The Histories Livy Analysis

“In history you have the record of the infinite variety of human experience plainly set out for all to see; and in that record you can find for yourself both examples and warnings: fine things to take as models, base things, rotten through and through to avoid.” (Livy 34). Herodotus lived centuries before Livy’s time, but fits Livy’s view of the historian’s job remarkably well, with only a few minor discrepancies. The anecdotal nature of The Histories lends itself well to stories of morality, to give its audience Livy’s “fine things to take as models, base things [...] to avoid,” although the focus is not necessarily on cultural values, but rather to document the history, as he knew it, of the Greek world.

In the opening lines of The Histories,

There is a plethora of anecdotes conveying the ideals of Athenian society, from celebrated heroes to moral tales of wisdom and adherence to ethical codes. An example of the latter is the tale of Gyges and Candaules, to tell the tale of succession. “Candaules conceived a passion for his own wife,” and wanted others to observe her beauty. Candaules, king of Sardis, demanded that his bodyguard, Gyges, see her naked, a major taboo. Gyges is in no position to disobey his king, so he does as directed. The queen realizes, and since only her husband can see her naked, tells Gyges: “Kill Candaules and seize the throne, with me as your wife; or die yourself on the spot [...] One of you must die; either my husband, the author of this wicked plot; or you, who have outraged propriety.” He chose the first option, and becomes the head of a new dynasty (Herod 1.8-12). In this case, the breach of morality ends up with one king dead and another rising into a colorful new dynasty, something that never would have happened if the original king had simply kept to propriety: this is Herodotus’ purpose in including anecdotes such as this; a bridge between etiology and a lesson in