Histories - Herodotus - The Bucket List Book Adventure #15

 Histories - Herodotus - The Bucket List Book Adventure #15

By: a.d. elliott | Take the Back Roads - Art and Other Odd Adventures

A Rite of Fancy Bucket List Book Adventure

It's been a while, but I've finally returned to the Bucket List Book Adventure and finished Histories by Herodotus.

(And for the record, it's Hair-odd-uh-tus — though I still say it wrong half the time.)

Let me tell you all about Histories, one of the most fascinating and occasionally bewildering works on my list so far.

Herodotus, often called "The Father of History," remains something of a mystery himself. He was born around 484 BC in Halicarnassus, near the modern-day city of Bodrum, Turkey. He traveled extensively through the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and North Africa, and is believed to have been in Athens at the start of the Peloponnesian War.

He likely died between 430 and 420 BC, possibly in Thurii, Italy. Even his life's timeline is filled with question marks, and his Histories follow suit, detailed, fascinating, and sometimes wonderfully improbable.

Written around 430 BC, Histories is an ambitious study of Greek, Egyptian, Ethiopian, and Persian cultures, weaving together myth, legend, and history to explain the causes of the Greco-Persian Wars.

It's filled with extraordinary stories, some that stretch belief, and others that illuminate the heart of human nature.

For instance, Herodotus offers a curious explanation for Helen of Troy's fate. According to him, Paris and Helen stopped in Egypt before ever reaching Troy. The Egyptian warden Thonis, disapproving of the theft, confiscated Helen and sent for Menelaus,  but the Greeks, already sailing for Troy, refused to believe it. Perhaps they simply needed the war to justify the voyage.

Herodotus is as much a collector of tales as a historian. He reports that phoenixes nest in Heliopolis, that Arabia is home to flying, venomous snakes, and that Ethiopian royalty are buried in quartz crystal coffins.

Some stories, like King Astyages unknowingly eating his son or the Scythians serving human flesh at a banquet, are downright gruesome. Others, like the tale of Arion and the dolphins who saved him after a sea robbery, are surprisingly tender.

What I found most interesting was the ancient Greek definition of happiness: health, freedom from troubles, good children, beauty, and a comfortable life, ideally ending in a heroic death.

“Men lie when they think to profit by deception, and tell the truth for the same reason — to get something they want, and to be better trusted for their honesty.”

— Darius, Histories by Herodotus

It's sobering how little that definition has changed over time. We still seek meaning in the same way, through love, purpose, and the hope that our lives add up to something worthwhile.

Still, Histories was a long and occasionally difficult read. Herodotus spent what felt like half the book on the Nile and its peculiarities, though, I suppose, at the time, it was the world's wonder.

Next up is Clouds by Aristophanes, and after Herodotus' endless pages, I'm ready for something funny.

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About the Author

a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller traveling through life

She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.

You can also browse her online photography gallery at shop.takethebackroads.com.

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