Greek History Essay -- Essays Papers

Greek History In this book, the result of my inquiries into history, I hope topreserve the memory of the past by putting on record the surprise achievements both of our own and of the Asiatic peoples. With this mission statement Herodotus introduces his Histories, the first recorded history text in the western world. Using fragments of the past he reconstructs a picture of the whole the objects of his researches included first-hand accounts and tales passed down through generations, physical remains and artifacts, and his own intelligence and creativity. Using sources such as these (though he cites nothing), Herodotus describes the footing of the Theran closure of Cyrene, ca. 630 B.C.E.. In compiling this account, he may have used the colonys foundation legislation. The facts given in this decree, which we know through a fourth century B.C.E. inscription, accede with those given in the Histories. The authenticity of this decree is strong. The decree could not have been the only source Herodotus consulted, for while certain details in the Histories agree with the foundation decree, Herodotus gives an account of Cyrenes founding containing much more description. Both accounts begin with Apollos oracle at Delphi urging the Therans to found a new colony in Libya, on the coast of northern Africa. Already Herodotus account goes into much more detail than the inscription. The inscription tells only that, on the oracular advice, Thera sends Battos with colonists to Libya. Herodotus, however, records how the Theran king Grinnos chose Battos, not a Theran by birth, to be the leader of the colonists. Herodotus account continues with a description of a long delay in the found... ...Works Cited addendum to the Histories, and scholars have often maligned his work for taking many an(prenominal) liberties with sparse evidence to flesh out the work. Such scholars can, however, use facts and artifacts known to modern archaeology to confirm hi s writing, and the inscription of the Theran decree does verify the Histories on some(prenominal) counts. Other aspects of the events related in the Histories, such as Herodotus record of the dead at Marathon, archaeologists have proven through research and excavation. Alone the colonization decree cannot completely prove the truth of Herodotus account, for he provides many aspects to the story which lie beyond the scope of the decree, but it does serve to reign in the skepticism with which some(prenominal) classicists regard the Histories. BIBLIOGRAPHY Demand, Nancy. A History of Ancient Greece. New York McGraw-Hill, 1996.