The Histories

Author: Herodotus

The main plot of The Histories is the story of how a band of Greek cities was able to resist against and defeat the much stronger Persian army during the Persian wars around 500 BC. These Persian wars included the very famous battle of Thermopylae led by Xerxes, which was one of the largest ancient armies ever amassed. Herodutus is considered by far the best source of information for these decades of Persian wars.

The book however was quite long (>600 pages) and by no means did it spend the entire time talking about how the Greek cities resisted and defeated the Persians. I did not feel that this plot was truly developing until around 400-500 pages through. We learned interesting stuff about the Persian rulers and army. Learned about the Egyptians and Ethiopians. Learned about giant ants that dig for gold, and dog headed people. We read discussions on the source of the Nile, and many other digressions. Many commentators enjoy these digressions and consider it part of the charm of the book. I guess you have to be in a relaxed mood. I found the digressions both annoying and enjoyable depending on my state of mind.

Herodotus was named the “Father of History” by Cicero. He worked hard to have credible sources for his stories and answer the question of Why? for many of the events he described. Of course, there were certain stories that didn’t quite seem “historical” such as the dog headed people I mentioned earlier.
Another aspect of the book that has caused it to hold up for so long is its relatability in its depiction of real human struggle. We see people corrupted by power, over-extending themselves, making mistakes, thinking too highly of themselves etc and paying the price. One character has an Oracle speak to them saying they will cause the collapse of a great nation. That character gets excited and assumes the Oracle meant the Persian empire. But unfortunately, the person ends up causing the destruction of his own empire. I wonder if that story was an inspiration for Shakespeare in writing Macbeth. Macbeth also has prophesies from the witches that he can’t be killed by anyone born of a woman, and that he will be king, etc. Macbeth applies the words similarly to this character in The Histories by assuming it means he is special and proceeds to act accordingly, resulting in the main character causing their own destruction.