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The Histories (Penguin Classics) | |||||||
 
| 80% Recommended by our customers. Publisher: Penguin Classics Catalog: Book Release date: 2003-04-29 Media: Paperback Number of pages: 784 Ean: 9780140449082 Book Isbn: 0140449086  Tip: compare prices with similar booksAuthor:
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| Professional Review: |
| Translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt with an introduction and Notes by John M. Marincola. |
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 Written on April 11, 2008 Summary: Herodotus "The Histories" Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3G8H2WCBZ1009 The Histories (Penguin Classics) Written on April 10, 2008 Summary: Required reading Herodotus is among the most important and influential writers in world history. His Histories is at once a unified narrative and a collection of geographical, social, and mythological data. The story Herodotus sets out to tell is that of the Greeks and their archenemies, the Persians, and along the way he tells the story of the whole known world, from the savages inhabiting what today is the Ukraine or Russia, to the burning deserts south of Egypt and the gold-laden, ant-protected wastes beyond India. Herodotus will tell a piece of his story and take off with some wild tale, perhaps from Egyptian or Persian history. Being the "father of history" rather than its master or foremost genius, Herodotus may at times be clumsy and prone to endless digression, but he's never boring. Modern historians would do well to imitate him in at least this respect--meet the reader halfway by making them interested rather than taking their interest for granted. If you can't tell, I've labored through many a dull but necessary book. Herodotus's real strength is his narrative--as I said, he's never boring, even when you wish he would stick with what he was saying thirty pages ago. He is also remarkably balanced, often peppering his text with "or so the Athenians say" and more often than not presenting opposing points of view before giving his own opinion. And, of course, what makes Herodotus important is that his Histories became the well-spring of Western history, with everyone from Thucydides to Plutarch building upon or against his work. This edition from Penguin Classics is very good, if not the best compared to the translation by David Grene. Aubrey de Selincourt's translation is lucid and easy to read. He divides the paragraphs differently than Herodotus did in the original, which you can see by following the numbers printed in the margins. This is by no means a problem, though I found that Herodotus's breaks were more natural than de Selincourt's. The notes are adequate but refer too often to outside sources rather than giving a quick summary of what the editor would like us to know. My only real complaint is that the maps are too sparse, as several other reviewers have pointed out. Over all, however, this is a good way to experience the original historical work. The translation is readable and the notes good, and even if the maps aren't detailed enough they are still better than none. If you're looking for a fascinating look into the ancient world, Herodotus is the place to start. Highly recommended. Written on March 28, 2008 Summary: A Few Precious Moments I have to admit I got a chuckle out of the reviewer who said that you need three bookmarks to read this book. Anyone who has plodded through Coral Gardens and Their Magic, however, will understand why Claire Kramsch called anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski's (1935) work "imminently readable." Less amusing was the reviewer who complained of an anti-Persian bias in Herodotus. In reviewing classical literature, it is important not to let such sentiments cloud your vision. A review of the classics should be as much a review of the translation, the introduction, and the notes as it is a review of the text itself. In this regard the reviewer who compared three different translations seems to be on the right track. If the "bias" reviewer is so bothered by Herodotus, let him read the Epic of Gilgamesh, or perhaps Attar's The Conference of the Birds, wherein he may find more satisfaction. Well, I have spent a good deal of time reviewing the reviews, so let us get down to brass tacks. Herodotus was as much anthropologist as he was geographer, historian or tourist. His descriptions of the customs of the Persians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Libyans and Indians (as contrasted with the Greeks) are every bit as informative as those Malinowski gives us of the Trobriand Islanders (compared with whom?), though not always in as much detail. As for the translation (by Aubrey de Selincourt), it is more than "imminently readable." It seemed like something that I would write myself. Take for example this sentence: "While he was in Egypt, Syloson had an extraordinary stroke of luck: he was hanging about the streets of Memphis dressed in a flame-coloured cloak, when Darius, who at that time was a member of Cambyses' guard and not yet of any particular importance, happened to catch sight of him and, seized with a sudden longing to possess the cloak, came up to Syloson and made him an offer for it." (iii.139) I read the