Ethnography, proof and argument in Herodotus' <i>Histories</i>

Thomas, Rosalind

doi:10.1017/s0068673500002170

Cited by 5 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…Thomas (1998) accepts the fact that Herodotus saw the Egyptians as Black and acknowledges that it is a "notorious" factor in his argument (p. 316). However, she later claims that "the Colchians .…”

Section: Commentaries On Herodotus 2104mentioning

confidence: 96%

Herodotus and the Black Body

Samuels

2015

Journal of Black Studies

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Herodotus' view of Blackness is discussed only in relation to his 2.104 passage where he describes the Egyptian physical appearance. This is a consequence of the modern debate on ancient Egyptian racial identity. Inevitably, commentators on 2.104 have been heavily concerned with defending their predispositions about ancient Egyptian racial identity. As a result, there has been no critical engagement with Herodotus' conceptualization of Blackness. This analysis uses critical race theory to address this methodological problem. Contrary to the consensus in Greco-Roman studies, Blackness was a factor in ancient Greek racial thought. It is evident that Herodotus' own understanding of Blackness did not differ from the general Greek worldview. Ultimately, this analysis shows that Blackness was a significant aspect of Herodotus' ethnography for particular racial groups.

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Section: Commentaries On Herodotus 2104mentioning

confidence: 96%

Herodotus and the Black Body

Samuels

2015

Journal of Black Studies

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“…vided under very different circumstances by the 46 See Lloyd (1987) 119-23 on 'dogmatic ananke 1 in Thessalians to the confederate Greeks: 'If you do not the Hippocratics, especially in the first four chapters of want to come to our aid, you are in no position to apply Diseases I. On the Hippocratics and Herodotus, see dvayicaiTi on us [and make us resist the Persians by our- Lateiner (1986); Thomas (1997) and 2000168-212 and selves]; for never has dvdyKn been stronger than power-221; C. Pelling, 'Causes, scientific and other: lessness (&5\)vacrir|)'. Here the dvayKaui applied by the Hippocratics and historians' (forthcoming).…”

Section: Non-personal Causes Of Compulsion: Factors Of the Physical Wmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…7.172.1). The irony of com);Thomas (1997) and(2000)168-212 and 221; C. Pelling, 'Causes, scientific and other: Hippocratics and historians' (forthcoming).…”

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confidence: 99%

Anankein Herodotus

Munson

2001

J. Hell. Stud.

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This paper examines Herodotus' use of words of the ἀνάγκη family in order to determine which external or internal constraints the historian represents as affecting the causality of events. M. Ostwald's Ἀνάγκη in Thucydides (1988) provides a foundation for examining the more restricted application of these terms in Herodotus (85 occurrences vs. 161 in Thucydides). In Herodotus, divine necessity (absent in Thucydides) refers to the predictable results of human wrongdoings more often than to a force constraining human choices. This represents an especially ambiguous Herodotean category, however, and is expressed by a wider range of terms than those with ἀνάγκη-stems. The analysis of natural ἀνάγκη yields more clear-cut results. (1) In Herodotus (and not in Thucydides) ἀνάγκη often qualifies an aggressive compulsion applied by a personal agent. (2) Victims of this despotic ἀνάγκη are partially excused, but those who resist it earn Herodotus' praise. (3) Most importantly, Herodotus (unlike Thucydides) never in turn applies ἀνάγκη words to circumstances that motivate imperialistic actions, especially starting a war. (4) Whereas in Thucydides agents are ‘compelled’ to act also by fear and other internal impulses, the only psychological factor to which Herodotus applies ἀνάγκη words (and this time mostly in a positive sense) is moral obligation.Herodotus' concept of ἀνάγκη is moralistic, and consistent with his unwillingness to justify imperialism, his practice of assigning responsibility, and his high regard for nomos, on the one hand, and freedom on the other. The narrator's involvement in these principles is reflected in Herodotus' use of ἀνάγκη terms in self-referential statements of the type ‘I am compelled/not compelled to say x.’ These statements represent the narrator as the opposite of an imperial subject and analogous to the most admirable of his characters on the receiving end of compulsion. He is a free agent, who disregards political pressure and is exclusively compelled by the rules that apply to him as researcher and truthful recorder.

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“…1.1 5. On the different purposes and interpretations of the ethnographical excurses in Histories, see:Redfield (1985);Hartog (1988);Konstan (1987);Cartledge (1990); Pritchett (1993);Thomas (1997).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Cultural Tourism in a Digital Era

Katsoni¹

2015

Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics

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Ethnography, proof and argument in Herodotus' Histories

Cited by 5 publications

References 10 publications

Herodotus and the Black Body

Herodotus and the Black Body

Anankein Herodotus

Cultural Tourism in a Digital Era

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