32-Herodotus

Histories, is the first true history text written by Herodotus. Herodotus is known as the father of history. This prose had outlined the Persian wars and the greatest men of that time, which was recited to audiences of that time. In his text, he included the various conquers that occurred in Europe and Asia.In one of the three books, he depicts a debate on the three different constitutions. He uses the three leaders of his time to show which constitution is the ideal one. Each leader represents a form of government. The three leaders are Otanes, Megabyzos, and Darius. The three forms of government they are representing are monarchy, aristocracy and democracy. One of three advocates, Otanes believed in giving more rights to the people and not controlling the government entirely. He showed that Cambyses was driven by arrogance and it lead to a poorly ruled government. A good ruler is someone who doesnt let envy and arrogance get the best of him while performing his duties as a leader. Leaders of this type only give importance to someone more experienced or admirable than he is. Herodotus put emphasis on equality for every member of society. A good leader wont take advantage of the people and will work towards helping the people. In conclusion, the best form of government is democracy, where there is an equal balance among government officials and the voice of the people.

Herodotus wanted to preserve conquers and achievements by the greatest men of time through writing. His books recorded stories of his time to be read by people in the future. He traveled to create the story of wonder. His book inspired future historians to preserve the memory, and systematically record the research of their time.

History is an important part of life; documenting important people, life events and experiences can help educate further generations to come. Herodotus captured events and experience of his time for people to read and learn from. In his writing he included the three forms of government and the results of the form of government. The results showed future leaders the impact each government had on society. After reading Otanes, Megabyzos, and Darius reflection on each government, Democracy is by far the best form of government. Democracy is still used today and has helped the United States move forward and has made it the land of opportunity.

In his books, instead of supplying readers and listeners with facts, he made it more personal by including opinions, thoughts and choices of the greatest men. Although, stating facts werent his point of interest, facts would have helped readers learn more about the way of life. Since many versions were written of his book, if there were more facts in his writing, less alterations from version to version would have occurred. He compares the culture differences among various countries during ancient times. His book was a guide to other civilizations of what was occurring in the world at the time. It informed people about culture, government, society and important events. Although he was interested in important men, he didnt find common men of their time important figures of society. He interest was driven by their significant mens achievements. Common men achieve things daily and inspire those around them but since they were not recognized they were considered irrelevant to Herodotus.