Herodotus, fact or fiction?

Herodotus: Fact or Fiction? Juan A. Caballero Prieto

Herodotus: Fact or Fiction?

(A look at Book IV of the Histories)

J. A. Caballero Prieto

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Is Herodotus describing an accurate world, or is he engaged in fictional writing? Book IV

of Herodotus Histories reads of the Scythians and their culture in a concept that may sound more

fictional than factual. However, reviewing the text from various perspectives and expanding

basic questions about the text itself, we should be able to arrive to a conclusion as to whether our

so called Father of History was a writer of fact or fiction. We will explore why the text was

written, whom it was written for and its purpose. But first and foremost, who was Herodotus?

Herodotus of Halicarnassus

Herodotus was a Greek historian (baptized by some as the ‘father of history’) who lived

in the 5th century BC.1 He would have seemed to be the first historian to collect data and arrange

it in prose form. We can assert with some certainty that he tested his theories and was mostly

neutral in his claims. The historian himself would state throughout Book IV that he simply did

not know an answer to a particular problem, and attempt to give the most plausible explanation:

As for Europe, nobody knows if it is surrounded by seas, or where it got its name from, or who gave it, unless we are to say that it came from Europa, the Tyrian woman, and before that was nameless like the rest.2

It is traditionally thought that Herodotus spent time in Athens, where he gave public

readings from his ouvre (opening) of The Histories, as well as forming a friendship with

Sophocles, a famous dramatist. It is not an exaggeration to think that Herodotus is mainly known

thanks to The Histories without which a record of the Greco-Persian wars, expanding from 498-

448 BCE, would be almost non-existent. Anonymity would also have befallen the many people

and places Herodotus visited during his many travels around Greece and its surrounding areas.

1 c. 484 BC–c. 425 BC2 Herod. IV (p.255)

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This grand “father of history” may have died in Thurii (he helped found this city), Calabria or

Pella, Macedon.

Historical Background

It is safe to assume that Book IV of Herodotus was written between 470 and 425 BCE. At

this time, Greece is still a country divided into city states. It will not be until 336 BCE that the

Greeks are united under Macedonian rule by King Phillip II, father of Alexander the Great.

Herodotus is born only 15 years after the battle of Thermopylae between the famous Spartans

(and their allies) against the Persians, led by Xerxes in 480 BCE. It is also a time were other

Histories were being compiled by Greek investigators. Thucydides will compose during his

lifetime3 a comprehensive history of the Peloponnesian War fought between the Athenians and a

league of cities led by Sparta4.

It would seem there was a time of peace between the Greco-Persian Conflicts which

initiated in 499 BCE with the Ionian Revolt and ended in 448 BCE (culminated in the final war

449-448 BCE) and the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE). Herodotus was born ca. 484 and died

in 425 BCE. During this time of relative peace, there would have been time for work like such of

Herodotus to be compiled; the historian was free to travel across the country and amass

information from many different sources which suggests country stability and wealth. History

has proven that only in times of peace and economic prosperity does someone like Herodotus

have time to pursue such investigation of the past.

The purpose behind the text3 Born 460, Died 395 BCE4 431-404 BCE

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Herodotus wrote:

Herodotus of Halicarnassus here displays his inquiry, so that human achievements may not become forgotten in time, and great and [marvelous] deeds –some displayed by Greeks, some by barbarians- may not be without their glory…5

Herodotus wrote this text to make sure that a history of human kind was passed down

from his generation to the next. But such an enterprise needed financing. In the introduction of

The Histories as translated by Aubrey De Selincourt we read that Herodotus sought support from

the Thebans and the Corinthians who denied it. It is thought that for this reason, the historian did

not portray the Corinthians, and other cultures of his time, in a positive way.6

One could think of the modern National Geographic magazine or other similar semi-

scholar productions. After all, why do we, as future scholars, research and discover new

information about ourselves and the ancient world? We investigate because we want to know and

understand those whom preceded us, those whom we are now amongst, and those whom we may

become. Our purpose, just like that of Herodotus is to understand ourselves.

Humanity has always been seen as having a wondering culture and Herodotus was no less

a wanderer; our historian sought to investigate and report of the ideas of his time. A look at the

word History gives us a deeper meaning and a better look at the mindset Herodotus had.

According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary the word itself comes from the Greek

ἵστωρ, meaning investigation or inquiry. It is only later in History in this great inquiry into

human behavior, past and future, that the term History was generalized to mean the story of

human life. Herodotus had in mind an exploration of the culture around him that could be passed

5 De Selincourt translation of The Histories, Book I p.36 De Selincourt, Introduction X

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both to his current generation and ours, so that our sense of wonder may be satisfied, if only in

part, by the efforts he put forth.

Audience

The text was written for those of his time who were interested in knowing about the

world around them. Herodotus had a general audience in mind as it compromised both the

aristocracy he may have been writing The Histories for, and the future generations that may

benefit from his compilation. Book IV (as our case study) reports mainly on the Scythian culture

of Central Asia and their neighbors; Herodotus painstakingly names every major and minor river

and the people by whom the Scythians are surrounded outside their borders. Scythian myth is

repeated and interpreted.

