Herodotus’ Histories. Selections from Books 5 and 6.
Due Wednesday: March 10, 2021
Book 5: This book has much background history Thrace, in the far north of Greece, and of the city-states Sparta, Athens, and Corinth. From Book 5, read in Waterfield pages 304-346 (sections 1-106). Book 6: This is a rich book, but we will concentrate on the part that covers the Battle of Marathon (490 BCE) and important Athenian history. Read in Waterfield sections 94-140, pages 385-403.
D. B. LEVINE’S THOUGHTS ON THE IONIAN REVOLT, TYRANNY AND DEMOCRACY… CLICK HERE.
MAP: PERSIAN INVASION ROUTES OF 490 BCE AND 480 BCE.
Outline of Herodotus’s Narration of 5-6 (Waterfield, pages 662-663)
1. Where is Thrace? Why does Herodotus mention it? What are two customs of the Thracians? (5.1-8)
2. How did the Macedonians get revenge on the Persians who had molested their women? (5. 17-21)
3. How was a haircut an important part of how Histiaeus communicated in secret (from Susa, the Persian capital) with Aristagoas in Miletus, on the Aegean? (5.30-36). LOOK at 5.106 to see what Histiaeus says to the gullible Darius when the king asks him how Aristagoras could have succeeded without Histiaeus’ involvement.
4. How did Aristagoras the tyrant of Miletus attempt to convince the Spartan King Cleomenes to help the Ionians to attack Persia? Why did he fail? And where is Miletus? (5.48-54)
5. What does Herodotus say about the origin of the Greek alphabet? Who was Cadmus, and where did he come from? (5.57-59).
6. What is the nature of the three early inscriptions that Herodotus quotes? (i.e., What kind of inscriptions are they? What were they used for? Who were their intended readers?) (5.58-61)
7. Who were the Alcmaeonidae? How did they and the Spartans force the Pisistratid tyrants out of Athens? (5.62-65)
8. In what year did the overthrow of the Athenian tyrants take place? (see Timeline, xlviii) How was the Delphic oracle involved? (5.62-65)
[Illustration: East pediment of Delphi’s Apollo Temple. Parian marble. ca. 510 BCE. Apollo’s horses, Kouroi, Korai, Lions hunting]
9. What reform did Cleisthenes the Athenian introduce to Athenian life? (5.66) In what year did he make this reform? (see Timeline, xlviii).
10. Why were the Alcmaeonids referred to sometimes as “the accursed”? How did this incident cause Cleisthenes’ exile at the time of Isagoras? (5.70-73)
11. How did the priestess of Athena have a role in stopping Spartan support for Isagoras against Cleisthenes? (5.70-73)
12. What does the inscription on the left as one enters the Propylaea on the Acropolis commemorate? What is Herodotus’ theory about the relative benefits of “everyone having a voice in the political procedure and tyranny? How does he prove his point? (5.73-78)
13. The people of Aegina were happy to help the Thebans against Athens, because the Aeginetans hated the Athenians. What was the origin of this hatred? (5.80-89)
14. How did Cypselus’ smile save his life? What was the result for the city of Corinth? Who was his son? (5.92)
15. What advice did the Corinthian tyrant Periander receive from Thrasybulus, the tyrant of Miletus? What wicked deeds did Periander commit? (5.92)
16. Why did Periander consult the oracle of the dead? What did he learn that caused him to strip the women of Corinth of their clothes? (5.92)
17. What arguments did Aristagoras the Milesian use to convince the Athenians to help the Ionians revolt against Persia? What was the Athenian reaction? (5.97)
18. What was the year of the Ionian rebellion (see Timeline, p. xlix) and what was the reaction of the Persian king Darius to the burning of Sardis? (5.98-105)
Book 6: Herodotus’ Histories. This is a rich book, but we will concentrate on the part that covers the Battle of Marathon (490 BCE) and important Athenian history. Read in Waterfield sections 94-140, pages 385-403.
19. What happened to the Persians on Apollo’s holy island of Delos, and what did it mean? (6.94-98)
20. What was the fate of Eretria at the hands of the Persians? Why did it suffer thus? (6.100-101)
21. What was so remarkable about the mares of Cimon when they were alive? Where were they buried? (6.103-104)
22. What religious experience did Philippides have on his way to Sparta, and what was the result of it? What answer did Philippides take back to Athens from Sparta? (6.105-107)
23. What did the former Athenian tyrant Hippias learn from his dream and his tooth? Why was he so anxious to bring the Persians against Athens? (6.107-108)
[Illustration: From Larry Gonick’s Cartoon History of the Universe.]
24. How were Miltiades the General (Strategos) and Callimachus the War Archon (Polemarch) so important to the Athenian victory at Marathon? (6.109-114) [Miltiades Helmet Dedication at Olympia: ΜΙΛΤΙΑΔΕΣ ΑΝΕΘΕΚΕΝ ΤΟΙ ΔΙΙ (Miltiades dedicated to Zeus)]
25. What did Miltiades do to win over Callimachus? What were his main arguments? (6.109) [Miltiades Helmet Dedication at Olympia: ΜΙΛΤΙΑΔΕΣ ΑΝΕΘΕΚΕΝ ΤΟΙ ΔΙΙ (Miltiades dedicated to Zeus)]
26. What was unique about the Athenian charge on the Persian forces at Marathon? (6.112)
27. What story about the quick march back to Athens does Herodotus tell? How many Athenians died in the Battle of Marathon? (6.116-117)
28. How does Herodotus defend the Alcmaeonidae against the charge of favoring the Persians and Hippias in the encounter at Marathon? (6. 115-125)
29. How did the Athenian Alcmaeonid Megacles win the Sicyonian Agariste as his wife? Why didn’t the Athenian Hippocleides win her? (6.126-131).
30. Which Athenian does Herodotus mention as the most recent son of the Athenian Alcmeonid family? What is the significance of his mother’s dream? (6.131)
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