Herodotus and ‘Rhampsinitus and the Thief’ BY: Layla Brown Herodotus, the first Greek historian, has been called by some "the father of history" and by others "the father of lies." Born in 485 B.C to a wealthy family at Halicarnassus, in Asia Minor, he was exiled to Samos soon after his birth because of his family’s opposition to the Persian domination of Ionia. During his youth, he traveled widely, studying the manners, customs, and religions of the people he encountered. His histories are made up of tales told to him by people from Egypt, Syria, Babylon, Colchis, Paeonian and Macedonia. He was criticized by several ancient writers for creating stories and passing them off as the truth. Herodotus is most famous for the nine books he wrote on the rise of the Persian Empire, the Persian invasion of Greece in 490 BC and 480 BC, and the final Greek victory. Although it received quite a lot of praise and is still considered a masterpiece, it’s trustworthiness has been questioned both in ancient and modern times. The story that I’m covering is of Rhampsinitus and the Thief (pg. 277). This is a tale that Herodotus learned in Egypt and many believe that this anecdote was told to him by Egyptian priests, claiming it a true story. Herodotus, himself, didn’t actually believe this particular story but he felt it was his duty to report what he was told. Now, for those of you who didn’t read it, I’ll quickly give a brief synopsis of the story. A dying father tells his two sons how to break into the king’s vault, which he, himself, built. The father then dies, leaving the family with no way to support themselves. So the two sons begin their thieving. They manage to escape with the treasure three times before the king sets up a trap, in which one of the brothers gets caught. At his captured brother’s urging, the other brother cuts his sibling’s head off, taking it with his, so the family’s identity would not be known. The next day, the king was bewildered at the sight of a headless thief. He then ordered his sentries to hang the body on the outer wall and arrest anybody seen mourning the headless corpse. The two thieves’ mother, so absolutely distraught over the death of her son, threatens her surviving son, saying that if he didn’t collect the his brother’s body, she would turn him in herself.
Hills like White Elephants by Ernest Hemingway is a short story that deals with the idea of conformity and the conflict caused by internal desire and pressure from another party. The short story is very subtle, and often uses these subtleties in combination with incredible amounts of symbolism interlaced throughout the narrative to cause the reader to look and think deeper into the motives, values and convictions of the conflict between the two protagonists respective desires. When two parties are at an impasse of desire, the conviction of their opposing beliefs become increasingly unshakeable. This results in dissension due to the severe lack of understanding between the parties involved and furthermore, they refuse to be held responsible
In “Hills Like White Elephants” and “The Story of an Hour”, the woman in each story imprisons in the domestic sphere. In “Hills Like White Elephants”, the woman in this story conflicts between keeping the baby or getting abortion although the relationship with her boyfriend would not improve as he said. In “The Story of an Hour”, even though Louise Mallard, an intelligent, independent woman understands that she should grieve for Brently, her husband and worry for her future, she cannot help herself from rejoice at her newfound freedom. The author of this story, Kate Chopin suggests that even with a happy marriage, the loss of freedom and the restraint are the results that cannot be avoid.
The short story, "Hills Like White Elephants," by Ernest Hemingway, has a lot to do with how the author lived. The time period the story mostly relates to is when he was married to Hadley and having an affair with Pauline. The story shows problems within a relationship and a lack of communication between a couple.
The basic plot of the short story “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, is about a couple in between stops on their journey through Spain for an unsaid purpose. The only hint to their purpose is that they are on their way to have an “operation” done for the female protagonist. Hemingway has a careful and precise way of writing (Allen 142). This specific story that he wrote is “deceptive with its simplicity” (Bloom 1). The word “operation” actually means “abortion” which gives this story a darker meaning. However, there is nothing in the story that signifies the morality of abortions. It is about the personal struggle between both characters and their relationship. The couple and main characters of the story are a man and a girl.
“Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway uses symbolism to illustrate the topic of conversation between a couple, although they never mention it directly. Symbolism is shown as the couple is at a bar in the train station and the girl notices the hills like white elephants. There are many aspects such as drinking beer, the hills like white elephants, and repeating the number two that play a role in fully understanding the story. All of these elements combine together to play a role in the author’s purpose, as well as the plot of the story.
of going through with the abortion. As it is now they travel all around the world,
winded conversation between an American man and a woman as they drink beer and wait for a
What would literature be had every author used the same perspective for every single story? Literature would not be as well received as it currently is received. Take three American short stories, “Hills Like White Elephants,” “A Rose for Emily,” and “The Yellow Wallpaper,” for example. These stories, by Hemingway, Faulkner, and Gilman respectively, each utilize a different a point of view. The perspective of a story heavily influences the impact of the story on a reader and that impact varies based on the content of the story.
