The Greek Historians

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The Greek Historians

• CNE/ENG 120
• 9/29/04

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The Histories

• Author Herodotus
• Culture Greek
• Time 5th c. BCE
• Genre historical prose
• Name to Know Croesus
• Purposes that the marvelous achievements of the
  past not be forgotten to show why the Greeks
  Persians came to fight one another.

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A Man of His Times

• Herodotus shares concerns with the pre-Socratics,
  proto-philosophers and physicists, who were
  trying to discover the primary matter of the
  universe as well as to mine myth and poetry to
  find another way of representing truth.

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The Cause of the Trojan War

• Cause theft and rape of girls.
• 1) Phoenician traders steal Io, princess of
  Argos.
• 2) Greeks carry off Europa, princess of Tyre
  (Phoenician city).
• 3) Greeks carry off Medea, princess of Colchis.
• 4) Trojan prince Paris steals Helen.
• Who is most to blame for the escalation to war
  for woman-stealing? (p. 695)

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Croesus Solon

• Croesus king of Lydia
• Solon Athenian lawgiver
• This story may have been influenced by Athenian
  tragedy, especially the tragedy of Oedipus.
• What question does Croesus ask Solon, and what
  answer does he expect/want to get?

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Who is the happiest man?

• Tellus the Athenian
• a) prosperous city
• b) fine sons
• c) lived to see his grandchildren survive
• d) enough money
• e) glorious death in battle, public funeral

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2) Cleobis and Biton of Argos

• Enough wealth
• Great physical strength
• Piety
• For what does their mother pray?
• What does the goddess give the men as the
  greatest blessing?

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Cleobis and Biton
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Croesus What about me?

• Solon You can see . . . Croesus, that man is
  entirely a creature of chance. You seem to be
  very rich, and you rule a numerous people but
  the question you asked me I will not answer,
  until I know that you have died happily.
• Count no man happy until he is dead.
• Theme mutability of life.

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Croesus Fate

• Nemesis fell on Croesus, presumably because the
  gods were angry with him for supposing himself to
  be the happiest of men.
• Delphic Oracle If you go to war, a great empire
  will fall. Croesus took that to mean his
  enemys, but it turned out to be his own.
• On a burning pyre, Croesus calls out that Solon
  had been right, prays to Apollo, reminding him of
  all he had given the god. Apollo sent rain
  Croesus became the advisor to Cyrus, king of the
  Persian empire.

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Persian Debate on Political Forms

• Background the Magi are a tribe of Persians who
  attempted to overthrow the king and gain power
  for themselves. This causes a debate on the best
  form of political organization.
• We see here the mirror of Herodotus, the
  reflection in reverse of Greek ideas and
  institutions in this representation of Persian
  debate.

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Political Organizations

• Options
• 1) Rule by one man (monarchy)
• 2) Rule by the people (democracy)
• 3) Rule by the few (oligarchy)
• 4) Rule by the best men (aristocracy)

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Argument 1 (Otanes)

• Contra monarchy it allows one man to do whatever
  he likes without any responsibility. Breeds envy
  and pride, vices that are the root of all
  wickedness (and violence).
• Pro democracy promotes equality under the law,
  has none of the flaws of monarchy. In democracy
  magistrates are appointed by lot and held
  responsible for their actions fosters open
  debate.

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Argument 2 (Megabyzus)

• Contra democracy people are feckless, ignorant,
  prone to violence. Mob rule is bad.
• Pro oligarchy a few chosen men would rule wisely
  and produce the best policy.

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Argument 3 Darius

• Contra all forms except monarchy. Oligarchy
  encourages personal feuds among rulers, democracy
  encourages people to pursue private aims by
  banding together, mobs are vulnerable to
  demagogues.
• Pro monarchy rule by one man is best, provided
  that the king is the best man.

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Darius Question

• From where did we get our freedom?
• Answer from one man - so we must preserve the
  monarchy, and not change our government for the
  worse.
• Result the remaining four men voted for Darius
  motion.

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The Peloponnesian War

• Author Thucydides
• Culture Greek
• Time 5th c. BCE
• Genre historical prose
• Name to Know Perikles
• Topic the war between Athens Sparta
• Purpose to understand the past so future
  generations wont repeat the same mistakes.

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Historical Method

• Examines the past to compare it to the present,
  to justify his feeling that the Peloponnesian War
  was the greatest that had yet been fought (like
  our World War II).
• Discusses how more complex societies arose, which
  cities had power based on the sea, etc.

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The Trojan War

• According to Thucydides, did the Trojan War
  really happen?
• How did Agamemnon assemble his force to go
  against Troy?
• How come the Trojan War lasted for 10 years?
• Method common sense, separating poetic excesses
  from the story.

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Thucydides Aims

• For men accept one anothers accounts of the
  past, even about their native countries, with a
  uniform lack of examination (p. 705).
• What he wants to avoid patriotic story-telling.
• What he wants to achieve an accurate account of
  the causes of the war, and its events.
• He wants his history to be a possession for all
  time not a competition piece to be heard for
  the moment (p. 705).

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Why did they fight?

• For I consider the truest cause the one least
  openly expressed, that increasing Athenian
  greatness and the resulting fear among the
  Lacedaemonians made going to war inevitable (p.
  706).

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Theme Mutability of Human Life

• The Athenians, like Croesus and Oedipus, fall
  from wealth and glory.
• Thucydides tracks how this happened.

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Perikles Funeral Oration

• Public funeral for those who had first died in
  the war.
• Perikles was chosen to speak after the burial
  rites had been concluded.
• He urges his audience to emulate the fallen.
• Praises the ancestors and the Athenian form of
  government (radical democracy).
• Our city as a whole is an education for Hellas.
• That is, all Greeks look to Athens as an example
  of power, self-sufficiency and beauty.

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Revolution in Corcyra

• Portrays the decay of language in civil war has
  been compared to George Orwells analysis of the
  disintegration of language in the doublespeak
  of the 20th century.
• Corcyra has collapsed its citizens have
  regressed to bestial behavior.
• T. condemns both sides for their propaganda and
  atrocities.
• The corruption of language corrupts law, the
  binding force of society.