HERODOTUS. 



HEROPHILUS. 



402 



marks of the hand of a man of mature age. The Olympic recitation 

 is not even alluded to by Plutarch in his treatise on the 'Malignity 

 of Herodotus' (iv., p. 431, ed. Wyttenbach). The arguments derivable 

 from this circumstance, as to the truth or falsehood of this story, are 

 considered by Dahlruann (p. 33). Heyse endeavours to maintain the 

 story of the Olympic recitation, and to relieve it from some of its 

 difficulties ; but, in our opinion, not successfully. Another recitation 

 at Athena is mentioned by Plutarch and Eusebius. 



With a simplicity which characterises his whole work, Herodotus 

 makes no display of the great extent of his travels. He frequently 

 avoids saying in express terms that he was at a place, but he uses 

 words which are as conclusive as any positive statement. He describes 

 a thing as standing behind the door (ii. 182), or on the right hand, as 

 you enter a temple (i. 51); or as he was told something by a person 

 in a particular place (ii. 28) ; or he uses other words equally significant. 

 In Africa he visited Egypt, from the coast of the Mediterranean to 

 Elephantine, the southern extremity of the country (ii. 29) ; and he 

 travelled westward as far as Cyrene (ii. 32, 181), and probably farther. 

 In Asia he visited Tyre, Babylon, Ecbatana (i. 98), and probably Susa 

 (v. 52-54 ; vi. 119). Ho also visited various parts of Asia Minor, and 

 probably went as far as Colchis (ii. 104). In Europe he visited a 

 large part of the country along the Black Sea, between the mouths of 

 the Danube and the Crimea, and went some distance into the interior. 

 He seems to have examined the line of the march of Xerxes from 

 the Hellespont into Attica, and certainly had seen numerous places 

 on this route. He was well acquainted with Athens (i. 98 ; v. 77, &c.), 

 Delphi, Dodona, Olympia (ix. 81), Tegea (L 66), Thasos, Delos, 

 Zacynthus (iv. 195) and numerous other places in Greece. That he 

 had visited some parts of South Italy is clear from his work (iv. 99; 

 v. 44, 45). TLe n.ention of there places is sufficient to show that he 

 inu.-t have seen many more. So wide 'and varied a field of observa- 

 tion has rarely been presented to a traveller, and still more rarely to 

 any historian, either of ancient or modern times ; and if we cannot 

 affirm that the author undertook his travels with a view to collect 

 material^ for his great work, a supposition which is far from improb- 

 able, it is certain that without such advantages he could never have 

 written it, and that his travels must have suggested much inquiry, 

 and supplied many valuable facts which afterwards found a place in 

 his History. 



Th-) Nine Books of Herodotus contain n great variety of matter, 

 the unity of which is not perceived till the whole work has been 

 thoroughly examined; and fur this reason, on a first perusal the 

 History is seldom well understood. But the subject of his History 

 wan conceived liy the author both clearly and comprehensively. " The 

 object of the inquiries (for BO we may render the word iVropfij) of 

 Herodotus of Halicarnassus is this, that the acts of man may not be 

 forgotten through lapse of time, and that great and wondrous achieve- 

 ments, performed partly by Greeks and partly by Barbarians, may not 

 be without their fame ; and also how it came to pass that Greeks and 

 Barbarians waged war together" (L 1). His object then was to 

 combine a general history of the Greeks and the Barbarians (that is, 

 those not Greeks) with the history of the wars of the Greeks and 

 Persians. Accordingly, in execution of his main subject, he traces 

 the course of events from the time when the Lydian kingdom of 

 Croesus fell before the arms (ac. 546) of Cyrus, the founder of the 

 Persian monarchy, to the capture of Sestos (B.c. 478), an event which 

 crowned the triumph of the Greeks over the Persians. 



The great subject of his work, which is comprised within this space 

 of sixty-eight years, not more than the ordinary term of human life, 

 advances with a regular progress and truly dramatic development, 

 from the first weak and divided efforts of the Greeks to resist Asiatic 

 numbers, to their union as a nation, and their final triumph in the 

 memorable fights of Thermopylae, Salamis, and PlaUea. But with this 

 dubject, which has a complete unity well maintained from its com- 

 mencement to its close, the author has interwoven, conformably to 

 bis general purpose, and by way of occasional digression, sketches of 

 the various people and countries that he had visited in his widely-ex- 

 tended travels. The more we contemplate the difficulty of thus 

 combining a kind of universal history with a substantial and distinct 

 narrative, the more we admire, not the art of the historian (for such, 

 in the proper sense of tbe term, he could not well possess), but that 

 happy power of bringing together and arranging his materials which 

 was the result of the fulness of his information, the distinctness of his 

 knowledge, and the clear conception of his subject. These numerous 

 digretsions are among the most valuable parts of his work, and if they 

 had been omitted or lost, barren indeed would have been our investi- 

 gation into the field of ancient history, over which the labour of one 

 man now throws a clear and steady light. It would be difficult to 

 mention any single writer, ancient or modern, whose personal know- 

 ledge forma so large a part of the materials of his work, and it would 

 not be easy to name one whose accuracy of observation and felicity of 

 description were accompanied with such singleness and rectitude of 

 purpose. Of modern travellers Caraten Niebubr is the only one whom 

 we can call to mind as worthy, in this respect, to be placed by the side 

 of the historian of Halicarnnssu^ But we know no complete parallel 

 to a writer whose mere digressions elevate him to the rank of an intel- 

 ligent traveller, and who could combine in harmonious union with a 

 great historical work, designed to perpetuate the glories of his own 

 moo. uiv. VOL. in. 



i nation, so endless a variety of matter collected from the general history 

 of mankind. His predecessors in historical composition appear generally 

 to have chosen subjects of a limited nature, partaking chiefly of the 

 character of local annals. Herodotus chose for his subject a series of 

 ; events which concerned the universal Greek nation, and not them only, 

 but the whole civilised world ; and by the way in which he executed 

 his great undertaking he has earned the honourable and well-merited 

 appellation of the Father of History. 



