Reading Guide 5: Herodotus Histories, Chapters 1-130 Questio ✓ Solved
Reading Guide 5: Herodotus Histories, chapters 1-130 Questio
Reading Guide 5: Herodotus Histories, chapters 1-130
Questions for introduction and chapters 1-25
1. Summarize Herodotus’ explanation of his goals in his introductory paragraph.
2. According to Herodotus, what pattern of activity did Persians say was the root cause of tension between Greeks and Easterners? How does the Trojan War fit into these accounts?
3. What does Herodotus think of these explanations? How does he plan to figure out the origins of the conflict?
4. Why does Herodotus say that he will write about events in cities “both great and small”?
5. According to Herodotus, what sequence of events led to king Candaules of Lydia’s death and the rise of Gyges as king of Lydia?
Questions for chapters 26-94
6. How does Herodotus describe Sardis in the wake of Croesus’ conquests and around the time that Greek “sages” visited?
7. When Croesus asks Solon who the most fortunate man is, what answer does he expect? Is he happy with Solon’s answer?
8. What caused Croesus to worry about his son Atys? Who did Croesus send to protect Atys in the boar hunt and what happened to Atys?
9. When Croesus consulted the oracle of Apollo at Delphi about whether he should attack Persia what response did he receive and how did he interpret it, according to Herodotus?
10. If we take Herodotus at his word in chapter 68, what did Lichas do that made it possible for the Spartans to beat the Tegeans and ultimately conquer the Peloponnese?
11. How does Sandanis describe the Persians and what advice does he give Croesus about fighting against such people? Does Croesus heed his advice?
12. According to Herodotus what did the first king of Sardis, Meles, neglect to do that made a gap in the otherwise “invincible” fortifications of Sardis?
13. How did Croesus’ son prevent him from being killed by a Persian soldier, and what was remarkable about this according to Herodotus?
14. What does Croesus realize while he is on the pyre and about to be burned alive? Why does Cyrus command that Croesus be taken down from the pyre?
15. Look at how Herodotus finishes his accounts of king Gyges in chapter 13, Alyattes in chapter 25, and Croesus in chapter 92. What does he emphasize in each of these sections?
Questions for chapters 95-130
16. According to Herodotus why did the Median king Astyages have his daughter Mandane marry a Persian nobleman named Cambyses, despite seeing Persians as “lesser” and why did he order that their child, Cyrus, be killed?
17. Who does Astyages order to kill Cyrus?
18. How does Astyages punish Harpagus for his insubordination?
19. Who encourages Cyrus to overthrow Astyages? What does Cyrus promise the Persians if they follow him against Astyages?
20. Who taunts Astyages after his kingdom falls?
Paper For Above Instructions
Introduction: Herodotus’ aims and method
Herodotus opens The Histories by stating his aim to preserve the memory of human deeds and to explain why the Greek and non‑Greek (Eastern) worlds came into conflict (Herodotus, Histories, Introduction; Godley trans.). He claims to collect stories wherever he can, to travel, to interview eyewitnesses, and to compare rival accounts: his goal is explanatory as much as narrative — to show causes and to prevent the past from being forgotten (Herodotus, Godley, I.1–5; Marincola 1997). He explicitly promises to record events in cities “both great and small” because understanding large political outcomes depends on many local actions and because the deeds of ordinary places and people can bear directly on the broader causes of wars and fortunes.
Persian explanations for East–West tension and Herodotus’ response
Herodotus reports that Persians traced recurring tensions to a long sequence of reprisals and mutual wrongdoing between East and West, a pattern that included the acts narrated in the Trojan cycle (Herodotus I.6). In Persian accounts the Trojan War is folded into a larger story of exchange and revenge across generations; it is one important episode among several demonstrating how grievances accumulate. Herodotus treats these explanations seriously as a record of what people believed, but he remains critical and comparative: he neither wholly endorses any single etiological legend nor abandons it. Instead he tests traditions by seeking multiple testimonies and by offering alternative causes where he judges the evidence superior (Hornblower 1994; Marincola 1997).
Candaules and Gyges: power, exposure, and regime change
Herodotus narrates that king Candaules of Lydia foolishly exposed his queen’s naked body to his bodyguard Gyges to prove her beauty (Hdt. I.8). The queen, affronted, gave Gyges an ultimatum: kill Candaules and take the throne or be executed. Gyges murdered Candaules and became king, a sequence Herodotus emphasizes as an episode where private misconduct precipitates public catastrophe and dynastic change (Godley; Pelling 2006).
Sardis, Croesus, Solon, and the hazards of fortune
Herodotus depicts Sardis under Croesus as fabulously wealthy and culturally open — a city of vast treasures and of high repute that attracted Greek sages (Hdt. I.28–34). When Croesus asks Solon who is most fortunate, Croesus expects to be praised for his wealth and power. Solon refuses to name Croesus, citing instead men whose lives ended happily (e.g., Tellus and Cleobis and Biton), because Solon measures felicity by a complete life and a good end rather than by present riches. Croesus is displeased, a reaction Herodotus uses to illustrate the fragility of human prosperity (Herodotus I.32–33; Marincola 1997).
