Thucydidean Themes is a collection of seventeen essays by Simon Hornblower on the great fifth-century BC Greek historian Thucydides; but other ancient Greek historians, notably Herodotus, also featur
Arnold draws on current Assyriological data to trace the geopolitical realities behind literary references to Babylonians by ancient classical historians such as Herodotus and Berossus and by authors
Humbach (Mainz U.) and Faiss explore the names of deities and people in Greek historian Herodotus' (484-425 BC) account of the Iranian people of the northern Black Sea region and living on the border
Although Herodotus' dictum that "Egypt is a gift of the Nile" is proverbial, there has been only scant attention to the way the river impact ancient Egyptian society. Egyptologists frequently focus on
Ever since Herodotus declared in Histories that to preserve the memories of the great achievements of the Greeks and other nations he would count on their own stories, historians have debated whether
How did the city-state of Athens defeat the invaders from Persia, the first world empire, on the plain of Marathon in 490 BCE? Clever scholars skeptical of our earliest surviving source, Herodotus, h
Archibald Henry Sayce (1845–1933) was an influential orientalist and philologist. He was a pioneering Assyriologist and published widely on the history, religion, and literature of the Babylonian and Assyrian peoples. In 1891 he became Professor of Assyriology at Oxford University. The Ancient Empires of the East (1883) is Sayce's edition, 'with Notes, Introductions and Appendices', of the first three books of The Histories by the fifth-century Greek historian Herodotus, which focus on Egypt and Persia. In his preface Sayce states that since the field of oriental studies is 'growing day by day' it is the aim of his edition to 'take stock of our existing knowledge' and 'see exactly what is the point to which our researches have brought us'. Although his translation of Herodotus was criticised on publication on account of inaccuracies, Sayce's reputation as a great populariser of oriental philology, history and culture remained intact.
One of the most talented disciples of the illustrious comparative philologist Richard Porson, Peter Paul Dobree (1782–1825) is commemorated in this two-volume edition of Adversaria, consisting of his prolific notes on Greek and Latin literature, history, and philology. Dobree left an enduring impression upon English classical scholarship, despite his premature death shortly after accepting the Regius professorship of Greek at Cambridge. Edited by his successor at Cambridge, James Scholefield, the Adversaria attest to Dobree's scholarly probity and precision, offering insights into a mind whose major achievements undoubtedly still lay ahead. Volume 1 (1831) includes Dobree's praelection on a Pseudo-Lysian funeral oration, which gained him the Regius chair, as well as his notes on Herodotus, Plato, Aristotle, the rhetoricians, and numerous other subjects. Dobree was honoured among 'the first rank of English textual scholars' for his accuracy, rigour, and literary sensitivity - qualities
Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff (1848–1931) was one of the most prominent German philologists of his time and his work is still well regarded. This book, originally published in 1893, is a detailed analysis of the The Constitution of the Athenians, then usually (though not universally) regarded as a work of Aristotle. Wilamowitz accepts Aristotle's authorship of the famous treatise on the history of the constitution that restored democracy after the oligarchy of the Thirty (403 BCE). Volume 1 investigates the historical sources employed by Aristotle, hypothesising that he was using two now lost works in addition to Herodotus and Thucydides, and that these were likely to be chronicles of events in the city. Volume 2 reconstructs Athenian constitutional history on the basis of the work. A number of essays addressing topics on Athenian constitutional history and drawing on such figures as Solon, Peisistratus, Lysias and Isocrates are also included.
Ulrich von Wilamowitz-Moellendorff (1848–1931) was one of the most prominent German philologists of his time and his work is still well regarded. This book, originally published in 1893, is a detailed analysis of the The Constitution of the Athenians, then usually (though not universally) regarded as a work of Aristotle. Wilamowitz accepts Aristotle's authorship of the famous treatise on the history of the constitution that restored democracy after the oligarchy of the Thirty (403 BCE). In Volume 1, he investigates the historical sources employed by Aristotle, hypothesising that he was using at least two now lost works in addition to Herodotus and Thucydides, and that these were likely to be semi-official, contemporary chronicles of events in the city.
