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This is perhaps another interesting aspect of Herodotus's objective level of discussion: his interests go beyond history and simple ethnography to give larger descriptions of additional themes such as geographical location. These can also help in determining and explaining the development of certain ethnography.
His objective approach can also be seen in the descriptive manner in which he goes into the people's traditions. One such example stands out in Book 1, paragraph 196, when he proceeds with an enumeration of the established customs, keen to show both religious and laical customs. His description is, again, very detailed.
One of Herodotus's clear interest on both subjective and objective levels is that for religious conceptions. However, from the way he minutely examines the different traditions, beliefs, and cults, one could point out that he simply objectively notes some of the ways that these cultures and people practice some of their religious beliefs. On many occasions, Herodotus becomes an anthropologist, studying the relevant ceremonies, oracles or dreams as they seem to influence the development of the respective people.
As a matter of assumptions, it is interesting to note that Herodotus does not believe in the divine intervention to the same degree...
Despite the fact that, occasionally, some of his storyline seems to be transposed into myth, the presence of god in the human actions or as determining elements in human action is limited. From this point-of-view, as previously stated, Herodotus simply observes the way that humans worship gods rather than the potential metaphysical problem of divine intervention.
The presence of religious objects and traditions in people's life is clear throughout the book. For example, on many occasions, the historian mentions that the respective people has an oracle that is used for a direct communication with the gods and for predictions on the future. As such, the Ethiopians "dwell in reverence of the gods Zeus and Dionysus" and they have "an oracle of Zeus established" (2.29).
The most likely prejudice that Herodotus has is in fact tied to the myths of people he describes and to the way he understands to use those myths and transform them into actual realistic underlying parts of the story he tells. It is difficult to discern, from that perspective, between his subjective and his objective levels.
Bibliography
1. The Histories. Translated by G.C. Macaulay. Barnes and Nobles Classics.…
Bibliography
1. The Histories. Translated by G.C. Macaulay. Barnes and Nobles Classics. New York. 2004
Herodotus is called first historian, as he was the first known author of the historical book called the Histories, which contained various myths, legends and also many important historical events that were commented by this great Greek. Herodotus was a very smart man but when reading his book I have to mention that we have to treat him as ancient man who sincerely believed different myths (for example he was sure
Histories of Herodotus In his Histories, which chronicles the historical aspects of ancient Greece, Egypt and other regions of Asia Minor, Herodotus focuses in the beginning on the myths associated with these cultures and civilizations from his own distant past which at the time had acquired some relevance based on what was viewed as historical truth. Some of these myths, which now through archeological evidence may have some basis in fact,
" (8.6-7) Humanity, this suggests, cannot serve two masters -- God and a king, and humanity in the form of Israel chooses kingship. Thus, humanity is far more servile and weak and in need of divine guidance, than human beings who actively resist tyranny, in Herodotus, whether it be in their schema of governance of not. "This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will
This was racism at its worst. The enslaved Africans and the native Indians began to get closer to each other, and started to share certain ethic traditions between themselves, and soon, they started to marry each other, especially because of the disproportionate number of African males to females. A number of red-black people began to emerge from these unions, and these people formed traditions of their own. However, slavery
One exception to this is Pausanias, a Greek writer. He recorded the quarrying done in Greece but he lived in the second century a.D. For other details, the information related to their architecture is limited to the writings of Vitruvius, an architect in Rome, also a military engineer and a writer who lived during the rule of Augustus (Masrgary, 1957; Derry and Williams, 1961). The Greek construction inherits its glory
In other words, at every seven courses of stone, a layer of reed matting was laid and weep-holes and drainage shafts were placed, thus preserving the ziggurat from water damage. Eventually the building fell into disrepair. Later, King Nabonidus restored the Ur ziggurat, along with other temples. Stiebing believes this was because he revered his mother's gods (285). Nabonidus claims in the clay cuneiform tablets found in the tower to