Re: Herodotos

Commenting on
>Herman Rubin
and on
>>leuwarden@xxxxxxxxx
>

> >This was the reason why I cringed at the idea of starting with
> >Herodotos. But, as is often the case, I did not see that (personal
> >reason) clearly and therefore drummed up a (more objective) substitute
> >argument, which I suspected would not hold water.
>
> I never said that history should START at the time of
> Herodotus; one cannot understand that time without the
> earlier material. But Herodotus started the idea that one
> should tell history accurately and try to tell it without
> bias. ...
> As far as I know, one does not study Herodotus; rather one
> quotes him for much of the Greek history of that time, and
> for earlier Greek and Egyptian history.

> >> There are works which give historical information before
> >> Herodotus, but he was the first to attempt to make the
> >> history an accurate presentation. This is why he should
> >> be studied.
>

He's called the father of history because he was the first writer of
history who tried to understand and explain the reasons for events and
for people's actions, rather than just listing events year by year;
also because, directly or indirectly, all later historians in the
European/Western tradition look back to his example. In the Chinese
tradition you might say similar things of Sima Qian (Ssu-ma Ch'ien),
who wrote about 300 years later than Herodotos if I remember rightly.

He's also worth reading because he really knew how to tell a story, and
because the subject he was dealing with -- the reasons for the disputes
and warfare between Greece/Europe and Persia/Middle East -- is a
subject that catches people's interest even now!

As for accuracy and lack of bias, well, he tried. What's interesting is
how he did it, whether or not he always succeeded. On events before his
own time he had practically no evidence except oral tradition to rely
on -- so he tells us the traditions. What else could he do?

PS to leuwarden -- preferably in French, please! and thank you!

Andrew

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/dalby/

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Science, God, and Free Will
    ... if that was the only reason to believe in a supernatural ... in history and don't need any supernatural explanation. ... those persecutions against Jews were never ... that this tradition is correct, and passed it on to their childs, I ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Science, God, and Free Will
    ... Kuzari Principle and other reasons. ... in history and don't need any supernatural explanation. ... reason to lie, or conceal these details, were they true. ... In these posts, when I say 'tradition', I mean 'reliable tradition', ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: Data modeling in MV, revisited
    ... Since we can think of files as modeling ... persistence for some reason and popping it back up when using it, ... The history is its own relation. ... how developers are supposed to design the data model in each. ...
    (comp.databases.pick)
  • Re: Treason, 2pid, plain and simple
    ... Let's look at a relevant legal reference: ... The reason it resembles a fortress ... martyrdom, with the result of custody by The Enemy. ... In the short history of modern democracies, ...
    (rec.audio.opinion)
  • Re: OT - Proud to be an American?
    ... I am ashamed of what my country has **permitted, ... Is there a reason the rest of the world finds our policies and ... You can always Google "Bush administration failures and scandals" and that'd ... conventional wisdom, the lessons of history and plain old and good sense, ...
    (alt.support.stop-smoking)