Hermann Karl Usener (1834–1905) published his monumental Epicurea in 1887. The volume is a collection of Epicurean texts and citations from a wide range of classical authors including Arrian, Cicero, Diodorus, Euripides, Plato and Seneca. The volume includes critical texts of Epicurus' most important letters: Letter to Menoeceus, Letter to Herodotus and Letter to Pythocles, preserved by the third-century compiler Diogenes Laertius. The letters give important summaries of Epicurus' philosophy. Usener's pioneering work represented the first attempt to deal critically with the manuscript traditions behind Epicurean texts. His reconstructions of the texts included in this volume are based on a thorough understanding of the trajectories of textual transmission. Each text is supported by a detailed critical apparatus, and another apparatus records manuscript glosses and scholia. This work provided for the first time accurate and reliable texts for the critical study of Epicureanism.
The German historian Eduard Meyer's two-volume work on ancient history was first published in 1892–1899. More than any other historian of his time Meyer (1855–1930) insisted on considering world history as a whole, even in the classical period, rather than adopting the traditional subdivision into Roman, Greek and Oriental categories. He was also convinced that a combination of philological and historical approaches was needed for an accurate interpretation of history. In Volume 1 (1892) Meyer gives a thorough account of the Pelasgian people in places such as Attica, the island of Lemnos and Thessaly. He also develops a theoretical framework within which to interpret the question of the history of the Pelasgians and the origin of the Ionians. Meyer pays particular attention to the chronology of the work of the Greek historian Herodotus, placing it in the more general context of Greek historiography and chronology.
This volume ranges in time over a very long period and covers the Greeks' most original contributions to intellectual history. It begins and ends with philosophy, but it also includes major sections on historiography and oratory. Although each of these areas had functions which in the modern world would not be considered 'Literary', the ancients made a less sharp distinction between intellectual and artistic production, and the authors included in this volume are some of Europe's most powerful stylists: Plato, Herodotus, Thucydides and Demosthenes.
How did the city-state of Athens defeat the invaders from Persia, the first world empire, on the plain of Marathon in 490 BCE? Clever scholars skeptical of our earliest surviving source, Herodotus, ha
The central character of Divine Yet Human Epics is the developing conception of epic itself. Its story unfolds as the ancient Greek idea of epic originates with Pindar and Herodotus on the basis of th
This anthology presents over fifty extracts representing all the major Greek prose writers from the fifth century B.C. through to the fourth century A.D.: Herodotus, Thucydides, Lysias, Isocrates, Pla
Revisiting Delphi speaks to all admirers of Delphi and its famous prophecies, be they experts on ancient Greek religion, students of the ancient world, or just lovers of a good story. It invites readers to revisit the famous Oracle of Apollo at Delphi, along with Herodotus, Euripides, Socrates, Pausanias and Athenaeus, offering the first comparative and extended enquiry into the way these and other authors force us to move the link between religion and narrative centre stage. Their accounts of Delphi and its prophecies reflect a world in which the gods frequently remain baffling and elusive despite every human effort to make sense of the signs they give.
Classicists and biblical scholars consider other sources besides Herodotus and the Bible for insight into Achaemenid Persia. They cover Herodotus on the character of Persian imperialism; the use and a
This is the first comprehensive commentary on a section of Xenophon's Anabasis in English for almost a century. It provides up-to-date guidance on literary, historical and cultural aspects of the Anabasis and will help undergraduate students to read Greek better. It also incorporates recent advances in Xenophontic scholarship and Greek linguistics, showcasing in particular Xenophon's linguistic innovations and varied style. Advanced students and professional scholars will also profit from the sustained attention which this commentary devotes to Xenophon's varied narrative strategies and to the reception of episodes from Anabasis III in antiquity. The introduction and commentary show that Xenophon is just as important (if not more so) to the development of Greek historiography, and of Greek prose in general, as Herodotus and Thucydides.
Ancient Greeks remembered their past before the rise of historiography and after it poetry and oratory continued to serve commemorative functions. This book explores the field of literary memory in the fifth century BCE, juxtaposing the works of Herodotus and Thucydides with samples from epinician poetry, elegy, tragedy and oratory. Various socio-political contexts and narrative forms lent themselves to the expression of diverse attitudes towards the past. At the same time, a common gravitational centre can be observed which is distinct from modern ideas of history. As well as presenting a broad overview on memory in various genres, Professor Grethlein sheds new light on the rise of Greek historiography. He views Herodotus and Thucydides against the background of memory in poetry and oratory and thereby elucidates the tension between tradition and continuity in which the shaping of historiography as a genre took place.
