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.
Odysseus’s revenge towards the suitors, whose only crime was the crime of theft, was unnecessarily cruel, after all, a hero must be able to forgive. It has been twenty years since anyone on Ithaka have seen, or even heard news about Odysseus. Therfore, it would have been perfectly pliable to pronounce him dead. “ He has been gone for twenty years.” The people of Ithaka were all under the impression that Odysseus, has in fact, passed a...
However, Heroditus’ Histories briefly detail the major events of the war, and relays them as if they were historical fact. Heroditus’ account of the war differs slightly from Homer’s version, and he is well aware of this. After relating the tale of Alexander (Paris) carrying off Helen, Heroditus writes:... ... middle of paper ... ...
This paper will offer a commentary on Herodotus’ Histories 2.129-135. Book Two of Histories concerns itself with Egypt; specifically chapters 99-182 detail rulers of Egypt both legendary and actual. Book Two is distinct from the other books in Histories as it is in this book that we predominantly experience Herodotus as an investigator. More precisely it is in Book Two that Herodotus treats first person experience not as direct evidence but as a method of assessing the accounts of others. Chapters 129-135 provide us with the tale of King Mycerinus as recounted by whom Herodotus refers to in 2.127 as simply ‘ÆGYPTIOI’. These Egyptians are referred to at various points in Book Two and at times appear to refer to what might be termed ‘Egyptians in general’ . However, we can make a reasonable assumption in this instance, given what has been stated before at 2.99 and what is stated later at 2.142, that the Egyptians that provide Herodotus with the tale of King Mycerinus are probably priests. It should not be assumed that priests are any more reliable than the lay Egyptian in Histories however; the Egyptian priesthood did not necessarily concern itself with historical accuracy. Indeed the inclusion of priests may simply be a Herodotean literary device designed to reinforce his reader’s credulity.
Herodotus was an interesting historian. His way of displaying a historical event such as the Persian War is different from how I expect a modern day historian to write it. He does not try to focus only on the Persian war but he goes into detail some times of the lineage of the rulers of the city-states even though that serves little relevance to the actual war. The accounts of history I am used to reading are more focused on the bigger issue and the historians do not deviate on long trains of side thoughts such as Herodotus does. Herodotus style of writing had me confused because he often would start on one topic and in the next couple of sentences move on to another topic before coming back to his main point about a paragraph down. I had to
Life is a series of crossroads, major and minor, and each decision plays a key part in analysing the character of a person. In “Hills Like White Elephants” Ernest Hemingway tears back the curtains and exposes one of these moments in full ingenuousness. A man and a woman, named Jig, are at an impasse. They have to decide whether or not they are going to abort their child. The man wants no change in his life, and so he wants no child. The woman wants a change in lifestyle, but in order to keep the child she has to break the autonomous lifestyle that has surrounded her for her entire life. She, in essence, must change her identity in order to follow her aspirations. By juxtaposing the character’s perceived identity to the character’s hopes, Hemingway provides the reader with certain axioms of life. These axioms that Hemingway presents fit into the curriculum of Junior Year by relating to specific values and social conventions, by having literary merit and lastly by transcending time by influencing modern society’s media themes and motifs.
“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.
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 “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
“Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway is about a couple, the American and Jig, who contemplate whether or not to have an abortion. The premise of the story seems simple enough, but the outcome is highly debated. Critics argue that the baby was kept by the couple ( Renner ) and others claim the baby was aborted.( Fletcher ) Others have even simplified the story, claiming that the issue was not resolved because the couple was drunk by the end of the story. ( Sipiora ) Although the conclusion is in questions many have agreed with the idea that the couples relationship would be changed and would end prematurely. ( Wyche ) Dialogue is the main technique in conveying this argument but we can only understand the complexity of Hemingway’s work by looking at the story as a whole. By looking at the many symbols, intrinsically and
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 Iceberg Principle that Hemingway is so fond of, has already given rise to many discussions over the years. Giving away only a tip of it, Hemingway leaves us behind with a great amount of mystery in his stories.
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 “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, the author employs the use of the iceberg theory to convey a hidden message within the lines of the story for the reader. Through the use of strictly dialogue, Hemingway allows the reader to only see the part of the iceberg that is above water. The rest of the story is inferred by the reader. For example, Hemingway uses simple sentences rather than complex sentences to get straight to the point. All of Hemingway’s use of detail and explanations of scenery or background is made simple.
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.
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.