The Role and the Significance of Herodotos in Ancient Historiography

Abstract

Throughout the centuries, most of the ancient writers continued to hold the view that Herodotos did not write an objective history and composed his work by fictional tales, written in an entertaining and conversational style. This view was also followed by modem writers. However, it is possible that these long-lasting academical critics about Herodotos do not result from any real mistake of his work, but do stem from the fact that Herodotos depended very much on irrational oral tradition, the critics of which seems to have first begun by Thucydides and these prejudicial critics of Herodotos' method were followed in a tougher manner by successive writers throughout centuries. As a matter of fact, Herodotos displays a rational aprroach in his use of oral tradition. He abstains from making comments about the unverifable oral traditions he uses and often repeats that he merely writes what he hears from others. From time to time, he rejects the tales which are obviously false. While expressing the different views about a certain subject, he even sometimes goes further by stating both his suspicions and contradictive points about these views and puts forward his solution by means of evidence. Being aware of the fact that the oral sources in general, available to him, are open to critics, Herodotos adheres to rational methods in order to confirm the realiability of Egyptian tradition, which he especially accepts as a historical fact, by making use of accessible archives of the temples and his observations when he visited there. Because of the facts that he writes about the events of a distant past; intends to convey a moral message and wishes to adress a broader section of readers outside Hellas, he presents various fictional and nonfictional points of view amusingly and persuasively in accordance with oral tradition. Yet one ought to accept that his narrative consists of both fictional and nonfictional tales. The truth of his narrative becomes gradually more recoverable as one nears the present and recedes gradually into fable as one moves backward in time. The difficulty lies here in sorting out the historical truths from all his narratives for the sake of humanity. In order to realize this, one should be a reader having a comprehensive perceptional capability of the totality of his work by means of intuitive judgements. Especially Herodotos' presentation of different sources for making an analogy on a certain subject helps modem historians to work out mysterious pieces of Ancient Greek History. The recent scholars are having the opportunity to re-examine Herodotos' Historiai in the lights of archaeological finds, having been found since the beginning of 19 th century, and the ancient texts to which Herodotos did probably not have an access. Thus, after the passing of centuries, they gradually exclude themselves from the point of view that did not take Herodotos seriously at first sight and they increase their efforts to rediscover history with Herodotos' contribution.