It is obvious that Scythian culture and ideas were more appealing to the broad audience

since these were the subjects Greeks were not bound to know and those which would bring the

most readers and fame to his books. Herodotus remains neutral while telling the stories, yet

another sign of his target audience; by avoiding most demeanors and preconceptions, the writer

is able to reach the most people possible while offending the least amount of them. Many times

in the text, we are told that the author does not believe the story himself, but that whether or not

we do it is up to ourselves. In many senses, Herodotus seems to be writing for future generations.

In seeking the support of royalty, he was in a way ensuring that the records would last far longer

than those assigned to protect them. Also, in seeking and dedicating the book to someone

important, our historian was ensuring that future generations would value it as something worth

preserving.

Is the text historically accurate?

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According to J. A. S. Evans’ article The reputation of Herodotus, Herodotus’ accuracy

and legitimacy is in question many times throughout history. One of the critics is named “Ctesias

of Cnidos, the Greek physician of the Persian king Artaxerxes II”.7 Others were the famous

Plutarch, Thucydides or modern critics like James Rennell.8 If Herodotus was criticized so

widely, how can we be sure of the accuracy of his statements?

While Herodotus has many critics, many other studies have brought about evidence that

support his claims. Evidence of the Scythians and their lifestyle can indeed be found outside the

scope of Herodotus’ Histories.

In his article (The Scythians: Invading Hordes from the Russian Steppes) Edwin

Yamauchi states that “In the Old Testament the word Scythian does not appear. Yet in Genesis

10:3 (and its parallel, 1 Chronicles 1:6) as well as in Jeremiah 51:27, the Hebrew term Ashkenaz,

which has been identified as the cognate of the Akkadian name for this group, Ishkuza, is

employed (Parpola 1970: 178)”.9

V. I. Guliaev also confirms Herodotus’ reports on the Amazon warrior women who,

supposedly defeated and kidnapped by Greeks, ended up stranded in Scythian lands. According

to Guliaev:

At first sight this description of militant Sauromatian women seems rather fantastic or improbable. As a result, the legend of the origins of the Sauromatian people was unpopular among scholars for a long time. However, intensive explorations of Sauromatian kurgans (barrows) in the Volga and Ural regions during the 1960s and 1970s radically changed our views on the tales of some classical authors. The ancient myth was suddenly verified by the proof of rich female graves containing full sets of weapons and horse trappings.”10

7 Evans p.138 Evabs p.14-159 p. 9010 Guliaev p.114

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According to George G. Cameron, an inscription of Darius’ own doing found at

Pasargade, Iran reads:

1. Darius, the great King, King of Kings, King of countries, son of Hystaspes,

2. an Achaemenian, Saith Darius the King: This is the kingdom which I

3. hold, from the Scythians who are beyond Sogdiana thence unto

4. Kush; from Sind, thence unto Sardis –which Ahuramazda bestowed on me-

5. (He) who is the greatest of the gods. Me may Ahuramazda protect, and my (royal) house.

These arguments give us evidence that Herodotus, while being discredited by earlier

historians, is proven accurate in modern eyes. We may take confidence in the idea that our writer

is neutral in most aspects of his research and study, as well as in his reporting. As we see

Herodotus vindicated in modern studies, we look upon The Histories with awe and admiration.

Conclusion

It is thanks to the compilation of Herodotus that we know much more about the times in

which he lived; the ideas that people around him had, and the daily challenges those same people

faced. In analyzing and inquiring into Scythian history, Herodotus opens a window to the very

past of Eurasia that brings us closer to understanding who we are and how we got here. Using his

books, of which there are nine, many modern historians can find out not only about the ancient

Eurasian steppes, but also about the battles between Persia and Greece, the colorful backdrops of

Lybia (Africa), Egyptian customs and much more. It would not be fair to say that without

Herodotus there would be no history; but we can say that without the ‘Father of History’ there

would be much less of it to know about and perhaps we would have to continually wonder about

stories heard from sages and song instead of books and prose.

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Bibliography

Cameron, George G. An Inscription of Darius from Pasargadae Iran, Vol. 5, (1967), pp. 7-10

De Selincourt, Aubrey, Translation of The Histories, written by Herodotus, Revised with an introduction and notes by John Marincola

Evans, J. A. S.; Father of History or Father of Lies; The Reputation of Herodotus The Classical Journal, Vol. 64, #1 (Oct., 1968) pp 11-17

Guliaev, Valeri I. Amazons in the Scythia: New Finds at the Middle Don, Southern Russia World Archaeology, Vol. 35, No. 1, The Social Commemoration of Warfare (Jun., 2003), pp. 112-125

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, History, (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/history)

Yamauchi, Edwin The Scythians: Invading Hordes from the Russian Steppes The Biblical Archaeologist, Vol. 46, No. 2 (Spring, 1983), pp. 90-9

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http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/history

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Herodotus, fact or fiction?