” We have already had
occasion
to re-
(vi.
(vi.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - b
tioned only by Dion Chrysostomus (Orut.
xxxvii.
Thucyd. $ 54 ; Phot. Bibl. Cod. 60. p. 19, Bekk. ; p. 103 ed. Reiske), and probably has no more foun-
Tzetz. Chil. i. 19. ) It should be remarked that dation than the story of the Olympic or Athenian
Lucian is the first writer that relates the story, recitation. Had Herodotus really read his history
and that the others repeat it after him. As Thucy- before any such assembly, his work would surely
dides is called a boy at the time when he heard have been noticed by some of those writers who
the recitation, he cannot have been more than about flourished soon after his time; but such is not the
15 or 16 years of age ; and further, as it is com- case, and nearly a century elapses after the time of
monly supposed that the Olympic festival at which Herodotus, before he and his work emerge from
Thucydides heard the recitation was that of B. C. their obscurity.
456 (01. 81. ), Herodotus himself would have been As, therefore, these traditions on the one hand
no more than 32 years old. Now it seems scarcely do not enable us to fix the time in which the father
credible that Herodotus should have completed his of history wrote his work, and cannot, on the other,
travels and written his work at bo early an age. have any negative weight, if we should be led to
Some critics therefore have recourse to the suppo- other conclusions, we shall endeavour to ascertain
sition, that what he recited at Olympia was only from the work itself the time which we must assign
a sketch or a portion of the work; but this is in for its composition. The history of the Persian
direct contradiction to the statement of Lucian, war, which forms the main substance of the whole
who asserts that he read the whole of the nine work, breaks off with the victorious return of the
books, which on that occasion received the names Greek fleet from the coast of Asia, and the taking
of the muses. The work itself contains numerous of Sestos by the Athenians in B. C. 479. But nu-
allusions which belong to a much later date than merous events, which belong to a much later period,
the pretended recitation at Olympia ; of these we are alluded to or mentioned incidentally (see their
need only mention the latest, viz. the revolt of the list in the Classical Museum, l. c. ), and the latest of
Medes against Dareius Nothus and the death of them refers, as already remarked, to the year B. C.
Amyriaeus, events which belong to the years B. c. 408, when Herodotus was at least 77 years old.
409 and 408. (Herod. i. 130, iii. 15 ; comp. Dahl- Hence it follows that, with Pliny, we must believe
mann, Herodot. p. 38, &c. , and an extract from his that Herodotus wrote his work in his old age during
work in the Classical Museum, vol. i. p. 188, &c. ) his stay at Thurii, where, according to Suidas, he also
This difficulty again is got over by the supposition, died and was buried, for no one mentions that he ever
that Herodotus, who had written his work before returned to Greece, or that he made two editions of
B. C. 456, afterwards revised it and made additions his work, as some modern critics assume, who sup-
to it during his stay at Thurii. But this hypo- pose that at Thurii he revised his work, and among
thesis is not supported by the slightest evidence ; other things introduced those parts which refer to
no ancient writer knows anything of a first and later events. The whole work makes the impres-
second edition of the work. Dahlmann has most sion of a fresh composition; there is no trace of
ably shown that the reputed recitation at Olympia labour or revision; it has all the appearance of
is a mere invention of Lucian, and that there are having been written by a man at an advanced
innumerable external circumstances which render period of his life. Its abrupt termination, and the
such a recitation utterly impossible: no man could fact that the author does not tell us what in an
have read or rather chanted such a work as that of earlier part of his work he distinctly promises,
Herodotus, in the open air and in the burning sun (e. g. vii
. 213). prove almost beyond a doubt that
of the month of July, not to mention that of all the his work was the production of the last years of
assembled Greeks, only a very small number could his life, and that death prevented his completing it.
have heard the reader. If the story had been Had he not written it at Thurii, he would scarcely
known at all in the time of Plutarch, this writer have been called a Thurian or the Thurian histó
surely could not have passed it over in silence, rian, a name by which he is sometimes distinguished
where he tells us of Herodotus having calumniated by the ancients (Aristot. Rhet. iii. 9 ; Plut. de Exil.
all the Greeks except the Athenians, who had | 13, de Malign. Herod. 35 ; Strab. xiv. p. 657), and
## p. 433 (#449) ############################################
HERODOTUS.
433
HERODOTUS.
from the first two of the passages here referred to 1 in fact scarcely necessary on account of the numer-
it is even doubtful whether Herodotus called him ous Greek settlers in Egypt, as well as on account
self a Thurian or a Halicarnassian. There are of that large class of persons who made it their
lastly some passages in the work itself which must business to act as interpreters between the Egyp-
suggest to every unbiassed reader the idea that the tians and Greeks ; and it appears that Herodotus
author wrote somewhere in the south of Italy. was accompanied by one of those interpreters. He
(See, e. g. iv. 15; 99, üi. 131, 137, 138, v. 44. &c. travelled to the south of Egypt as far as Elephan-
vi. 21, 127).
tine, everywhere forming connections with the
Having thus established the time and place at priests, and gathering information upon the early
which Herodotus must have written his work, we history of the country and its relations to Greece.
shall proceed to examine the preparations he made He saw with his own eyes all the wonders of
for it, and which must have occupied a considerable Egypt, and the accuracy of his observations and
period of his life. The most important part of descriptions still excites the astonishment of tra-
these preparations consisted in his travels through vellers in that country. The time at which he
Greece and foreign countries, for the purpose of visited Egypt may be determined with tolerable
making himself acquainted with the world and accuracy. He was there shortly after the defeat
with man, and his customs and manners. We of Inarus by the Persian general Megabyzlık,
may safely believe that these preparations occupied which happened in B. C. 456 ; for he saw the battle
the time from his twentieth or twenty-fifth year field still covered with the bones and skulls of the
until he settled at Rhegium. His work, however, slain (iii. 12. ), so that his visit to Egypt may be
is not an account of travels, but the mature fruit ascribed to about B. C. 450. From Egypt he ap-
of his vast personal experience by land and by sea pears to have made excursions to the east into
and of his unwearied inquiries which he made Arabia, and to the west into Libya, at least as far
every where. He in fact no where mentions his as Cyrene, which is well known to him. (ii. 96. )
travels and adventures except for the purpose of It is not impossible that he may have even visited
establishing the truth of what he says, and he is so Carthage, at least he speaks of information which
free from the ordinary vanity of travellers, that he had received from Carthaginians (iv. 43, 195,
instead of acting a prominent part in his work, he 196), though it may be also that he conversed with
very seldom appears at all in it. Hence it is im- | individual Carthaginians whom he met on his tra-
possible for us to give anything like an accurate vels. From Egypt he crossed over by sea to Tyre,
chronological succession of his travels. The minute and visited Palaestine ; that he saw the rivers
account which Larcher has made up, is little more Euphrates and Tigris and the city of Babylon, is
than a fiction, and is devoid of all foundation. In quite certain (i. 178, &c. , 193). From thence he
Greece Proper and on the coasts of Asia Minor seems to have travelled northward, for he saw the
there is scarcely any place of importance, with town of Ecbatana which reminded him of Athens
which he is not perfectly familiar from his own ob (i. 98). There can be little doubt that he visited
servation, and where he did not make inquiries Susa also, but we cannot trace him further into the
respecting this or that particular point; we may interior of Asia. His desire to increase his know-
mention more especially the oracular places such as ledge by travelling does not appear to have sub-
Dodona and Delphi. In many places of Greece, sided even in his old age, for it would seem that
such as Samos, Athens, Corinth and Thebes, he during his residence at Thurii he visited several of
seems to have made a rather long stay. The the Greek settlements in southern Italy and Sicily,
places where the great battles had been fought be though his knowledge of the west of Europe was
tween the Greeks and barbarians, as Marathon, very limited, for he strangely calls Sardinia the
Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plataeae, were well greatest of all islands (i. 170, v. 106, vi. 2).
