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Both amusing and sometimes credulous he records myth and fact as he uncovered it.For any student, young or old with an interest in where it all began, I recommend this book. I was recently doing research on the Pharoahs of Egypt and I kept finding references to Herodotus'Fifth Century BC book THE HISTORIES. I felt it important to read this biography, as he is considered "The Father Of History." During the golden age of Greece he was there to travel throughout the Mediterranean world, visiting Egypt, Africa, Persia,the Black Sea and the city states of Greece.
I then paged through a copy of the Landmark Herodotus and realized that the experience of reading this would be better with the added illustration and annotations so I switched.Nevertheless the Penguin is a smaller more portable version that is serviceable enough. On the other hand he tends to go off on long tangents in order to set up a specific incident and at times the book drags.I personally found the penguin edition and the Selincourt translation fine as an introduction but as I got about halfway through I found the absence of maps and foot notes a bit distracting as place names became more obscure to me. As others have noted below , reading Herodotus is a mixed experience. On the one hand he is a fascinating story teller and hearing about the ancients and the places they inhabited from him is endlessly entertaining.
If you don't mind having a larger book in front of you, I recommend the Strassler edition, which features extensive maps and footnotes (this work only had endnotes). I haven't actually read the work, but I've read its counterpart, "The Landmark Thucydides," and found it to be a large improvement over similar editions.This book is easy enough to follow, but at times drags on. While I found the material entertaining and the translation laudable, I can't help but criticize the format of this work in light of similar, but better, editions. I speak specifically of "The Landmark Herodotus," by Strassler.
The focus begins in Lydia and Media, then shifts briefly to Egypt before ultimately settling on an extended account of Xerxes' invasion of Greece and the events leading up to that war. Critical battles like Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis and Plataea are recounted in some detail.My only complaint is that Herodotus is very rambling and often disjointed in his presentation.
Thankfully all his digressions eventually work their way back around, but I personally found this a bit distracting and occasionally hard to follow. He is prone to excessive digression (in my opinion) and frequently leads his readers on merry rabbit chases to set up some background information for a particular tale that he is about to relate.
The Histories of Herodotus are, without a doubt, one of the premier sources in any study of the antiquities. Certain personalities among the Greeks and Ionians also figure prominently at various points, such as Periander and Themistocles.
On a final note, I would add that The Histories are not light reading, but definitely worth the time investment for any lover of history. Spanning hundreds of years, Herodotus provides a rich narrative of the Aegean and eastern Mediterranean region during the height of the Greek and Medo-Persian empires.
The cultures of Greece, Egypt and especially Persia are highlighted, along with the geography of Greece, Asia Minor and the Black Sea region.Key players in the narrative start with Lydian kings like Astyages and Croesus, but quickly shift focus to the Persian dynasty that included the likes of Cyrus, Cambyses, Darius and Xerxes.
It's like listening to grandpa tell tales of the old day, with many round-abouts and never-the-lesses. My 10th grade son is reading it to me, and we laugh often at the author's quirks. If not for the history, read it for the storytelling within. I will not cover the historical significance of this text; it's been done elsewhere, better than I could. I will say, however, that it's been a hoot to hear it read out loud.
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