Apparently there is a bit of a Herodotus revival going on. Who knew? The TLS reviews three new books about Herodotus this week. I read the essay this morning and it made me want to call in sick to work just so I could stay home and read Histories all day. How could I want to work when the essay says this:
So is Herodotus a transmitter of accurate historical data? Or is he an entertaining raconteur, suitable for children and for the audiences of action movies[300]? Or should he be seen as the founding father of pernicious Orientalism in the sense that term was used by Edward Said – of Western imperialist fantasies? The answer is that he is all three, and the triangular tension between these lines of interpretation underpins the revival of interest in his Histories recently.
I am after all on the cusp of starting book VII which has the battle of Thermopylae in it. And book VIII has the battle of Salamis which Aeschylus fought in (someboby mentioned that in a comment not long ago) and wrote a play, Persians about. I am going to have to schedule a reading of the play along with my reading of book VIII so I can make a comparison.
The essay made all three books in the review sound good, but I can’t help but lust most after the Cambridge University Press book, Herodotus: Histories Book VIII edited by A.M. Bowie. They are publishing a commentary on each of Herodotus’s nine books/chapters and they sound quite accessible to the average reader. The books are not being published in order. The other one available is Herodotus: Histories Book IX edited by Michael Flower and John Matincola.
As if all the Herodotus yumminess weren’t enough, I leave you with a photo of Waldo, Dickens and Godzilla all napping together in a moment of peace and quiet. This does not happen often. And get a load of those book piles! Jeez, someone oughta do something about them 
How adorable to see them all lying there. The animals are cute too.
Did you drug the pets?
It’s great when you find so much extra information on the books you’re reading — when your reading coincides with the writing and research that others are doing. What fun!
In case it’s of interest, I came across this review of some other recent Herodotus-related books.
(Having liked the article, I looked up what else the reviewer had written and was pleased to find this article on Thucydides.)
Hmm, looks as if I didn’t get my html tags right on the first reference. I’ll try again … here
- And in case that fails, it’s http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2008/04/28/080428crbo_books_mendelsohn
So many books and so little time attributable to rejuvenating naps.
I don’t know which is funnier, the books or the kitties.
Herodotus I cannot get excited about… read it in school and that was enough. I admire you for enjoying it so much.
Happy Sunday!
Ah, Herodotus never goes out of fashion. I might bring Herodotus over to the desert afterall.
Oh, love the cute sleepy pets. Next time we need to see more books too.
PS: You sister is funny!
Sylvia, thanks!
Sister, shhh! Let’s just keep that between the two of us
Dorothy, it is fun especially when it was never intended.
Lokesh, thanks for the link! The essay looks good.
Paul, well said
qugrainne, LOL, it is a close call between the books and the cats
Herodotus can be a slog at times, but when he’s good, he’s really good. Happy Sunday to you too!
Dark Orpheus, reading Herodotus in Dubai could be interesting. I’ll see what I can do about the books next time. My sister has a great sense of humor, but I don’t usually tell her because I don’t want her to get a big head
Sylvia is funny, but when she’s right, she’s right. Doesn’t everyone keep their books and cats like that?
Love your colour scheme!
You’ve inspired me. I’m off to get my hands on Herodotus and, if possible, a cat. Just one….
Carrie, yes I am sure it is the best way to keep both.
Maggie, thanks! I hope you enjoy Herodotus. And if you get a cat perhaps you will find a good name for it lurking the the Histories
I had no idea I was being so fashionable by reading Herodotus this year
maybe we could claim that we started the Herodotus fashion trend?
I finished Herodotus a few months ago. It was the Britannica Great Books translation. What impressed me the most about it was what it told us about the Greek mind, the fascination with clever stratagems and cryptic prophecies, especially those that men and women misread to their doom.
One thing that impressed me as well was the way the people of that time resemble modern Arab, Persian and other tribal societies. The hideous ways of dealing with one’s enemies never seem to run out, nor do the vendettas and vengeance.
I’ve been reading Thucydides for a while, along with Victor Davis Hanson’s book, A War Like No Other.
These books have really fed an interest in knowing more about ancient societies, as well as a view of modern enemies as continuing a worldview that hasn’t changed much in the past 2400 years.
AST, the Greeks do love clever don’t they? I am beginning to understand why they so love Odyssey. I’ll be reading Thucydides too when I am done. I will have to look up the Hanson book. It is all so fascinating definitely not the peaceful, rational version of ancient Greece I got in school!
I vote for AST starting a blog… Please?
Sylvia, yes, I second that