known to him, and on the whole route which From what he had collected and seen during his
Xerxes and his army took on their march from the travels, Herodotus was led to form his peculiar
Hellespont to Athens, there was probably not a views about the earth, its form, climates, and in-
place which he had not seen with his own eyes. habitants ; but for discussions on this topic we must
He also visited most of the Greek islands, not only refer the reader to some of the works mentioned at
in the Aegean, but even those in the west of the end of this article. Notwithstanding all the
Greece, such as Zacynthus. As for his travels in wonders and charns of foreign countries, the beau-
foreign countries, we know that he sailed through -ies of his own native land and its free institutions
the Hellespont, the Propontis, and crossed the appear never to have been effaced from his mind.
Euxine in both directions ; with the Palus Maeotis A second source from which Herodotus drew
he was but imperfectly acquainted, for he asserts his information was the literature of his country,
that it is only a little smaller than the Euxine. especially the poetical portion, for prose had not
He further visited Thrace (ii. 103) and Scythia yet been cultivated very extensively. With the
(iv. 76, 81). The interior of Asia Minor, espe- poems of Homer and Hesiod he was perfectly
cially Lydia, is well known to him, and so is also fainiliar, though he attributed less historical im-
Phoenicia. He visited Tyre for the special pur- portance to them than might have been expected.
pose of obtaining information respecting the wor- He placed them about 400 years before his own
ship of Heracles ; previous to this he had been in time, and makes the paradoxical assertion, that
Egypt, for it was in Egypt that his curiosity re- they had made the theogony of the Greeks, which
specting Heracles had been excited. What Hero- cannot mean anything else than that those poets,
dotus has done for the history of Egypt, surpasses and more especially Hesiod, collected the numerous
in importance every thing that was written in an- local traditions about the gods, and arranged thein
cient times upon that country, although his account in a certain order and system, which afterwards
of it forms only an episode in his work. There is became established in Greece as national traditions.
no reason for supposing that he made himself ac- He was also acquainted with the poetry of Alcaeus,
quainted with the Egyptian language, which was Sappho, Simonides, Acschylus, and Pindar. He
VOI. IL
PP
## p. 434 (#450) ############################################
434
HERODOTUS.
HERODOTUS.
further derived assistance from the Arimaspeia, an property, also edited the work after the author's
epic poem of Aristens, and from the works of the death. (Ptolem. Heph. ap. Phol. Bibl. Cod. 190. )
logographers who had preceded him, such as The division of the work into nine books, each
Hlecataeus, though he worked with perfect in- bearing the name of a muse, was probably made
dependence of them, and occasionally corrected by some grammarian, for there is no indication in
mistakes which they had committed ; but his main the whole work of the division having been made
sources, after all, were his own investigations and by the author himself.
observations.
There are two passages (i. 106, 184) in which
The object of the work of Herodotus is to give Herodotus promises to write a history of Assyria,
an account of the struggles between the Greeks which was either to form a part of his great
and Persians, from which the former, with the aid work, or to be an independent treatise by itself.
of the gods, came forth victorious. The subject Whether he ever carried his plan into effect is a
therefore is a truly national one, but the discussion question of considerable doubt; no ancient writer
of it, especially in the early part, led the author mentions such a work ; but Aristotle, in lois llis-
into various digressions and episodes, as he was tory of Animals (viii. 20), not only alludes to it,
sometimes obliged to trace to distant times the but seems to have read it, for he mentions the ac-
causes of the events he had to relate, or to give a count of the siege of Nineveh, which is the very
history or description of a nation or country, with thing that Herodotus (i. 184) promises to treat of
which, according to his view, the reader ought to be in his Assyrian history. It is true that in most
made familiar; and having once launched out into MSS. of Aristotle we there read Hesiod instead of
such a digression, he usually cannot resist the Herodotus, but the context seems to require Hero-
temptation of telling the whole tale, so that most of dotus. The life of Homer in the Ionic dialect,
his episodes form each an interesting and complete which was formerly attributed to Herodotus, and
whole by itself. He traces the enmity between is printed at the end of several editions of his work,
Europe and Asia to the mythical times. But he is now universally acknowledged to be a production
rapidly passes over the mythical ages, to come to of a later date, though it was undoubtedly written
Croesus, king of Lydia, who was known to have at a comparatively early period, and contains some
committed acts of hostility against the Greeks. valuable information.
This induces him to give a full history of Croesus It now remains to add a few remarks on the
and the kingdom of Lydia. The conquest of Lydia character of the work of Herodotus, its importance
by the Persians under Cyrus then leads him to as an historical authority, and its style and lan-
relate the rise of the Persian monarchy, and the guage. The whole work is pervaded by a pro-
subjugation of Asia Minor and Babylon. The na- foundly religious idea, which distinguishes Hero-
tions which are mentioned in the course of this nar- dotus from all the other Greek historians. This
rative are again discussed more or less minutely. idea is the strong belief in a divine power existing
The history of Cambyses and his expedition into apart and independent of man and nature, which
Egypt induce him to enter into the detail of Egyp- assigns to every being its sphere. This sphere no
tian history. The expedition of Dareius against one is allowed to transgress without disturbing the
the Scythians causes him to speak of Scythia and order which has existed, from the beginning, in the
the north of Europe. The kingdom of Persia now moral world no less than in the physical ; and by
extended from Scythia to Cyrene, and an army being disturbing this order man brings about his own de
called in by the Cyrenaeans against the Persians, struction. This divine power is, in the opinion of
Herodotus proceeds to give an account of Cyrene and Herodotus, the cause of all external events, although
Libya. In the meantime the revolt of the Ionians he does not deny the free activity of man, or esta-
breaks out, which eventually brings the contest be- blish a blind law of fate or necessity. The divine
tween Persia and Greece to an end. An account power with him is rather the manifestation of
of this insurrection and of the rise of Athens after eternal justice, which keeps all things in a proper
the expulsion of the Peisistratidae, is followed by equilibrium, assigns to each being its path, and
what properly constitutes the principal part of the keeps it within its bounds. Where it punishes
work, and the history of the Persian war now runs overweaning haughtiness and insolence, it assumes
in a regular channel until the taking of Sestos. the character of the divine Nemesis, and nowhere
In this manner alone it was possible for Herodotus in history had Nemesis overtaken and chastised
to give a record of the vast treasures of information the offender more obviously than in the contest be
which he had collected in the course of many tween Greece and Asia. When Herodotus speaks
years. But these digressions and episodes do not of the envy of the gods, as he often does, we must
impair the plan and unity of the work, for one understand this divine Nemesis, who appears
thread, as it were, runs through the whole, and sooner or later to pursue or destroy him who, in
the episodes are only like branches that issue from frivolous insolence and conceit, raises himself above
one and the same tree : each has its peculiar charms his proper sphere. Herodotus everywhere shows
and beauties, and is yet manifestly no more than a the most profound reverence for everything which
part of one great whole. The whole structure of he conceives as divine, and rarely ventures to ex-
the work thus bears a strong resemblance to a press an opinion on what he considers a sacred or
grand epic poem. We remarked above that the religious mystery, though now and then he cannot
work of Herodotus has an abrupt termination, and refrain from expressing a doubt in regard to the
is probably incomplete: this opinion is strengthened correctness of the popular belief of his countrymen,
on the one hand by the fact that in one place the generally owing to the influence which the Egyp-
author promises to give the particulars of an occur- tian priests bad exercised on his mind ; but in
rence in another part of his work, though the pro- general his good sense and sagacity were too strong
mise is nowhere fulfilled (vii. 213); and, on the to allow him to be misled by vulgar notions and
other, by the story that a favourite of the historian, errors.