Introduction (by John Marincola) twice - once before I read the book, and once again after I finished. Both times I found it informative, and excellent. The notes more often than not refer to academic articles, but the explanatory notes of historical importance made it worth the effort to use multiple bookmarks. Actually, I simply shifted my main bookmark to the notes of the day; the maps (I wish there were more of them) were easy enough to find every time I needed them. I was interested more than anything else in the oracles. The Greeks (as well as the Persians) often consulted oracles. In Herodotus, as the notes tell us, the oracles were always correct, though humans sometimes erred in interpreting their meaning. That is remarkable. Who, then, was Apollo? Who was Dionysus? Athena? What gave them the power to know the future? In all there are more than 150 mentions of oracles and 25 dreams that determined the outcome of history. Is it any wonder that St. Paul had such problems at Ephesus with Demetrios, who sold silver shrines in front of the Temple of Diana (Acts xix.24-28)? To the ancient Greeks, these gods were alive. They gave them practical advice on how to live their lives. To us, they are nothing but statues, or fragments of statues. I wonder what happened to them? Anyway, Herodotus' depictions brings them back to life, at least for a few precious moments while we are reading The Histories. Written on December 23, 2007 Summary: One of the most important works ever written In the history of written language, few books have proved to be as important (and as entertaining) as The Histories by Herodotus. Not only is this the first historical text ever written, it's also a thrilling tale of adventure, intrigue, and heroism. Beginning with the Trojan War (the most important event in history, according to the ancient Greeks), Herodotus tracks the development of the mighty Persian Empire and its eventual clash with the peoples of Greece in the 5th century B.C. Along the way, the reader is given a guided tour of the people and places of the ancient world. If your knowledge of this time period is based exclusively on The History Channel and "300", reading this book will give you a new appreciation for like in the distant past. Be warned though, Herodotus, at times, is more concerned with telling a good story than a true one. It seems impossible to think that he had access to all the places and events he describes; in many cases, he obviously either invents stories or passes along accepted myths. Furthermore, as the inventor of the history text, he really had no idea where to begin his story or what was relevant to his purpose (which was describing how and why the Greeks were able to defeat the invading Persians). To solve this problem it seems, Herodotus included every source and every anecdote he had access to. To help move the story along for the reader, I would recommend skipping over the section devoted to the geography of Egypt (or any of the other long passages related to mountains, rivers or deserts for that matter) - doing so will not interfer at all with the rest of the book. This is an endlessly diverting and dense work to read, especially if you don't know very much about ancient history, yet it's also very entertaining and very enlightening. Herodotus' treatment of war, politics and human behavior are still as relevant today as it was 2500 years ago. There is a reason why this book is still read to this day, and anyone who wants to consider themselves "well-read" needs to read this work. Written on August 13, 2007 Summary: The National Geographic of the 5th Century BC. Great read to get immersed in the 5th century BC world. Herodotus was a great story teller, whether of mythical or real stories. Some pages are really fun to read because of the friendly tone and plain language he uses. There are also a lot of unnecessary data -in my opinion- since he talks about all kinds of stories and gives plenty of detail, true or not that sometimes result boring. The real interesting part comes in the last quarter of the book, where all the major battles between Persians and Greeks take place. A pity he didn't dwell a little more in the marathon and Thermopylae battles, but we get the big picture. This is more an ethnographic study of all kinds of tribes that populated Greece and the Near East at the time. It's quite interesting to see what were the limitations as far as geography is concerned, the strange ideas they had about the far and unexplored areas of Europe, their peoples, etc. The comparison of what people thought and what really was is really amusing. Skip the pages that you care less and enjoy the rest. There's plenty of good reading time here. Great translation, by the way. |
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| Catalog | Book | Book | Book | Book | Book | Book |
| Release date | 2003-04-29 | 1954-09-30 | 1969-05-15 | 1961-06-01 | 2001-04-10 | 2002-06-25 |
| Media | Paperback | Paperback | Paperback | Paperback | Paperback | Paperback |
| Number of pages | 784 | 656 | 180 | 528 | 816 | 528 |
| Ean | 9780140449082 | 9780140440393 | 9780226307787 | 9780226469409 | 9780375756764 | 9780140448092 |
| Book Isbn | 0140449086 | 0140440399 | 0226307786 | 0226469409 | 0375756760 | 0140448098 |
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