Herodotus was a true historian. He observed and documented as many cultures, and traditions that he could throughout his life. He also gathered information about science and religion, especially the Egyptians and the Persian Empire; although he described them as peculiar he also credited them as a prideful civilization that refuse...
“My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way” (E. Hemingway, Brainy Quote). It is evident that this is why Ernest Hemingway writes the literary pieces he writes. Hemingway proves this by writing his short story, Hills Like White Elephants. Hemingway also quoted, “I never had to choose a subject - my subject rather chose me” (E. Hemingway, QuotesPedia). This also relates to Hemingway composing Hills Like White Elephants along with many of his other works.
In “Hills like White Elephants” and “A Clean, Well-lighted Place” by Ernest Hemingway the reoccurring use of the thought of death is found in both stories. His minimalistic style of writing makes it difficult to see at first, but toward the end, the importance of understanding the impact of the characters’ thoughts of death becomes clear. The characters in both stories are completely different, but there feelings on the thought of death are very similar. In “Hills like White Elephants” the antagonist Jig and the antagonist the older waiter in “A clean, Well-Lighted Place” have similar feelings of sorrow and despair on the thought of death. On the other hand, both protagonist the American and the younger waiter both feel burdened and have a
The two Greeks writing primarily about Greece, Herodotus and Thucydides, were predominantly writers that concerned themselves mostly with wars and the data surrounding Greek and the combatant’s life during the time of war. Herodotus is considered the father of history, while Thucydides is in turn considered to have modified his method of writing to more exacting standards of accuracy. Herodotus, from Halicarnussus (a city in now-modern Turkey, then a city in the Greek province of Caria), wrote about the origins and customs of people, towns, regions, constitutions, politics of Egypt, Arabia and India, Scythia, Libya, and Thrace (Breisach 2007). His writing style is best described as a self-styled historian, convinced of his self-importance and knowledge, sure to insert his personal viewpoint wherever he deemed it necessary so as to impar...
In the short story by Ernest Hemingway, "Hills Like White Elephants," a couple is delayed at a train station en route to Madrid and is observed in conflict over the girl's impending abortion. In his writing, Hemingway does not offer any commentary through a specific character's point of view, nor, in the storytelling, does he offer his explicit opinions on how to feel or think about the issues that emerge. The narrative seems to be purely objective, somewhat like a newspaper or journal article, and in true Hemingway form the story ends abruptly, without the couple's conflict clearly being resolved. The ambiguity of the ending has been a subject of much debate; however, the impact of what is not said in words can be gleaned through the symbolism of their surroundings. Upon examination of the setting, the couple's final choice becomes instantly apparent.
History is shaped by the historian’s perspective on different events and oftentimes is written to relay various messages to those in which the reading aims at reaching. Herodotus is a prime example of a historian passing on important events in Greece’s history with the purpose of spreading the concept of the good values the people of Greece should be conducting themselves with. Herodotus was referred to by many historians as the “father of history” and often wrote his records based off of the stories that he heard in his travels. Because Herodotus was known to ramble in his wri...
One morning, a well-known gentleman went into a bank in London, and was received immediately by Mr. Alexander Holder, head of the bank. He asked for a loan of fifty thousand Pounds. Mr. Holder asked him to present collateral to cover that large sum of money; the man showed him a crown that belongs to the country. Knowing the risk, Mr. Holder agreed to lend the gentleman that large sum of money if he pays it back in a few days. After the gentleman left Mr. Holder decided to keep the crown all the time near by him, so he took the crown to his home in Streatham. There he lived with his only son Arthur and his niece Mary who was an orphan. He told them about his story with the crown of diamonds. When the father was going to sleep, Arthur asked for two hundred pounds. He refused to give him thinking his son was spoiled by his rich friends who had nothing to do except watch horses. Before going to sleep, he went to check that all windows and doors were locked. He saw Mary at a side window at the hall. She closed it quickly, and Holder noticed that she looked anxious. After he went to sleep, he heard some noise that woke him up; he waited until he heard it again coming from his sitting room. He jumped out of his bed and saw his son holding the crown broken from the side and three diamonds were missing. In grief, he accused Arthur of being a thief and a liar. Meanwhile Mary came in and seeing the crown fainted. Arthur asked if he could leave for five minutes but Holder refused and called the police to take his only beloved son to jail. The police searched the house but could not find anything and advised Holder to get the help of Mr. Holmes the famous detective.