of the name of Plesirrhous, who inherited all his | There are certain prejudices of which some of the
a
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AERODOTUS.
485
HERODOTUS.
%
best modem critics are not quite free: one writer, which used to be laughed at as impossible or para-
asserts, that Ilerodotus wrote to amuse his hearers doxical, are found to be strictly in accordance with
rather than with the higher objects of an historian, truth.
such as Thucydides ; another says that he was The dialect in which Herodotus wrote is the
inordinately partial towards his own countrymen, Ionic, intermixed with epic or poetical expressions,
without possessing a proper knowledge of and re- and sometimes even with Attic and Doric forms.
gard for what had been accomplished by barbarians. This peculiarity of the language called forth a
To refute such errors, it is only necessary to read number of lexicographical works of learned gram-
his work with an unbiassed mind : that his work marians, all of which are lost with the exception of
is more amusing than those of other historians arises a few remnants in the Homeric glosses (aéges).
from the simple, unaffected, and childlike mode of The excellencies of his style do not consist in any
narration, features which are peculiar more or less artistic or melodious structure of his sentences, but
to all early historians. Herodotus further saw and in the antique and epic colouring, the transparent
acknowledged what was good and noble wherever clearness, the lively flow of his narrative, the na-
it appeared; for he nowhere shows any hatred of tural and unaffected gracefulness, and the occasional
the Persians, nor of any among the Greeks: he signs of carelessness. There is perhaps no work in
praises and blames the one as well as the other, the whole range of ancient literature which so closely
whenever, in his judgment, they deserve it. It resembles a familiar and homely oral narration than
would be vain indeed to deny that Herodotus was to that of Herodotus. Its reader cannot help feeling
a certain extent credulous, and related things with as though he was listening to an old inan who,
out putting to himself the question as to whether from the inexhaustible stores of his knowledge and
they were possible at all or not ; his political know-experience, tells his stories with that single-hearted
ledge, and his acquaintance with the laws of nature, simplicity and naïveté which are the marks and
were equally deficient; and owing to these defi- indications of a truthful spirit. That which charms
ciencies, he frequently does not rise above the rank the readers of Herodotus,” says Dahlmann,“ is
of a mere story-teller, a title which Aristotle (De that childlike simplicity of heart which is ever the
Animal. Gener. iii. 5) bestows upon him. But companion of an incorruptible love of truth, and
notwithstanding all this, it is evident that he had that happy and winning style which cannot be
formed a high notion of the dignity of history; and attained by any art or pathetic excitement, and is
in order to realise his idea, he exerted all his found only where manners are true to nature ; for
powers, and cheerfully went through more difficult while other pleasing discourses of men roll along
and laborious preparations than any other historian like torrents, and noisily burry through their short
either before or after him. The charge of his existence, the silver stream of his words flows on
having flattered the Athenians was brought against without concern, sure of its immortal source, every
Herodotus by some of the ancients, but is totally where pure and transparent, whether it be shallow
unfounded ; he only does justice to the Athenians or deep ; and the fear of ridicule, which sways the
by saying that they were the first who had courage whole world, affects not the sublime simplicity of
and patriotism enough to face the barbarian invaders his mind.
” We have already had occasion to re-
(vi. 112), and that thus they became the deliverers mark that notwithstanding all the merits and ex-
of all Greece ; but he is very far from approving cellencies of Herodotus, there were in antiquity
their conduct on every occasion; and throughout certain writers who attacked Herodotus on very
his account of the Persian war, he shows the most serious points, both in regard to the form and the
upright conduct and the sincerest love of truth. substance of his work. Besides Ctesias (Pers. i.
On the whole, in order to form a fair judgment of 57. ), Aelius Harpocration, Manetho, and one
the historical value of the work of Herodotus, we must Pollio, are mentioned as authors of works against
distinguish between those parts in which he speaks Herodotus; but all of them have perished with the
from his own observation, or gives the results of exception of one bearing the name of Plutarch
his own investigations, from those in which he (Tepl tñs 'Hpodátov kakonbelas), which is full of
merely repeats what he was told by priests, inter- the most futile accusations of every kind. It is
preters, guides, and the like. In the latter case he written in a mean and malignant spirit
, and is pro-
undoubtedly was often deceived ; but he never in- bably the work of some young rhetorician or
trudes such reports as anything more than they sophist, who composed it as an exercise in polemics
really are ; and under the influence of his natural or controversy.
good sense, he very frequently cautions his readers Herodotus was first published in a Latin trans-
by some such remark as “ I know this only from lation by Laurentius Valla, Venice, 1474 ; and the
hearsay,” or “ I have been told so, but do not be first edition of the Greek original is that of Aldus
lieve it. " The same caution should guide us in his Manutius, Venice, 1502, fol. which was followed
account of the early history of the Greeks, on by two Basle editions, in 1541 and 1557, fol. The
which he touches only in episodes, for he is gene- text is greatly corrected in the edition of H. Ste-
rally satisfied with some one tradition, without en- phens (Paris, 1570 and 1592 fol. ), which was fol-
tering into any critical examination or comparison lowed by that of Jungermann, Frankfort, 1608,
with other traditions, which he silently rejects. fol. (reprinted at Geneva in 1618, and at London
But wherever he speaks from his own observation, in 1679, fol. ). The edition of James Gronovius
Herodotus is a real model of truthfulness and|(Leiden, 1715) has a peculiar value, from his having
accuracy; and the more those countries of which made use of the excellent Medicean MS. ; but it
he speaks have been explored by modern travellers, was greatly surpassed by the edition of P. Wes-
the more firmly has his authority been established. seling and L. C. Valckenaer, Amsterdam, 1763,
There is scarcely a traveller that goes to Egypt, the fol. Both the language and the matter are there
East, or Greece, that does not bring back a number treated with great care; and the learned apperatus
of facts which place the accuracy of the accounts of of this edition, with the exception of the notes of
Herodotus in the most brilliant light: many things Gronovius, was afterwards incorporated in the edi-
PP2
## p. 436 (#452) ############################################
436
HERODOTUS.
