7 Surprising Stories from Herodotus' Histories

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

How reliable do you think ancient historians like Herodotus were? And what are your favourite stories in Herodotus’ works?

[@francescasantorolhoir2805]

Considering that he invented the genre, and that the original meaning of 'historia' was 'inquiry', Herodotus certainly fulfils that function; as your analysis of the gold-digging ants implies, the stories contain kernels of truth. I have two favourites: 1) Cleisthenes of Sicyon and the Big Party; 2) Alcmaeon filling his boots with Croesus' gold dust!

[@HarvardArchaeology]

He's an EYEWITNESS. He's your grandfather. You can't call grandpa a liar in 2024. If he goes into detail saying "the egyptian natives are blackened with the heat " then it's true. Hidden history since napoleon went in in the year 1799. His scientists and he found out then. The YACUB story was deciphered as well. That story cannot possibly be true. But ben franklin studied it and believed it. Hitler tried to copy it immediately.

[@stevenbrown9275]

I remember reading Herodotus and I really enjoyed it. The stories are quite entertaining.

[@Tekmirion]

Herodotus indeed is a great, true and wonderful source of information about history and gives many clues about ancient times! Bravo Kelly and WHE!

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

He truly is, we hope you enjoyed the video! Thanks for watching!

[@THomAs.H.P.76]

5:45 It is funny how the wall was being taken. It was a steep cliff that wasn't guarded well because it was considered safe. A guard in that cliff dropped his helmet and later climbed down the hill to take it. But a soldier of the Persian army saw him and told the Persians how to get into the city. The whole city fell for a helmet.

[@IsabelRodriguez-nv2ue]

Thank you very much for this video. It is very well organized, summarized and presented. Truly helpful in knowing this Ancient History. Best wishes to all!

[@philipswain4122]

I’m delving into Herodotus after I read Epicurus and Lucretius.

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Happy reading!

[@jimmyfaulkner1855]

Great Video. This passage from Herodotus’ The Histories 8.68 (tr. Godley) always stands out to me: “And I say to you this: spare your ships, and do not fight at sea. Their men are as much stronger than your men by sea as men are stronger than women. Why is it so necessary for you to risk everything by fighting at sea? Do you not possess Athens, for which you set out on this march, and do you not have the rest of Hellas? No one stands in your way. Those who opposed you have received what they deserved. I will tell you how I think the affairs of your enemies will turn out: If vou do not hurry to hght at sea, but keep your ships here and stay near land, or even advance into the Peloponnese, then, my lord, you will easily accomplish what you had in mind on coming here. The Hellenes are not able to hold out against you for a long time, but you will scatter them, and they will each flee to their own cities. I have learned that they have no food on this island, and it is not likely, if you lead your army against the Peloponnese, that those of them who have come from there will sit still, nor will they care to fight at sea for Athens. But if you hurry to fight at sea immediately, I fear that your fleet if reduced to cowardice may also injure your army on land. In addition, my King, take this to heart: Good people's slaves tend to be base, and the slaves of the base tend to be good. You, who are best among men, have base slaves, who are accounted your allies, the Egyptians and Cyprians and Cilicians and Pamphylians, who are of no use at all.” What do you think is the true significance and legacy of Artemisia I of Caria as expressed in this passage by Herodotus? I ask because it seems bizarre that a Greek on the opposite side in the war would give her so much praise in his work.

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Thanks! I believe it was because he admired Artemisia's bravery and tenacity during battle. Even though she was an enemy of Greece, her qualities could still be appreciated. 🙂

[@NefariousKoel]

Regarding the auction of wives, I recall Herodotus saying it was a past custom of a small local area in Babylonia. Not all the Babylonian cities. As told to him by the locals of his time.

[@cgt3704]

He also speaks of the dacians, the ancestors of romanians (myself included). He says they are the bravest of the Thracians and says of their god Xalmoxis who was according to him according to him, a freed slave of Pythagoras who ascended to godhood.

[@xanderwynn4357]

His descriptions of Egypt are my favorite

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

They're fascinating for sure. Thanks for watching! 🙂

[@waynemcleod6767]

Excellent video.

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Glad you liked it!

[@AB-et6nj]

Nice video! Keep up the great work!

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Thanks so much!

[@saadabbas8976]

Country and Customs of the Scythians Herodotus is convinced that the Sycthians descend from Heracles, which makes them the youngest people in the world. There are several Greek cities on the shores of the Black Sea, where people have a more or less decent lifestyle.

[@amankumar-zx1eo]

Heredotus book historia is freely available on KZbin in form of audiobook.i am about to hear that,but after seeing your vedio ,I will start that very soon

[@marichristian]

Strange. I've always heard the king's name pronounced Creesus.

[@concreteflies3457]

In Herodotus V 33 the tyrant Aristagoras and the persian Megabates try to get hold of Naxos but dont get along very well. Megabates turns out to be picky and conjures up a argument about the discipline of the guards. Aristagoras says: you really want to have a say in anything do you? They get mad about each other and they fail in taking over Naxos. Could this be the first description of micromanagement and its toxic consequences?

[@lakshmipraveen6393]

I like all!!!

[@arunwazir6667]

Mujhe naukar rakhoge agar main bnu toh plzzz reply

[@ayeshafazal6174]

it's amazing

[@TheMusicalStylingsofBrentBunn]

People tell me Herodotus was inaccurate as a historian. Are you telling me a guy wasn't kidnapped by pirates, thrown overboard to drown, and rescued by dolphins whom he rode all the way home?

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

He clearly embellished a lot of things. 😉

[@sergthaone136]

He may have also been a fan of shrooms it seems…

[@regatta2k]

Wish if she brings the microphone closer to her. Sorry, the audio is pretty bad. Sorry again. Peace :)

[@Juliana-Bub]

It sounds fine to me. Maybe you need to address an issue with your device audio.

[@Davigaming049]

Herodotus was more a folklorist than a historian, which is all he himself claimed to be.

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

What he wrote definitely has to taken with a grain of salt. Thanks for watching!

[@patrickrevels7292]

So you show his map but nobody is talking about Atlantis?

[@maxxmabemwe4859]

The story of Atlantis was first told to Solon by a priest of Kemet. However, Solon did not speak the language of Kemet so it is likely that Plato, after hearing the story after it had been run through so many minds, got his story wrong.

[@L1LxCashx615]

Hmm he never once spoke of hebrews or jews. But according to biblical history the jews ruled all the lands more then once

[@ChadPowers7]

I seen a video that the man showed that the lost tribe or the tribe of Esau when it was scattered became some of the Greeks, Romans etc of the ancient world.

[@maxxmabemwe4859]

@@ChadPowers7 Please stop saying: I seen. The proper tense usage of the verb see is: I see, I saw, I have seen. You saw a video.

[@HarvardArchaeology]

PERSIANS were black like they've said for centuries. 14:07 look at the skin color. No one is getting that dark. Look at the hair curled up on the head and beard. No debates. An ethiopian colony.

[@GoogleUserOne]

Let’s be honest your retelling isn’t even close to accurate. So I’ll take herodatus over this sophomoric nonsense

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Erm, this video is about Herodotus.

[@iraqwarveteran470]

Haha, she didn't even get it! Classic. You clearly said "retelling" as in retelling of Herodotus and that you'd rather just read the original text instead of her summary. Crazy that she needed that spelled out to understand. Peace Google User! As for World History Encyclopedia, I think I'll subscribe to something else. I've also read all the primary texts.