That he was not duly appreciated by all his countrymen, and that 

 in modern times his wonderful stories have been the subject of merri- 

 ment to the half-learned, who measure his experience by their own 

 ignorance, we merely notice, without thinking it necessary to say more. 

 The incidental confirmations of his veracity which have been accumu- 

 lating of late years on all sides, and our more exact knowledge of the 

 countries which he visited, enable us to appreciate him better than 

 many of the Greeks themselves could do ; and it cannot now be denied 

 that a sound and comprehensive study of antiquity must be based 

 upon a thorough knowledge of the Father of History. 



The style of Herodotus is simple, pleasing, and generally perspicu- 

 ous : often highly poetical both in expression and in sentiment. But 

 it bears evident marks of belonging to a period when prose compo- 

 i sition had not yet become a subject of art. His sentences are often 

 i ill-constructed and hang loosely together; but his clear comprehension 

 ! of his own meaning, and the sterling worth of his matter, have saved 

 i him from the reproach of diffusenesa and incoherence. His acquire- 

 ments were apparently the result of his own experience. In physical 

 knowledge he was certainly behind the science of his day. He had 

 no doubt reflected on political questions ; but he seems to have formed 

 his opinions mainly from what he had himself observed. To pure 

 philosophical speculation he had no inclination, and there is not a trace 

 of it in his writings. He had a strong religious feeling, bordering on 

 superstition, though even here he could clearly distinguish the gross 

 and absurd from that which was decorous (i. 199). He seems to have 

 viewed the manners and customs of all nations in a more truly philo- 

 sophical way than many so-called philosophers, considering them as 

 various forms of social existence under which happiness might be 

 found. He treats with decent respect the religious observances of 

 every nation, a decisive proof, if any were wanting, of his good seuse. 



There is no translation of Herodotus which has yet done justice to 

 the original, and no commentary has yet exhausted one-tenth of the 

 matter which admits and requires illustration. 



The first edition of Herodotus was the Latin translation of L. Valla, 

 fol., Venice, 1474. The first Greek edition was printed by the elder 

 Aldus, fol., Venice, 1502; reprinted by Hervagius, foL, Basel, 1541, 

 1557, under the superintendence of Camerarius. The edition of 

 Hergavius is very correct and useful. The most complete edition of 

 Herodotus is by J. Schweighauser, 6 vols. 8vo, Strasbourg, 1816. 

 Since that time Professor Gaisford has again collated the Bancroft 

 manuscript (one of the best manuscripts of Herodotus) for his edition 

 of Herodotus (Oxford, 1824), but the result of the collation has added 

 nothing of any value to the text of Schweighiiuser. The differences 

 between the text of Schweigbiiuser and Gaisford are shown in the 

 reprint of Schweighuuser, by Taylor and Walton, London, 1830 and 

 1838. An exceedingly valuable edition is that of the Rev. J. W. 

 Blakesley (2 vols. 8vo, 1854), forming vols. iii. and iv. of the 'Biblio- 

 theca Classica ; ' the text, which is mainly formed on that of Gaisford, 

 being accompanied with an introduction aud a large body of notes, 

 embodying the results of the latest investigations, and well calculated 

 to lead the student to a proper appreciation of the character and 

 merits of Herodotus. The Lexicon to Herodotus, by Schweighauser, 

 a a useful aid to students, though it is far from being complete. 

 Kennell's ' Geography of Herodotus ' is a valuable work, which will 

 enable a student to appreciate the merits of the old traveller ; and 

 Niebuhr's ' Dissertation on the Geography of Herodotus;' Dahlinann's 

 Essay above referred to ; that of Heyse, ' De Vita et Itineribus 

 Herod.,' Berlin, 1827; and Kenrick's 'Egypt of Herodotus, with 

 notes and preliminary dissertations,' London, 1841, are worth the 

 student's attention. ' The Apology of Herodotus,' by H. Stephens, 

 prefixed to his corrected edition of Valla's translation (Frankfurt, 

 1695), is a clever and amusing vindication of Herodotus against the 

 charge of falsehood, made on the ground that many of his stories 

 were so singular and improbable. L'Archer's French translation, 

 9 vol?. 8vo, Paris, with the Commentary, is a useful book; and 

 i Creuzer's ' Commentationes Herodotese,' Leipzig, 1819, may be con- 

 i suited with profit. The German translation by Lange, 2 vols. 8vo, 

 t Breslau, 1824, has the merit of fidelity, and to a considerable degree 

 is a successful attempt to convey a notion of the literary character of 

 the original The English translation by Beloe is in every respect 

 bad ; a much better one is that by the Rev. H. Cary, in Bohu'a 

 'Classical Library.' 



A life of Homer, which bears the name of Herodotus, is subjoined 

 to most editions of the text, but evidently comes from another hand. 



HERO'PHILUS, a native of Chalcedon, was one of the most cele- 

 brated physicians of the Alexandrian school, and lived in the reign of 

 the first Ptolemy of Egypt. Of his works, which appear to have 

 been very voluminous, nothing now remains except the extracts made 

 from them by Galen and Coolius Aurolianus, iu which they are so 

 interwoven with those of his contemporary Erasistratus, that it is 



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