HERON.
tion of Schweighäuser, Argentorati et Paris. 1806, history beginning with the death of Agathias
6 vols. in 12 parts (reprinted in London, 1818, in (Suid. s. v. Mévavápos ; Codinus, de Orig. Constant.
6 vols. , and the Lexicon Herodotcum of Schweig- p. 26 ; Malalas, Chron. i. p. 200. ) It should be
häuser separately in 1824 and 1841, 8vo. ). The observed that in MSS. and early editions the name
editor had compared several new MSS. , and was of Herodotus is frequently confounded with Hero
thus enabled to give a text greatly superior to that dorus and Heliodorus. Whether the work Nepl
of his predecessors. The best edition after this is tñs 'Ouýpov Blotñs, is the production of a gramma-
that of Gaisford (Oxford, 1824, 4 vols. 8vo. ), who rian of the name of Herodotiis, or whether the
incorporated in it nearly all the notes Wesseling, author's name is a mere invention, it is impossible
Valckenaer and Schweighäuser, and also made a to say ; thus much only we know, that some of the
collation of some English MSS. A reprint of this ancients themselves attributed it to Herodotus the
edition appeared at Leipzig in 1824, vols. 8vo. historian. (Steph. Byz. s. v. New Teixos; Suid. s. v.
The last great edition, in which the subject matter "Oumpos ; Eustath. ad Ilom. Il. p. 876. ) (LS. )
also is considered with reference to modern dis. HERO'DOTUS, a statuary of Olynthus, con-
coveries, is that of Bähr, Leipzig, 1830, &c. 4 temporary with Praxiteles, made statues of Phryne
vols. 8vo. Among the school editions, we men- and other courtesans. (Tatian, Orat. Graec. 53,
tion those of A. Matthinc, Leipzig, 1825, 2 vols. 54. )
[P. S)
8vo. ; G. Long, London, 1830; and I. Bekker, HERO'DOTUS ('Hpódotos), the name of several
Berlin, 1833 and 1837, 8vo. Among all the physicians, of whom the most eminent was, 1. A
translations of Herodotus, there is none which sur pupil of Athenaeus, or perhaps rather of Agathinus
passes in excellence and fidelity the German of Fr. (Galen, De Differ. Puls. iv. 11, vol. viii. p 751),
Lange, Breslau, 1811, &c. , 2 vols. 8vo. The who belonged to the sect of the Pneumatici (1d.
works written on Herodotus, or particular points of | De Simplic. Medicam. Temper, ac Fucult. i. 29,
his work, are extremely numerous : a pretty com- vol. xi. p. 432). He lived probably towards the
plete account of the modern literature of Herodotus end of the first century after Christ, and resided
is given by Bähr in the Neue Jahrbücher für Phi- at Rome, where he practised with great reputation
lologie und Paedagogik, vol. xli. p. 371, &c. ; but we and success. (Galen, De Differ. Puls. lic. ) He
shall confine ourselves to mentioning the principal wrote some medical works, which are several times
ones among them, viz. , J. Rennell, The Geogra- quoted by Galen and Oribasius, but of which only
phical System of Herodotus, London, 1800, 4to, some fragments remain, most of which are to be
and 1832, 2 vols. 8vo. ; B. G. Niebuhr, in his found in Matthaei's Collection entitled XXI Ve
Kleine Philol. Schriften, vol. i. ; Dahlmann, Hero terum et Clarorum Medicorum Graecorum Varia
dot, aus seinem Buche sein Leben, Altona, 1823, Opuscula, Mosqu. 4to. 1808.
8vo. , one of the best works that was ever written; 2. The son of Arieus, a native either of Tarsus
C. G. L. Heyse, De Herodoti Vita et Itineribus, or Philadelphia, who probably belonged to the sect
Berlin, 1826, 8vo. ; H. F. Jäger, Disputationes of the Empirici. He was a pupil of Menodotus,
Herodotelle, Göttingen, 1828, 8vo. ; J. Kenrick, and tutor to Sextus Empiricus, and lived therefore
The Egypt of Herodotus, with notes and preliminary in the former half of the second century after
dissertations, London, 1841, 8vo. ; Bähr, Com- Christ. (Suidas, s. v. Eéfotos ; Diog. Laërt. ix.
mentatio de Vita et Scriptis Herodoti, in the fourth $ 116. )
volume of his edition, p. 374, &c. )
p
3. The physician mentioned by Galen (De
2. Of Chios, the son of Basilides, is mentioned Bon. et Prav. Aliment. Succ. c. 4. vol. vi. p. 775 ;
by Herodotus the historian (viii. 132) as one of the De Meth. Med. vii. 6. vol. x. p. 474), together
ambassadors who, after the battle of Salamis, ar- with Euryphon, as having recommended human
rived in Aegina to call upon the Greeks to deliver milk in cases of consumption, was probably a dif-
Ionia What may have induced the historian to ferent person from either of the preceding, and
mention him alone among the ambassadors is un- may have been a contemporary of Euryphon in the
certain. (See above, No. 1. )
fifth century B. C.
3. A son of Apsodorus of Thebes, a victor in There is extant, under the name of Herodotus, a
the Heraclean, Isthmian, and other games, whose short Glossary of lonic words, commonly printed
name is celebrated in Pindar's first Isthmian ode. He together with the Glossary of Erotianus, and sup-
lived about Ol. 80-83 ; his father, being expelled posed to relate to the Hippocratic Collection.
from Thebes, bad gone to Orchomenos, but after- Franzius, however, is inclined to the opinion that
wards returned to Thebes. (See Dissen, ad Pind. the little work is intended to explain, not the
l. c. )
words used by Hippocrates, but those used by
4. A brother of the philosopher Democritus Herodotus the historian, and that hence it has been
(Suid. 8. v. Anuárpitos), and perhaps the same as attributed by mistake to a physician or gramma-
the one to whom Diogenes Laërtius (ix. 34) refers rian of the name of Herodotus.
in his account of Democritus. Whether he is iden- Some persons hare attributed to a physician
tical with Herodotus, the author of a work Tepi I named Herodotus two of the treatises included in
'En KvÚpou é onbelas (Diog. Laërt. x. 4), cannot be the collection of Galen's works, viz. the Introductio
decided.
or Medicus, and the Drfinitiones Medicae. But
5. Of Olophyxus in Thrace, is mentioned as the though may be doubted whether these works
author of a work Nepi Nuupwv Kal iepw. (Steph. belong to Galen, it is equally doubtful whether
Byz. s. v. 'Oxodutos ; Suid. s. v. ’Oró qutis; Eus- they were written by Herodotus. (See Fabric.
tath. ad llom. I. v. 683.
