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Recommended: ancient greek culture
Greek History
"In this book, the result of my inquiries into history, I hope to…preserve the memory of the past by putting on record the astonishing achievements both of our own
and of the Asiatic peoples…." With this "mission statement" Herodotus introduces his Histories, the first recorded history text in the western world. Using fragments
of the past he reconstructs a picture of the whole; the objects of his researches included first-hand accounts and tales passed down through generations, physical
remains and artifacts, and his own intelligence and creativity. Using sources such as these (though he cites nothing), Herodotus describes the foundation of the Theran
colony of Cyrene, ca. 630 B.C.E.. In compiling this account, he may have used the colony's foundation decree. The facts given in this decree, which we know through
a fourth century B.C.E. inscription, agree with those given in the Histories. The authenticity of this decree is strong. The decree could not have been the only source
Herodotus consulted, for while certain details in the Histories agree with the foundation decree, Herodotus gives an account of Cyrene's founding containing much more
description.
Both accounts begin with Apollo's oracle at Delphi urging the Therans to found a new colony in Libya, on the coast of northern Africa. Already Herodotus' account
goes into much more detail than the inscription. The inscription tells only that, on the oracular advice, Thera sends Battos with colonists to Libya. Herodotus, however,
records how the Theran king Grinnos chose Battos, not a Theran by birth, to be the leader of the colonists. Herodotus' account continues with a description of a long
delay in the found...
... middle of paper ...
...Works Cited addendum to the Histories, and scholars have often maligned his work for taking many liberties with sparse evidence to flesh out the work. Such scholars
can, however, use facts and artifacts known to modern archaeology to confirm his writing, and the inscription of the Theran decree does verify the Histories on several
counts. Other aspects of the events related in the Histories, such as Herodotus' record of the dead at Marathon, archaeologists have proven through research and excavation. Alone the colonization decree cannot completely prove the truth of Herodotus' account, for he provides many aspects to the story which lie beyond the scope of the decree, but it does serve to reign in the skepticism with which several classicists regard the Histories.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Demand, Nancy. A History of Ancient Greece. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1996.
I, Francisco de Bobadilla was a colonial administrator and Spanish conquistador. I was a Knight of the Order of Calatrava and an Castilian of the Royal House . I was sent as a judge to the island of the San Salvador, where I arrested Columbus for Corruption in his government. I served as governor of Indies for 2 years .
...e characters consumed their time adjusting all sorts of documents to make the world of the past seem favorable to the party by altering it. Now we use a few trusted online sources, most of our general knowledge originates from these sources. These could easily be deliberately altered. Thinking about it, when was the last time you saw someone use an encyclopedia? Most people use Google or Wikipedia as their sources. We put trust into these sources when we have no idea where they come from, the information comes from people that voluntarily put them up.
Herodotus is a Greek historian who travelled to Egypt and wrote down his observations about the Egyptians in his second volume of his histories. He is also well known as the “father of history”, although his observations were not always accurate. Through his experience in Egypt, he developed many different views of what he thought the Egyptians were, and why they were worth describing. Herodotus made observations on the Egyptian’s because their habits and customs were reversed from other countries.
Herodotus and Sima Qian were undoubtedly great historians due to their substantial advancements in history writing. Thomas R. Martin concludes that the link between Herodotus and Sima Qian is their common goal to create history as a guide to the past, and that the history they create is left up to individual interpretation. Although the time period, backgrounds, and situations between the two historians were vastly different, comparing both of their work is an opportunity to view the writing of history across cultures and around the world. Their ability to write intricate and lengthy histories during the time in which they lived and under the circumstances they faced make them great historians. The way they composed their material and shared it with the world should be recognized and accounted for.
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
Rouse. "Hispaniola: Caribbean Chiefdoms in the Age of Columbus." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2014.
Tacitus. The Annals of Tacitus. Edited and annotated by Henry Furneaux. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1907.
Bailkey, Nels M. Readings in Ancient History: Thought and Experience from Gilganesh to St. Augustine. Third edition. Lexington, MA: D.C.Heath and Co., 1987.
The book begins with an explanation of the purpose of historians. This information guides the reader into the next section, which is a simple overview of historiography. Gilderhus begins referencing common historians at this part of the book. A general knowledge of history in general is needed to comprehend this writing, though Gilderhus does provide brief explanations about the men on which he writes. I disagree with Gilderhus’ belief that the Hebrew accounts were too religious. I believe that the author makes an unfair assumption that parts of the Old Testament are not true, when in fact he has no basis for that claim. Much of the Hebrew writings are historically accurate and it does not make sense to believe only part of Old Testament and entirely disregard the other
history had taken a huge turn expanding our minds to see this era in a positive perspective. But
Looking back into the history of certain events affords the modern researcher the ability to examine a variety of documents and artifacts. It is important, however, to take into account biases, inaccuracies, errors in translation, and overall misinformation when examining primary sources, particularly historical documents. Examining the history of the conquest of the Aztec empire is no different, and in a scenario as tense as it was it is extremely important to consider the authorship of the text. Bernal Diaz’ The Conquest of New Spain and Miguel Leon-Portilla’s The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico offer two distinct looks into the same event in history. Both documents offer differing takes of the same events, so when
of ‘Biblical Archaeology’ and saw it as a means of establishing the credibility of the
Primary Source Analysis 2 / Chapter 7: Travelers’ Tales and Observations (Sources 7.1 / 7.2)
...anges which occurred over a period of time and why these changes occurred but who was responsible for them. Archaeological findings are essential especially when there is a lack of written primary sources. The most common findings in this field include; cave art, pottery, and weaponry used for both hunting and fighting. In later cases of archaeological excavations written evidence was well provided and artifacts recovered at the site were used as an aid in studying a particular culture. Moreover, it is quite obvious that all of the following elements pertaining to archaeology have positively contributed to our further understanding of human culture in previous centuries. Discoveries by archeologists not only give us significant insight into our past but they also give us essential information necessary for a comprehensive understanding of our present and our future.
Imagine reading a book and soaking in new information only to find out that all the information is wrong. Before the start of The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown writes that, “All descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate” (Brown 1). Dan Brown claims that the historical facts presented in The Da Vinci Code are true and accurate; however, while it is tempting to believe that these “facts” are true, it is unlikely that they are because Brown’s historical references are either false or nonexistent.