Comments on: Crazy Kings and Giant Ants

By: Indian History Carnival - 4 | DesiPundit

Indian History Carnival - 4 | DesiPundit — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 13:26:11 +0000

[...] our last edition, Stephanie laughed at the outrageous reports of Herodotus, especially the gold digging ants of India. Arvind Sharma asks: how is the account of gold-digging [...]

By: BCK

BCK — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:09:22 +0000

Yes, you should all read Herodotus — his Histories is full of interesting and significant stuff, and at the moment, Herodotus is hot.

Those giant ants have often been considered one of the most fabulous parts of the book (along with the winged snakes). But it seems there is a creature called a marmot, which does dig in dirt that has gold dust in it…

I have also heard that the flying snakes might be locusts…

By: Stefanie

Stefanie — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 13:20:18 +0000

Dark Orpheus, the crazy ones are the most interesting, aren’t they?

Danielle, you know, I saw the movie of English Patient and have no recollection of Herodotus, so now I want to read Ondaatje’s book

Litlove, you’re so sweet

Dorothy, Histories is a book filled with weirdness presented in a serious and truthful manner by a man who appears to have believed it all.

Emily, you are right, it is all about the story telling!

By: Emily Barton

Emily Barton — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 03:22:15 +0000

And now we learn the lesson that historians (even ancient ones) are really just people dying to tell a good story, right? I grew up surrounded by them, so I’m pretty familiar with the phenomenon. I haven’t read Herodotus since college, but I enjoyed him back then (much more interesting than my textbooks).

By: Dorothy W.

Dorothy W. — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:54:40 +0000

Oh, my, those are odd stories! It’s never crossed my mind to read Herodotus, but maybe I should …