Greek Historiography

• Ancient Greece is considered the cradle of historiography, as the concept of history itself is of Greek origin.
• Clio, one of the Muses in Greek mythology, was the Muse of History.
• The geographical location, the genius of the people, and their trade contact with the outside world played a significant role in the development of historical writing.
• The kaleidoscopic changes in the political system and the evolving lifestyles of the people further contributed to the foundation of Greek historiography.
• Ionia, a Greek trade center in the Mediterranean, is recognized as the birthplace of Greek history.

Homer

• The religious imagination of Greece produced a rich and diverse mythology, where every object or quality was personified as a deity.
• These myths became integral to the faith, philosophy, literature, and history of early Greeks.
• Up to 600 B.C., most Greek literature was poetic, transmitted through verse, conveying the lore, glory, and traditions of the race.
• Wandering bards recited the heroic deeds of gods and men in epic measures.
• Homer, the “blind bard,” was the oldest poet of the 9th century B.C. and is known for his immortal epics: Iliad and Odyssey.
• Homer is credited with laying the foundation of historical writing in poetic form.
• In Homer’s epics, the gods are portrayed as intervening agents in human affairs, similar to the theocratic histories of India.
• Homer’s epics served as the core of Greek education, influenced dramas, provided a foundation for moral training, and contained a wealth of historical material.
• However, Homer’s epics are not history but rather legends.
• “The work of Homer is not research, it is legend; and to a great extent, it is a theocratic legend.”

Hesiod

• Hesiod was another prominent 9th century B.C. epic poet, second only to Homer in the esteem of classical Greeks.
• Like Homer, Hesiod had a deep interest in the marvels of mythology.
• His Theogony was the genealogy of gods, outlining their origins and family relationships.
• Works and Days dealt with the theology of history, combining elements of mythology and practical life.
• Hesiod aimed to provide a respectable ancestry for the Greek gods, contributing to the development of their names and shapes.
• “Homer and Hesiod… made the gods for the Greeks and gave them their names and shapes.”
• Hesiod sought to systematize the genealogy of the deities, introducing causality into their family structure and establishing a consistent character of action for the gods.
• This effort dealt a significant blow to traditional mythology and opened the door to Greek science.

Dionysius

• Dionysius of Halicarnassus was a historian of the 6th Century B.C..
• His work, Persica, in five volumes, narrated the history of Persia.
• Dionysius defined history as philosophy teaching by examples.
• He was the earliest Greek historian to emphasize the value and function of history.
• Dionysius is credited with laying the true foundation of Greek historical writing.
• Charon, a contemporary of Dionysius, authored two historical works: History of Greece and History of Persia.
• Both Dionysius and Charon wrote narrative history, focusing on storytelling rather than analysis.
• Although they freed history from myths and legends, they were uncritical in their approach and unconcerned with accurately detailing past events.

Hecataeus (6th – 5 th B.C)

• Hecataeus of Miletus was an Ionian historian, geographer, and logographer.
• He was a proud product of the heyday of Miletus and wrote two significant works: Historiai (Inquiries) and Gesperiodos (Circuit of Earth).
• Hecataeus advanced both history and geography through his writings.
• Historiai begins with a skeptical note: “I write what I deem true, for the stories of the Greeks are manifold and seem to be ridiculous.”
• His Gesperiodos divided the known world into two continents, Europe and Asia, and included Egypt in Asia.
• In his Travelers Around the World, Hecataeus described the Persian World.
• He criticized ancient myths in his Book of Local Genealogies.
• Hecataeus boasted to the Egyptian priests that he could trace his ancestry through fifteen generations.
• His famous phrase, “Egypt is the gift of the Nile,” is attributed to him.

Herodotus (C.484-425 B.C)

• The outbreak of the Persian War in the 5th Century B.C. was a turning point in the development of Greek historiography.
• “When Ionia fell, her cities bequeathed their culture to the Athens that had fought to save them and transmitted to it the intellectual leadership of Greece.”
• The Ionians who migrated to Athens during the war brought with them the tradition of chronicle writing and criticism to the mainland.
• The Greco-Persian War, the most momentous conflict in European history, freed Greece from the rule of oriental despots and eastern mysticism.
• The war secured for Greek enterprise full freedom of the sea and stimulated the pride and spirit of the people.
• As a result, Greece entered its Golden Age.
• The new spirit of victory and freedom found expression in historical writing.
• One of the great achievements of Periclean prose was the development of history as a form of writing.
• A new kind of historical writing reached its culmination in the immortal works of Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, and Polybius.

First Sight – Seer

• Herodotus was a native of Halicarnassus, a Dorian settlement in Asia Minor.
• He was born into a family of considerable political clout.
• As a student, Herodotus studied Greek poetry and was impressed by Homer’s epics.
• He was also influenced by the chronicles of Hecataeus.
• At the age of 32, Herodotus became excited due to his uncle’s involvement in political intrigue.
• Along with his uncle, Herodotus embarked upon extensive travels across the known world.
• He was the first to set out to travel as far as man could go, facing difficulties, discomforts, and dangers without hesitation.
• Herodotus’s travels took him as far east as Persia and as far west as Italy.
• He knew the Coast of the Black Sea and had been to Arabia.
• In Egypt, he traveled up the Nile to Assouan.
• He likely visited Thrace, Scythia, Babylon, Cyrene, Libya, Sicily, and possibly even India.
• Herodotus was thus considered the first sight-seer of the world.
• After completing his period of exile, he settled in Athens and lived in the court of Pericles for forty years.
• Later, Herodotus moved to Thurii, an Athenian colony in Italy, where he spent his final years.