Thucyd. $ 54 ; Phot. Bibl. Cod. 60. p. 19, Bekk. ; p. 103 ed. Reiske), and probably has no more foun-
Tzetz. Chil. i. 19. ) It should be remarked that dation than the story of the Olympic or Athenian
Lucian is the first writer that relates the story, recitation. Had Herodotus really read his history
and that the others repeat it after him. As Thucy- before any such assembly, his work would surely
dides is called a boy at the time when he heard have been noticed by some of those writers who
the recitation, he cannot have been more than about flourished soon after his time; but such is not the
15 or 16 years of age ; and further, as it is com- case, and nearly a century elapses after the time of
monly supposed that the Olympic festival at which Herodotus, before he and his work emerge from
Thucydides heard the recitation was that of B. C. their obscurity.
456 (01. 81. ), Herodotus himself would have been As, therefore, these traditions on the one hand
no more than 32 years old. Now it seems scarcely do not enable us to fix the time in which the father
credible that Herodotus should have completed his of history wrote his work, and cannot, on the other,
travels and written his work at bo early an age. have any negative weight, if we should be led to
Some critics therefore have recourse to the suppo- other conclusions, we shall endeavour to ascertain
sition, that what he recited at Olympia was only from the work itself the time which we must assign
a sketch or a portion of the work; but this is in for its composition. The history of the Persian
direct contradiction to the statement of Lucian, war, which forms the main substance of the whole
who asserts that he read the whole of the nine work, breaks off with the victorious return of the
books, which on that occasion received the names Greek fleet from the coast of Asia, and the taking
of the muses. The work itself contains numerous of Sestos by the Athenians in B. C. 479. But nu-
allusions which belong to a much later date than merous events, which belong to a much later period,
the pretended recitation at Olympia ; of these we are alluded to or mentioned incidentally (see their
need only mention the latest, viz. the revolt of the list in the Classical Museum, l. c. ), and the latest of
Medes against Dareius Nothus and the death of them refers, as already remarked, to the year B. C.
Amyriaeus, events which belong to the years B. c. 408, when Herodotus was at least 77 years old.
409 and 408. (Herod. i. 130, iii. 15 ; comp. Dahl- Hence it follows that, with Pliny, we must believe
mann, Herodot. p. 38, &c. , and an extract from his that Herodotus wrote his work in his old age during
work in the Classical Museum, vol. i. p. 188, &c. ) his stay at Thurii, where, according to Suidas, he also
This difficulty again is got over by the supposition, died and was buried, for no one mentions that he ever
that Herodotus, who had written his work before returned to Greece, or that he made two editions of
B. C. 456, afterwards revised it and made additions his work, as some modern critics assume, who sup-
to it during his stay at Thurii. But this hypo- pose that at Thurii he revised his work, and among
thesis is not supported by the slightest evidence ; other things introduced those parts which refer to
no ancient writer knows anything of a first and later events. The whole work makes the impres-
second edition of the work. Dahlmann has most sion of a fresh composition; there is no trace of
ably shown that the reputed recitation at Olympia labour or revision; it has all the appearance of
is a mere invention of Lucian, and that there are having been written by a man at an advanced
innumerable external circumstances which render period of his life. Its abrupt termination, and the
such a recitation utterly impossible: no man could fact that the author does not tell us what in an
have read or rather chanted such a work as that of earlier part of his work he distinctly promises,
Herodotus, in the open air and in the burning sun (e. g. vii
. 213). prove almost beyond a doubt that
of the month of July, not to mention that of all the his work was the production of the last years of
assembled Greeks, only a very small number could his life, and that death prevented his completing it.
have heard the reader. If the story had been Had he not written it at Thurii, he would scarcely
known at all in the time of Plutarch, this writer have been called a Thurian or the Thurian histó
surely could not have passed it over in silence, rian, a name by which he is sometimes distinguished
where he tells us of Herodotus having calumniated by the ancients (Aristot. Rhet. iii. 9 ; Plut. de Exil.
all the Greeks except the Athenians, who had | 13, de Malign. Herod. 35 ; Strab. xiv. p. 657), and
## p. 433 (#449) ############################################
HERODOTUS.
433
HERODOTUS.
from the first two of the passages here referred to 1 in fact scarcely necessary on account of the numer-
it is even doubtful whether Herodotus called him ous Greek settlers in Egypt, as well as on account
self a Thurian or a Halicarnassian. There are of that large class of persons who made it their
lastly some passages in the work itself which must business to act as interpreters between the Egyp-
suggest to every unbiassed reader the idea that the tians and Greeks ; and it appears that Herodotus
author wrote somewhere in the south of Italy. was accompanied by one of those interpreters. He
(See, e. g. iv. 15; 99, üi. 131, 137, 138, v. 44. &c. travelled to the south of Egypt as far as Elephan-
vi. 21, 127).
tine, everywhere forming connections with the
Having thus established the time and place at priests, and gathering information upon the early
which Herodotus must have written his work, we history of the country and its relations to Greece.
shall proceed to examine the preparations he made He saw with his own eyes all the wonders of
for it, and which must have occupied a considerable Egypt, and the accuracy of his observations and
period of his life. The most important part of descriptions still excites the astonishment of tra-
these preparations consisted in his travels through vellers in that country. The time at which he
Greece and foreign countries, for the purpose of visited Egypt may be determined with tolerable
making himself acquainted with the world and accuracy. He was there shortly after the defeat
with man, and his customs and manners. We of Inarus by the Persian general Megabyzlık,
may safely believe that these preparations occupied which happened in B. C. 456 ; for he saw the battle
the time from his twentieth or twenty-fifth year field still covered with the bones and skulls of the
until he settled at Rhegium. His work, however, slain (iii. 12. ), so that his visit to Egypt may be
is not an account of travels, but the mature fruit ascribed to about B. C. 450. From Egypt he ap-
of his vast personal experience by land and by sea pears to have made excursions to the east into
and of his unwearied inquiries which he made Arabia, and to the west into Libya, at least as far
every where. He in fact no where mentions his as Cyrene, which is well known to him. (ii. 96. )
travels and adventures except for the purpose of It is not impossible that he may have even visited
establishing the truth of what he says, and he is so Carthage, at least he speaks of information which
free from the ordinary vanity of travellers, that he had received from Carthaginians (iv. 43, 195,
instead of acting a prominent part in his work, he 196), though it may be also that he conversed with
very seldom appears at all in it. Hence it is im- | individual Carthaginians whom he met on his tra-
possible for us to give anything like an accurate vels. From Egypt he crossed over by sea to Tyre,
chronological succession of his travels. The minute and visited Palaestine ; that he saw the rivers
account which Larcher has made up, is little more Euphrates and Tigris and the city of Babylon, is
than a fiction, and is devoid of all foundation. In quite certain (i. 178, &c. , 193). From thence he
Greece Proper and on the coasts of Asia Minor seems to have travelled northward, for he saw the
there is scarcely any place of importance, with town of Ecbatana which reminded him of Athens
which he is not perfectly familiar from his own ob (i. 98). There can be little doubt that he visited
servation, and where he did not make inquiries Susa also, but we cannot trace him further into the
respecting this or that particular point; we may interior of Asia. His desire to increase his know-
mention more especially the oracular places such as ledge by travelling does not appear to have sub-
Dodona and Delphi. In many places of Greece, sided even in his old age, for it would seem that
such as Samos, Athens, Corinth and Thebes, he during his residence at Thurii he visited several of
seems to have made a rather long stay. The the Greek settlements in southern Italy and Sicily,
places where the great battles had been fought be though his knowledge of the west of Europe was
tween the Greeks and barbarians, as Marathon, very limited, for he strangely calls Sardinia the
Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plataeae, were well greatest of all islands (i. 170, v. 106, vi. 2).
