The Histories by Herodotus Review

So a few weeks ago I finally conquered The Histories by Herodotus, a historian who lived approximately from 484-425 BC. This notable work of history is partly an account of the war between Greece and Persia in the 5th century BC, but also an inquiry into different cultures and nations, which the author has either witnessed himself (probably), or heard about through oral accounts. I was very intrigued to read this rather long book, because it is generally accepted as the foundation of historical writing as a genre, and I thought it would be fascinating to read about a time that long gone from someone who was actually alive back then and wrote down what he was told and witnessed himself.

It was indeed a fascinating read, especially the first few books. I read the Penguin Classics Deluxe edition, which is full to bursting with useful notes, comes with thirteen different and very handy maps, and two introductions. These are by the translator (Tom Holland) and editor (Paul Cartledge) and show their admiration for Herodotus' work. Both were lovely to read and made me even more excited to dive into the work.

When it comes to general reading enjoyment, I have to admit that I was sometimes a bit bored and was looking forward to finally finishing it (I think it took me at least a month to read it, longer than while I spent only two weeks on War and Peace). There are a fair few longer passages on rivers, through which regions they flow, why they rise at what time, and so on. I really struggled to concentrate on these parts, because, frankly, I'm just not interested in that. But that, of course, is my personal opinion, and I think others might find the detailed descriptions of the land's makeup more than two thousand years ago very fascinating.

There is also a huge variety of characters that are introduced at one point and then reappear at a point much further on in the narrative. The notes were really helpful here because they indicate where characters were mentioned before. I would have been completely lost without them. I was also a bit lost on the different origins and histories of the different peoples, unfortunately. This might be easier upon a re-read, I think. When it finally came to the Greco-Persian War, I felt a bit underwhelmed as well, but that might just have been my personal opinion, I'm not a big fan of long and tedious battle scenes.

These were the only things I disliked about The Histories, though. Otherwise I was actually drawn into the story at several points, despite the fact that it is a more or less historical narrative. The stories about single characters, like Croesus' rise and downfall or how Darius became king were highly enjoyable. The part of the narrative concerned with Egypt was also really readable and entertaining, especially the parts about the mythical creatures living there, such as the phoenix. This may not be historically correct on all points, but it just cave the otherwise often dry narrative a bit more colour.

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All in all, I am very glad to have read this important piece of literature. I don't know how much I really took from it, but I also think it is a book that needs to be revisited to get the most out of it. Maybe it also shouldn't be read in one go, but rather one part here and there, so as not to get tired of it too quickly. I can still recommend this for anyone interested in ancient history, who doesn't look for something too historically accurate but rather for something that takes one back in time. The introduction to the Penguin Classics Deluxe edition also points out some useful information on accuracy. So an edition with notes like those by Penguin can only be recommended to get the most from the reading experience.