thucydides history of the peloponnesian war sparknotes

Herodotus probably started writing intending just to cover the two Persian Wars. No Greek had ever written a long narration of past events in prose. Centuries earlier, Homer had used poetry to write The Iliad, which is about the Trojan Wars. It was first “published” on papyrus scrolls in Athens, probably in a series, starting around 430 B.C. The book is today known as The Histories. He did not finish his life’s work until he moved to Thurii, a Greek colony in southern Italy.

Herodotus entertained Athenians and other Greeks by reading parts of his work for a fee. For many years, he had been writing an account of the wars between Greece and Persia, which had ended when he was a small child. Herodotus was curious and learned everything he could about the non-Greek world.Īt about age 35, Herodotus settled in Athens. He toured the lands of the eastern Mediterranean, and maybe the city of Babylon in Mesopotamia (now Iraq). He ventured into Eastern Europe where a nomadic people called Scythians lived. He visited Greek colonies along the northern coast of the Black Sea. When he was a youngster, Herodotus and his family fled Halicarnassus after backing an unsuccessful revolt against the tyrant who ruled the city.Īs a young man, Herodotus traveled widely, perhaps as a merchant. His family was probably aristocratic and wealthy. in Halicarnassus, a city settled by Greeks on the western coast of Asia Minor (today’s Turkey).

We know little about the personal life of Herodotus. Together these ancient Greek writers became the first true historians in Western civilization. Thucydides wrote about the civil war between Athens and Sparta. Herodotus wrote about the wars between Persia and Greece. Herodotus and Thucydides: Inventing History Herodotus and Thucydides: Inventing History | Gutenberg and the Printing Revolution in Europe | Henry Clay: Compromise and Union

Thucydides history of the peloponnesian war sparknotes