Greece.…
Herodotus repeatedly underscores the differences between Hellenic customs and Persian customs, alternating between admiring Persian practices and customs and referring to them as “barbarians.” He at one time, even goes so far as to portray the Persians in a favorable light in comparison to the Greeks by commending them for their trial practices. For example in Persian governing proceedings, punishment may be carried out only if the virtues of an individual are considered to not outweigh his offenses. Lying is considered the greatest of offenses while concurring debt is considered the second gravest offense, implying that Persians tend to be for the most part an honest group. Though welcoming of foreign customs, “Persians will drive out of the…
Through the works of the Athenian historian, Thucydides, a myriad of information is shared pertaining to not only to his own life, but to the society and culture of Ancient Greece as well. He was born around 460-455 BC and through his life he wrote one of the most in depth recordings of the Peloponnesian War entitled, History of the Peloponnesian War. Not only did Thucydides live within the wartime period, he also fought in this war as well as a military general. The efforts that Thucydides contributed during his life, make his works, even now so important in order to understand the lifestyle and civilization of the Ancient Greeks.…
Thucydides work focused on the war and on foreign relations with society and the helot class not being central to his work. Any evidence produced by Thucydides must be read in light of the fact that he greatly admired the Spartan system of controlling and suppressing the…
Using Material from ItemA and elsewhere, assess the view that women are no longer oppressed by religion.…
They say that history is told from the perspective of the conqueror, but for two renowned philosophers, history in general was formed because of certain factors. These philosophers are Karl Marx and John Stuart Mill.…
Socrates beforehand disproving Gorgias and Polus in The Gorgias, now takes on a rival who he deems qualified enough: Callicles. Here, they discuss the value of temperance and the indulgence of pleasures. Callicles remarks to Socrates, “In the rightly-developed man the passions ought not to be controlled, but that we should let them grow to the upmost and somehow or other satisfy them, and that that is virtue” (Plato 74). Callicles says that to allow growth and indulge in your desires is real virtue. A man who is slave of his own restraint cannot be happy. According to him, satisfying longings is natural and even noble, but because the weaker cannot attain this and are ashamed of their own weakness, they reprimand intemperance and instead praise…
Herodotus and Cabeza de Vaca were very influential writers in their day. They could not have been more apart in years though. Herodotus was before the birth of Christ and was one of the first writers to go into detail about events that had happened in the past. He went into great detail about wars and things like that. One of his greatest works was when he went into detail about the Egyptian culture and how they lived. Cabaza was one of the first Europeans to discover America and explore there. He and his crew were shipwrecked and taken slaves by Native Americans. Luckily Cabaza and some of his crew escaped and wandered America for eight years. He finally came in contact with his Spaniards…
Homer depicts Odysseus as the stereotypical epic hero. He was of noble birth, being the king of Ithaca. He was known for being cunning and brave, and traveled to fight against an evil. He fought in the Trojan War to rescue and return Helen to her husband Menelaus, King of Sparta. After the war he became a legend and everyone knew…
Theseus, King of Athens and son of Aegeus. Going on a journey the save his people from being the next meal of the Minotaur. Leaving his comfort zone, by risking his life for Athens. Everything including his love left behind, to fulfill his father’s position as King of Athens. This essay will prove as to why Theseus is a modern day hero.…
In my thesis statement, I mentioned that Herodotus was famous and good about both the Greek military history and the Greek cultural history. I analyzed and interpreted what I read on the articles and books that I used while preparing the paper. So, I declared that Herodotus is valuable for both the Greek military history and the Greek cultural history. Do I have to choose only one of them to compare it with another one, and make one of them win at the end of the paper?…
Thucydides rather than Herodotus was a man that believed in a more systematic approach toward history. Therefore, Thucydides gives a drastic view on history in which he gives a more scientific view toward history. The best example of this comes from his idea that the plague of Athens came from a mix of old men talking and Oracle’s prediction. This was especially seen with the reason that the plague was seen to have originated from a prophecy. In the Peloponnesian war, “… the old men claiming that long ago it was recited, ‘A Dorian war will come, and with it plague.’… men shaped their memories in accordance with what they experienced.” In this passage, Thucydides talked about the manner in which the Athenians came to think that the word of the old man was to be associated with what an Oracle said about Sparta, which said that if they went to war they would win. Thucydides presents the manner in which rather than the prophecy being the direct event of what occurred, it was in the Athenians that created this connection. Thucydides therefore shows the objective mind that rather than accept the word of an Oracle, he presents the events in a human level. Rather than accept that the Oracle’s words as the truth, he found that it was a mix of old ideas. This mentality toward divination therefore presents the main idea that a perceived…
Many areas of the film have been completely altered, For example in Herodotus The histories there is no mention at all of Leonidas’ wife queen Gorgo. In the times of aqncient Greece women were not involved in political debates within the film Queen Gorgo argues her husband’s case to send more Spartan troops to Thermopylae while he is fighting the Persians. This would not have occurred in ancient Greece as women were not considered citizens or equals to men.(Although Spartan women were regarded more highly then other ancient Greek woman) Gorgo is the only main character who is female in the film 300 and probably has such a large role in the film to either draw a female audience to the film (as a female character they can relate to, or a drama aspect of the film they can enjoy and for men there is the appeal of sex) to make it more appealing through the use of a female main character.…
Herodotus was a Greek researcher and story teller from the fifth century BCE, and is known as the world’s first historian. He was among…