known to him, and on the whole route which From what he had collected and seen during his
Xerxes and his army took on their march from the travels, Herodotus was led to form his peculiar
Hellespont to Athens, there was probably not a views about the earth, its form, climates, and in-
place which he had not seen with his own eyes. habitants ; but for discussions on this topic we must
He also visited most of the Greek islands, not only refer the reader to some of the works mentioned at
in the Aegean, but even those in the west of the end of this article. Notwithstanding all the
Greece, such as Zacynthus. As for his travels in wonders and charns of foreign countries, the beau-
foreign countries, we know that he sailed through -ies of his own native land and its free institutions
the Hellespont, the Propontis, and crossed the appear never to have been effaced from his mind.
Euxine in both directions ; with the Palus Maeotis A second source from which Herodotus drew
he was but imperfectly acquainted, for he asserts his information was the literature of his country,
that it is only a little smaller than the Euxine. especially the poetical portion, for prose had not
He further visited Thrace (ii. 103) and Scythia yet been cultivated very extensively. With the
(iv. 76, 81). The interior of Asia Minor, espe- poems of Homer and Hesiod he was perfectly
cially Lydia, is well known to him, and so is also fainiliar, though he attributed less historical im-
Phoenicia. He visited Tyre for the special pur- portance to them than might have been expected.
pose of obtaining information respecting the wor- He placed them about 400 years before his own
ship of Heracles ; previous to this he had been in time, and makes the paradoxical assertion, that
Egypt, for it was in Egypt that his curiosity re- they had made the theogony of the Greeks, which
specting Heracles had been excited. What Hero- cannot mean anything else than that those poets,
dotus has done for the history of Egypt, surpasses and more especially Hesiod, collected the numerous
in importance every thing that was written in an- local traditions about the gods, and arranged thein
cient times upon that country, although his account in a certain order and system, which afterwards
of it forms only an episode in his work. There is became established in Greece as national traditions.
no reason for supposing that he made himself ac- He was also acquainted with the poetry of Alcaeus,
quainted with the Egyptian language, which was Sappho, Simonides, Acschylus, and Pindar. He
VOI. IL
PP
## p. 434 (#450) ############################################
434
HERODOTUS.
HERODOTUS.
further derived assistance from the Arimaspeia, an property, also edited the work after the author's
epic poem of Aristens, and from the works of the death. (Ptolem. Heph. ap. Phol. Bibl. Cod. 190. )
logographers who had preceded him, such as The division of the work into nine books, each
Hlecataeus, though he worked with perfect in- bearing the name of a muse, was probably made
dependence of them, and occasionally corrected by some grammarian, for there is no indication in
mistakes which they had committed ; but his main the whole work of the division having been made
sources, after all, were his own investigations and by the author himself.
observations.
There are two passages (i. 106, 184) in which
The object of the work of Herodotus is to give Herodotus promises to write a history of Assyria,
an account of the struggles between the Greeks which was either to form a part of his great
and Persians, from which the former, with the aid work, or to be an independent treatise by itself.
of the gods, came forth victorious. The subject Whether he ever carried his plan into effect is a
therefore is a truly national one, but the discussion question of considerable doubt; no ancient writer
of it, especially in the early part, led the author mentions such a work ; but Aristotle, in lois llis-
into various digressions and episodes, as he was tory of Animals (viii. 20), not only alludes to it,
sometimes obliged to trace to distant times the but seems to have read it, for he mentions the ac-
causes of the events he had to relate, or to give a count of the siege of Nineveh, which is the very
history or description of a nation or country, with thing that Herodotus (i. 184) promises to treat of
which, according to his view, the reader ought to be in his Assyrian history. It is true that in most
made familiar; and having once launched out into MSS. of Aristotle we there read Hesiod instead of
such a digression, he usually cannot resist the Herodotus, but the context seems to require Hero-
temptation of telling the whole tale, so that most of dotus. The life of Homer in the Ionic dialect,
his episodes form each an interesting and complete which was formerly attributed to Herodotus, and
whole by itself. He traces the enmity between is printed at the end of several editions of his work,
Europe and Asia to the mythical times. But he is now universally acknowledged to be a production
rapidly passes over the mythical ages, to come to of a later date, though it was undoubtedly written
Croesus, king of Lydia, who was known to have at a comparatively early period, and contains some
committed acts of hostility against the Greeks. valuable information.
This induces him to give a full history of Croesus It now remains to add a few remarks on the
and the kingdom of Lydia. The conquest of Lydia character of the work of Herodotus, its importance
by the Persians under Cyrus then leads him to as an historical authority, and its style and lan-
relate the rise of the Persian monarchy, and the guage. The whole work is pervaded by a pro-
subjugation of Asia Minor and Babylon. The na- foundly religious idea, which distinguishes Hero-
tions which are mentioned in the course of this nar- dotus from all the other Greek historians. This
rative are again discussed more or less minutely. idea is the strong belief in a divine power existing
The history of Cambyses and his expedition into apart and independent of man and nature, which
Egypt induce him to enter into the detail of Egyp- assigns to every being its sphere. This sphere no
tian history. The expedition of Dareius against one is allowed to transgress without disturbing the
the Scythians causes him to speak of Scythia and order which has existed, from the beginning, in the
the north of Europe. The kingdom of Persia now moral world no less than in the physical ; and by
extended from Scythia to Cyrene, and an army being disturbing this order man brings about his own de
called in by the Cyrenaeans against the Persians, struction. This divine power is, in the opinion of
Herodotus proceeds to give an account of Cyrene and Herodotus, the cause of all external events, although
Libya. In the meantime the revolt of the Ionians he does not deny the free activity of man, or esta-
breaks out, which eventually brings the contest be- blish a blind law of fate or necessity. The divine
tween Persia and Greece to an end. An account power with him is rather the manifestation of
of this insurrection and of the rise of Athens after eternal justice, which keeps all things in a proper
the expulsion of the Peisistratidae, is followed by equilibrium, assigns to each being its path, and
what properly constitutes the principal part of the keeps it within its bounds. Where it punishes
work, and the history of the Persian war now runs overweaning haughtiness and insolence, it assumes
in a regular channel until the taking of Sestos. the character of the divine Nemesis, and nowhere
In this manner alone it was possible for Herodotus in history had Nemesis overtaken and chastised
to give a record of the vast treasures of information the offender more obviously than in the contest be
which he had collected in the course of many tween Greece and Asia. When Herodotus speaks
years. But these digressions and episodes do not of the envy of the gods, as he often does, we must
impair the plan and unity of the work, for one understand this divine Nemesis, who appears
thread, as it were, runs through the whole, and sooner or later to pursue or destroy him who, in
the episodes are only like branches that issue from frivolous insolence and conceit, raises himself above
one and the same tree : each has its peculiar charms his proper sphere. Herodotus everywhere shows
and beauties, and is yet manifestly no more than a the most profound reverence for everything which
part of one great whole. The whole structure of he conceives as divine, and rarely ventures to ex-
the work thus bears a strong resemblance to a press an opinion on what he considers a sacred or
grand epic poem. We remarked above that the religious mystery, though now and then he cannot
work of Herodotus has an abrupt termination, and refrain from expressing a doubt in regard to the
is probably incomplete: this opinion is strengthened correctness of the popular belief of his countrymen,
on the one hand by the fact that in one place the generally owing to the influence which the Egyp-
author promises to give the particulars of an occur- tian priests bad exercised on his mind ; but in
rence in another part of his work, though the pro- general his good sense and sagacity were too strong
mise is nowhere fulfilled (vii. 213); and, on the to allow him to be misled by vulgar notions and
other, by the story that a favourite of the historian, errors.
