Product Description

Herodotus (c480-c425BC) is "The Father of History" and his "Histories" are the first piece of Western historical writing. They are also the most entertaining. Why did Pheidippides run the 26 miles and 385 yards (or 42.195 kilometres) from Marathon to Athens? And what did he do when he got there? Was the Battle of Salamis fought between sausage-sellers? Which is the oldest langauge in the world? Why did Leonidas and his 300 Spartans spend the morning before the battle of Thermopylae combing their hair? Why did every Babylonian woman have to sit in the Temple of Aphrodite until a man threw a coin into her lap, and how long was she likely to sit there? And what is the best way to kill a crocodile? This wide-ranging history provides the answers to all these questions as well as providing many fascinating insights into the Ancient World.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #67697 in Books
• Published on: 1996-10-01
• Original language: Greek
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 768 pages

Customer Reviews

Cheap but archaic translation - not worth the money
Herodotus' "Histories" have gone down in time as one of the greatest books ever written. Whether describing Babylonian customs (see bk1 ch99) or generally describing the history of the (then) known world, Herodotus is a literary master.

This translation (like Selincourt's), does not do Herodotus justice. The translation is now over 150 years old and has not aged well. For example, hands up all those who know what it means to "sally out".

The transaltion suffers not only from archaic phrases, making the book hard to read, but is at times inaccurate as it was written in an age when vettusimi et optimi was the leading principle in critical edition compilation. The language used by Rawlinson also fails to capture Herodotus' Greek style to a degree.

I recommend Waterfield's 1999 translation. It may be more expensive but is money well spent if you intend to read Herodotus at all.