A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

434 HERODOTU$. HERODOT US.
further derived assistance from the Arimaspeia, an property, also edited the work after the author's
epic poem of Aristeas, and from the works of the death. (Ptolem. Heph. ap. Phot. Bibl. Cod. 190.)
logographers who had preceded him, such as The division of the work into nine books, each
Hecataeus, 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 his Hisinto 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 accauses 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 Herotemptation 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 lanrelate the rise of the Persian monarchy, and the guage. The whole work is pervaded by a prosubjugation of Asia Minor and Babylon. The na- foundly religious idea, which distinguishes Herotions 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 Ihas 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 decalled 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 estabreaks 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 bewhich 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 charins 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 exthe 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 Egypauthor promises to give the particulars of an occur- tian priests had 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-seomeofthe