of the name of Plesirrhous, who inherited all his | There are certain prejudices of which some of the
a
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AERODOTUS.
485
HERODOTUS.
%
best modem critics are not quite free: one writer, which used to be laughed at as impossible or para-
asserts, that Ilerodotus wrote to amuse his hearers doxical, are found to be strictly in accordance with
rather than with the higher objects of an historian, truth.
such as Thucydides ; another says that he was The dialect in which Herodotus wrote is the
inordinately partial towards his own countrymen, Ionic, intermixed with epic or poetical expressions,
without possessing a proper knowledge of and re- and sometimes even with Attic and Doric forms.
gard for what had been accomplished by barbarians. This peculiarity of the language called forth a
To refute such errors, it is only necessary to read number of lexicographical works of learned gram-
his work with an unbiassed mind : that his work marians, all of which are lost with the exception of
is more amusing than those of other historians arises a few remnants in the Homeric glosses (aéges).
from the simple, unaffected, and childlike mode of The excellencies of his style do not consist in any
narration, features which are peculiar more or less artistic or melodious structure of his sentences, but
to all early historians. Herodotus further saw and in the antique and epic colouring, the transparent
acknowledged what was good and noble wherever clearness, the lively flow of his narrative, the na-
it appeared; for he nowhere shows any hatred of tural and unaffected gracefulness, and the occasional
the Persians, nor of any among the Greeks: he signs of carelessness. There is perhaps no work in
praises and blames the one as well as the other, the whole range of ancient literature which so closely
whenever, in his judgment, they deserve it. It resembles a familiar and homely oral narration than
would be vain indeed to deny that Herodotus was to that of Herodotus. Its reader cannot help feeling
a certain extent credulous, and related things with as though he was listening to an old inan who,
out putting to himself the question as to whether from the inexhaustible stores of his knowledge and
they were possible at all or not ; his political know-experience, tells his stories with that single-hearted
ledge, and his acquaintance with the laws of nature, simplicity and naïveté which are the marks and
were equally deficient; and owing to these defi- indications of a truthful spirit. That which charms
ciencies, he frequently does not rise above the rank the readers of Herodotus,” says Dahlmann,“ is
of a mere story-teller, a title which Aristotle (De that childlike simplicity of heart which is ever the
Animal. Gener. iii. 5) bestows upon him. But companion of an incorruptible love of truth, and
notwithstanding all this, it is evident that he had that happy and winning style which cannot be
formed a high notion of the dignity of history; and attained by any art or pathetic excitement, and is
in order to realise his idea, he exerted all his found only where manners are true to nature ; for
powers, and cheerfully went through more difficult while other pleasing discourses of men roll along
and laborious preparations than any other historian like torrents, and noisily burry through their short
either before or after him. The charge of his existence, the silver stream of his words flows on
having flattered the Athenians was brought against without concern, sure of its immortal source, every
Herodotus by some of the ancients, but is totally where pure and transparent, whether it be shallow
unfounded ; he only does justice to the Athenians or deep ; and the fear of ridicule, which sways the
by saying that they were the first who had courage whole world, affects not the sublime simplicity of
and patriotism enough to face the barbarian invaders his mind.
” We have already had occasion to re-
(vi. 112), and that thus they became the deliverers mark that notwithstanding all the merits and ex-
of all Greece ; but he is very far from approving cellencies of Herodotus, there were in antiquity
their conduct on every occasion; and throughout certain writers who attacked Herodotus on very
his account of the Persian war, he shows the most serious points, both in regard to the form and the
upright conduct and the sincerest love of truth. substance of his work. Besides Ctesias (Pers. i.
On the whole, in order to form a fair judgment of 57. ), Aelius Harpocration, Manetho, and one
the historical value of the work of Herodotus, we must Pollio, are mentioned as authors of works against
distinguish between those parts in which he speaks Herodotus; but all of them have perished with the
from his own observation, or gives the results of exception of one bearing the name of Plutarch
his own investigations, from those in which he (Tepl tñs 'Hpodátov kakonbelas), which is full of
merely repeats what he was told by priests, inter- the most futile accusations of every kind. It is
preters, guides, and the like. In the latter case he written in a mean and malignant spirit
, and is pro-
undoubtedly was often deceived ; but he never in- bably the work of some young rhetorician or
trudes such reports as anything more than they sophist, who composed it as an exercise in polemics
really are ; and under the influence of his natural or controversy.
good sense, he very frequently cautions his readers Herodotus was first published in a Latin trans-
by some such remark as “ I know this only from lation by Laurentius Valla, Venice, 1474 ; and the
hearsay,” or “ I have been told so, but do not be first edition of the Greek original is that of Aldus
lieve it. " The same caution should guide us in his Manutius, Venice, 1502, fol. which was followed
account of the early history of the Greeks, on by two Basle editions, in 1541 and 1557, fol. The
which he touches only in episodes, for he is gene- text is greatly corrected in the edition of H. Ste-
rally satisfied with some one tradition, without en- phens (Paris, 1570 and 1592 fol. ), which was fol-
tering into any critical examination or comparison lowed by that of Jungermann, Frankfort, 1608,
with other traditions, which he silently rejects. fol. (reprinted at Geneva in 1618, and at London
But wherever he speaks from his own observation, in 1679, fol. ). The edition of James Gronovius
Herodotus is a real model of truthfulness and|(Leiden, 1715) has a peculiar value, from his having
accuracy; and the more those countries of which made use of the excellent Medicean MS. ; but it
he speaks have been explored by modern travellers, was greatly surpassed by the edition of P. Wes-
the more firmly has his authority been established. seling and L. C. Valckenaer, Amsterdam, 1763,
There is scarcely a traveller that goes to Egypt, the fol. Both the language and the matter are there
East, or Greece, that does not bring back a number treated with great care; and the learned apperatus
of facts which place the accuracy of the accounts of of this edition, with the exception of the notes of
Herodotus in the most brilliant light: many things Gronovius, was afterwards incorporated in the edi-
PP2
## p. 436 (#452) ############################################
436
HERODOTUS.