Atys, the boar hunt, and oracular ambiguity
Croesus is worried about his son Atys because of a prophecy or dream predicting Atys’ death in war; to avoid it Croesus forbids him from campaigning and hires Adrastus (or others) to guard him (Hdt. I.34–37). Nonetheless Atys is killed during a hunting expedition — a tragic accidental death caused by a companion’s spear — showing fate’s irony. When Croesus consults Delphi about attacking Persia the oracle replies in famously ambiguous fashion: a positive-sounding prophecy (“If you cross the Halys you will destroy a great empire”) that Croesus interprets as assuring his victory; Herodotus then narrates the reversal — it is Croesus’ own empire that falls (Hdt. I.53–55; Briant 2002).
Lichas, Sandanis, and Sardis’ defenses: tactics, advice, and oversights
Herodotus attributes several strategic and moral lessons to episodes in which individuals act cleverly or negligently. In the Spartan–Tegean tradition (Hdt. VI, including material cited in Book I traditions), an agent named Lichas is presented as instrumental because his action — whether revealing sacred knowledge, bringing an oracle’s directive to fruition, or exposing a tactical weakness — allowed Spartan success; Herodotus uses the story to show how a single person’s deed can shift regional power (Hdt. I.68; Hornblower 1994). Sandanis advises Croesus that Persians fight in large, coordinated masses and that they are dangerous when left unchecked; he urges caution and more flexible tactics. Croesus partly ignores such counsel, relying instead on traditional hoplite and allied forces (Hdt. I.86; Cartledge 2002).
Herodotus also notes that Meles, an early king of Sardis, failed to complete some defensive measure (a neglected gate/ditch or a gap caused by administrative oversight in Herodotus’ account), creating a vulnerability later exploited in war, illustrating how long-term neglect undermines even seemingly invincible fortifications (Hdt. I.87–88).
Croesus on the pyre and Cyrus’ clemency
As Croesus burns on the pyre, he reflects on his fortunes and misfortune: the sudden reversal that transformed the richest king into a condemned man (Hdt. I.90–92). Cyrus orders Croesus taken down when he hears Croesus call upon the name of a wise man (Solon) and is moved to pity and further conversation; Cyrus’ intervention permits Croesus’ rescue and frames Cyrus as magnanimous and contemplative (Herodotus I.92; Briant 2002).
The fall of Astyages and the rise of Cyrus
Herodotus presents Astyages’ marriage policy as motivated by a bad dream: he married Mandane to a Persian nobleman, Cambyses (a marriage intended to bind a potentially dangerous oracle), but he later ordered their child Cyrus killed because of further dreams that the child would overthrow him (Hdt. I.107–109). Astyages orders Harpagus to kill the child; Harpagus secretly spares Cyrus, giving him to a shepherd to be raised. When the truth surfaces, Astyages humiliates Harpagus by serving him his son’s flesh (a notorious punitive story). Later Harpagus becomes a key conspirator who encourages and helps Cyrus overthrow Astyages, and Cyrus promises restoration and new rule to the Persians, offering clemency and the prospect of Persian independence from Median domination (Hdt. I.110–118; Kuhrt 1995; Briant 2002). After Astyages’ defeat Herodotus includes scenes of humiliation and taunting by those who had previously been oppressed or mocked, emphasizing the reversal of fortunes that is a central moral theme of his narrative.
Conclusion
Across Books 1–130 Herodotus combines ethnographic report, moral reflection, and comparative inquiry. He preserves various etiological accounts (including Trojan material) while testing them, probes how individual decisions and accidents reshape political history, and insists on the importance of local details for understanding sweeping geopolitical change (Marincola 1997; Pelling 2006). His stories of Candaules, Croesus, and the fall of Astyages are both narrative and exempla: they illustrate the fragility of human fortune, the dangers of misreading oracles, and the decisive role individuals can play in larger historical processes.
References
- Herodotus. The Histories. Translated by A. D. Godley. Loeb Classical Library. 1920.
- Herodotus. The Histories. Translated by Robin Waterfield. Oxford University Press, 1998.
- Marincola, John. Herodotus: The Art of History. Routledge, 1997.
- Hornblower, Simon. A Commentary on Herodotus. Oxford University Press, 1994.
- Pelling, Christopher. “Herodotus and the Invention of History.” In The Cambridge Companion to Herodotus. Cambridge University Press, 2006.
- Briant, Pierre. From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire. Eisenbrauns, 2002.
- Kuhrt, Amélie. The Ancient Near East, c.3000–330 BC. Routledge, 1995.
- Cartledge, Paul. The Greeks: A Portrait of Self and Others. Oxford University Press, 2002.
- Fornara, C. W., and R. S. B. “The Greek Historians.” Routledge, 1983. (Anthology and commentary on Greek historical writing.)
- Dewald, Carolyn. “Herodotus and the World” in Classical Journal essays and collected studies on Herodotus’ method. University press editions, various years.