His Histories

• Herodotus embarked on his travels with an insatiable thirst for knowledge.
• He observed and enquired with the eye of a scientist and the curiosity of a child.
• Armed with a rich assortment of notes on geography, history, and manners of the people, he meticulously collected information during his far-reaching travels.
• He composed his monumental work, Histories, based on his collected notes.
• The Histories consist of 9 books, each named after one of the 9 Muses, with the first book presided over by Clio, the Muse of History.
• The first five books recount the early conflicts between the East and the West and developments in Greece.
• The sixth book describes the Ionian revolt and the campaign of Marathon.
• The last three books focus on the Graeco-Persian Wars.
• Two-thirds of the work is devoted to his travels and what he learned from them.
• The remaining one-third deals with the events of the Persian Wars.
• His travels provided the stage setting for the central theme of his work.

Thucydides (C.471-399 B.C)

• Thucydides was born into a wealthy family, the son of a rich Athenian owner of gold mines in Thrace.
• He received the best available education in Athens and grew up in an environment of Greek enlightenment and skepticism.
• At the age of 36, Thucydides was chosen as one of the two generals to command a naval expedition to Thrace.
• Due to his failure to relieve Amphipolis in time during the Spartan siege, he was exiled.
• Like Herodotus, Thucydides spent the next couple of decades traveling, particularly in the Peloponnesus.
• After the oligarchic revolution in 404 B.C., Thucydides returned to Athens.
• Thucydides died in 396 B.C., with some sources claiming he was murdered.
• He left unfinished his monumental work, History of the Peloponnesian War.

Central Theme

• The central theme of Thucydides’ History is the suicidal struggle between the two mighty Greek city-states, Athens and Sparta.
• Thucydides begins his narrative where Herodotus left off, at the close of the Graeco-Persian War.
• He opens his work with the following words: “Thucydides, an Athenian, wrote the history of the war between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians from the moment it broke out, believing it would be an important war, more worthy of relation than any that had preceded it.”
• Thucydides asserts that the conclusions he draws from the evidence are reliable and that his work is not meant to win short-term applause but to be a possession for all time.
• After the prefatory remarks, Thucydides provides a summary of developments in Greece, from the Minoan times to the Persian Wars.
• He proceeds with a detailed description of the central theme: the origin, development, and denouement of the civil war.
• Thucydides’ History remains incomplete.
• The work was written in two stages and seeks to narrate the 27-year civil struggle as one continuous war.
• Later historians divided Thucydides’ work into eight books based on chronology.

Father of Scientific History

• Thucydides is not a chronicler but a seasoned historian.
• He claims his conclusions are drawn from proofs and he avoids exaggeration at the expense of truth.
• He turns away from the region of legend and relies on clear data, proofs, and evidence, arriving at conclusions “as exact as can be expected in matters of such antiquity.”
• His history is devoid of romance and is focused on exact knowledge of the past to aid in the interpretation of the future, as human affairs often resemble the past.
• Thucydides relied on research and thorough knowledge of his predecessors, especially Herodotus.
• He explored all available sources, observed developments, visited friendly states, and met prisoners of war.
• During his exile, he discussed the cause and course of the war with the Spartans.
• He made copious notes of the speeches of war veterans, ensured the accuracy of the information, and analyzed data to arrive at conclusions.
• His mastery over details is remarkable.
• Thucydides is scrupulously impartial, lamenting the fall of Athens but admiring Spartan discipline as an historian.
• He balances accounts of military campaigns with descriptions of political developments.
• Thucydides remains strictly neutral on controversial issues and never deviates from the central theme of his History.
• He rejects credulous statements, hearsay reports, and superstitions, applying reason and eliminating beliefs and traditions.
• He confessed his work might have been more romantic but he preferred it to be useful for those seeking to know exactly how events unfolded.
• His style is didactic, prosaic, and terse, reflecting his analytical approach.
• His accuracy in historical writing is unassailable.
• Thucydides is regarded as the father of scientific method in history.

Herodotus and Thucydides: A Comparison

• Herodotus and Thucydides both wrote about the recent past, with Herodotus covering the war between Greece and Persia and Thucydides focusing on the Civil War between Athens and Sparta.
• Herodotus wrote with the intention to entertain, while Thucydides aimed to provide factual information for future generations.
• Herodotus ranged across places and ages, whereas Thucydides confined himself to the specific events of the Peloponnesian War, though his range of study was also wide.
• Herodotus focused on personalities, believing that processes operated through them, while Thucydides focused on impersonal forces and factors responsible for the events, though he also recognized the role of exceptional individuals.
• Herodotus often relied on second or third-hand reports, while Thucydides based his work on eye-witness accounts, personal observations, or original documents.
• Herodotus was more credulous, whereas Thucydides was critical in his approach.
• Herodotus was more imaginative than pragmatic, while Thucydides was accurate, with even his geography being verified in detail.
• Herodotus was a delightful story-teller, and Thucydides was an incisive interpreter.
• Herodotus was concerned with what happened or was said to have happened, while Thucydides was more focused on how and why events occurred.
• Herodotus’ style was easy, spontaneous, and convincing, whereas Thucydides’ style was harsh, artificial, and repellent.
• Both have stood the test of time: Herodotus as the Father of History and Thucydides as the Father of Scientific History.