HERON.
tion of Schweighäuser, Argentorati et Paris. 1806, history beginning with the death of Agathias
6 vols. in 12 parts (reprinted in London, 1818, in (Suid. s. v. Mévavápos ; Codinus, de Orig. Constant.
6 vols. , and the Lexicon Herodotcum of Schweig- p. 26 ; Malalas, Chron. i. p. 200. ) It should be
häuser separately in 1824 and 1841, 8vo. ). The observed that in MSS. and early editions the name
editor had compared several new MSS. , and was of Herodotus is frequently confounded with Hero
thus enabled to give a text greatly superior to that dorus and Heliodorus. Whether the work Nepl
of his predecessors. The best edition after this is tñs 'Ouýpov Blotñs, is the production of a gramma-
that of Gaisford (Oxford, 1824, 4 vols. 8vo. ), who rian of the name of Herodotiis, or whether the
incorporated in it nearly all the notes Wesseling, author's name is a mere invention, it is impossible
Valckenaer and Schweighäuser, and also made a to say ; thus much only we know, that some of the
collation of some English MSS. A reprint of this ancients themselves attributed it to Herodotus the
edition appeared at Leipzig in 1824, vols. 8vo. historian. (Steph. Byz. s. v. New Teixos; Suid. s. v.
The last great edition, in which the subject matter "Oumpos ; Eustath. ad Ilom. Il. p. 876. ) (LS. )
also is considered with reference to modern dis. HERO'DOTUS, a statuary of Olynthus, con-
coveries, is that of Bähr, Leipzig, 1830, &c. 4 temporary with Praxiteles, made statues of Phryne
vols. 8vo. Among the school editions, we men- and other courtesans. (Tatian, Orat. Graec. 53,
tion those of A. Matthinc, Leipzig, 1825, 2 vols. 54. )
[P. S)
8vo. ; G. Long, London, 1830; and I. Bekker, HERO'DOTUS ('Hpódotos), the name of several
Berlin, 1833 and 1837, 8vo. Among all the physicians, of whom the most eminent was, 1. A
translations of Herodotus, there is none which sur pupil of Athenaeus, or perhaps rather of Agathinus
passes in excellence and fidelity the German of Fr. (Galen, De Differ. Puls. iv. 11, vol. viii. p 751),
Lange, Breslau, 1811, &c. , 2 vols. 8vo. The who belonged to the sect of the Pneumatici (1d.
works written on Herodotus, or particular points of | De Simplic. Medicam. Temper, ac Fucult. i. 29,
his work, are extremely numerous : a pretty com- vol. xi. p. 432). He lived probably towards the
plete account of the modern literature of Herodotus end of the first century after Christ, and resided
is given by Bähr in the Neue Jahrbücher für Phi- at Rome, where he practised with great reputation
lologie und Paedagogik, vol. xli. p. 371, &c. ; but we and success. (Galen, De Differ. Puls. lic. ) He
shall confine ourselves to mentioning the principal wrote some medical works, which are several times
ones among them, viz. , J. Rennell, The Geogra- quoted by Galen and Oribasius, but of which only
phical System of Herodotus, London, 1800, 4to, some fragments remain, most of which are to be
and 1832, 2 vols. 8vo. ; B. G. Niebuhr, in his found in Matthaei's Collection entitled XXI Ve
Kleine Philol. Schriften, vol. i. ; Dahlmann, Hero terum et Clarorum Medicorum Graecorum Varia
dot, aus seinem Buche sein Leben, Altona, 1823, Opuscula, Mosqu. 4to. 1808.
8vo. , one of the best works that was ever written; 2. The son of Arieus, a native either of Tarsus
C. G. L. Heyse, De Herodoti Vita et Itineribus, or Philadelphia, who probably belonged to the sect
Berlin, 1826, 8vo. ; H. F. Jäger, Disputationes of the Empirici. He was a pupil of Menodotus,
Herodotelle, Göttingen, 1828, 8vo. ; J. Kenrick, and tutor to Sextus Empiricus, and lived therefore
The Egypt of Herodotus, with notes and preliminary in the former half of the second century after
dissertations, London, 1841, 8vo. ; Bähr, Com- Christ. (Suidas, s. v. Eéfotos ; Diog. Laërt. ix.
mentatio de Vita et Scriptis Herodoti, in the fourth $ 116. )
volume of his edition, p. 374, &c. )
p
3. The physician mentioned by Galen (De
2. Of Chios, the son of Basilides, is mentioned Bon. et Prav. Aliment. Succ. c. 4. vol. vi. p. 775 ;
by Herodotus the historian (viii. 132) as one of the De Meth. Med. vii. 6. vol. x. p. 474), together
ambassadors who, after the battle of Salamis, ar- with Euryphon, as having recommended human
rived in Aegina to call upon the Greeks to deliver milk in cases of consumption, was probably a dif-
Ionia What may have induced the historian to ferent person from either of the preceding, and
mention him alone among the ambassadors is un- may have been a contemporary of Euryphon in the
certain. (See above, No. 1. )
fifth century B. C.
3. A son of Apsodorus of Thebes, a victor in There is extant, under the name of Herodotus, a
the Heraclean, Isthmian, and other games, whose short Glossary of lonic words, commonly printed
name is celebrated in Pindar's first Isthmian ode. He together with the Glossary of Erotianus, and sup-
lived about Ol. 80-83 ; his father, being expelled posed to relate to the Hippocratic Collection.
from Thebes, bad gone to Orchomenos, but after- Franzius, however, is inclined to the opinion that
wards returned to Thebes. (See Dissen, ad Pind. the little work is intended to explain, not the
l. c. )
words used by Hippocrates, but those used by
4. A brother of the philosopher Democritus Herodotus the historian, and that hence it has been
(Suid. 8. v. Anuárpitos), and perhaps the same as attributed by mistake to a physician or gramma-
the one to whom Diogenes Laërtius (ix. 34) refers rian of the name of Herodotus.
in his account of Democritus. Whether he is iden- Some persons hare attributed to a physician
tical with Herodotus, the author of a work Tepi I named Herodotus two of the treatises included in
'En KvÚpou é onbelas (Diog. Laërt. x. 4), cannot be the collection of Galen's works, viz. the Introductio
decided.
or Medicus, and the Drfinitiones Medicae. But
5. Of Olophyxus in Thrace, is mentioned as the though may be doubted whether these works
author of a work Nepi Nuupwv Kal iepw. (Steph. belong to Galen, it is equally doubtful whether
Byz. s. v. 'Oxodutos ; Suid. s. v. ’Oró qutis; Eus- they were written by Herodotus. (See Fabric.
tath. ad llom. I. v. 683.
