Key Questions Flashcards
Herotodus (Who)
Born 484bc (Halicarnassus)
Travelled widely
Part of the upper class
Wrote The Histories
Part 1: The Rise of the Persian Empire
Part 2: Greece and the Persian Wars
Persian Wars: between the 470s-90s, Greek cities were invaded and conquered by the Persian Empire
He observed a clash of civilisations → believed this was enormously important
Delian League and Athenian Empire: Athens became leader of Greek States and formed Delian League → alliance to prevent future Persian invasion (howerver it led to an Athenian dominated empire)
Peloponnesian Wars: Despite the corporation of Sparta and Athens, Sparta attacked Athens and eventually defeated its armies. Athens was spared destruction as a token of appreciation for the Athenians assistance in the Persian wars
Herotodus (Purpose)
Core thesis: “Preserve the memory of the past by putting on record the astonishing achievements both of our own and other peoples… to show how they came into conflict”
Explain conflict between Greece and Asia
Conflict → between Europe and Asia//between civilisation and barbarianism//between freedom and slavery
Recognises that the root cause of the conflict is imperialism
Provides an abstract cause for a complex historical development; the tradition had been to blame everything on the gods
Herotodus (Construction)
Researcher and Empiricist → writing as a result of his travels, observations and inquiries
Based his work on solid research → created a new genre of writing (history)
Refers to extensive travels and subsequent interviews as the way he collected data → Interviewed survivors from the Battle of Marathon (490BC) → sought two or three versions of events
Often questioned the validity of these accounts of events provided to him and sought to corroborate his information
Does seem to subject sources to scrutiny → references to ‘having hear’ or ‘the facts I have reported’ or ‘there is a story I am told’
Tried to get the Persian and Greek account of incidents → displayed thouroughness and impartiality and willingness to reveal his own doubts
Invites readers to make up their own minds → provides all sides of the story
Inclusion of the fantastic → may be justified by his purpose to memorialise heroes great deeds
During wars tells a story of two giants killing many Persian soldiers
Herotodus (Change)
His history is based on the heroes of his society → aristicrats and the rich as only they could influence society
Atheno-centric: motiviated by a wonder at the power of Greek unity but with Athens at the forefront → his pride in the efforts of Athens is central to his analyss of the defeat of Persia
Story of the fate of Persian king Cambyses: emulates the Greek belief that the Gods would tempt mortals into arrogance → into crime of hubris
Herodotus believed that the past must be researched and that oral sources were the best form of evidence
Herotodus (critique)
Critique of methods:
Inaccuracies/inconsistencies where he did not really visit a place he claims to have
‘Father of lies’ → credibility mocked
Harthog (1988)– “His position may be summed up in the following paradox: even though he is the father of history, he is not really an historian”
Thycidides (Who)
Born 460 BC
Took part in early actions of the Peloponnesian War (general)
Athenian → Lived at a time where Athenian power was at its height
5th century BCE Golden Age of Athens
Able to fund his career as an ‘historian’ due to his personal wealth → considered man of wealth and influence
Wrote ‘The Peloponnesian War’
Thycidides (Purpose)
Belief that the war ‘was going to be a great war and more worth writing about than any of those which had taken place in the past’
Using Greece as a source based study he dealt with timeless questions:
What makes nations go to war?
How can politics elevate or poison a society?
What is the measure of a great leader or a great democracy?
Thycicides Trap: War was an outcome of long-term power shifts → Sparta threatened by Athens
(e.g. USSR and USA)
Thycidides (Construction)
Unlike Herotodus
Dismissive of the influence of supernatural forces
Claims accurary and higher standards of research (aimed at Herotodus)
His technique is to enter into the mind of his character and discuss his feelings and behaviors. As a former Commander he understood military leadership
Meant to be spoken → entertainment
Wrote for propersity → his work was written to last through the ages
Aims at objectivity → rigorous checking of sources and claims to have avoided bias
E.g. detatched treatment of the plague which he caught → adds to the objective feel of his work
Was a product of his time → the age of sophists
Sophists: debated and argued issues, basing the validity of their ideas on logic and rational thinking → his rejection of supernatural is suggestive of this
Looks to the future and shows that society can learn from the actions of the past because human nature is fixed and so a study of past human actions can indicate what future human actions will involve
Scientific examination of history
Tight and disciplined narrative
Very certain in his findings (unlike Herodotus)
Bede (Who)
Lived in the late 7th and early 8th centuries
Anglo-saxon theologian
Christian propagandist
Patriotic Northumbrian → his work was for royal use
Not just an historian but also a scholar whose biblical commentaries were his most popular works
Regarded as a Doctor of the Church by the Roman Catholic Church
Wrote ‘Ecclesiastical History of the English people’
Bede (Purpose)
Said he was writing for the ‘instruction of posterity’
His purpose: “for if history records good things of good men, the thoughtful hearer is encouraged to imitate what is good; or if it records evil of wicked men, the devout, religious listener or reader is encouraged to avoid all that is sinful and perverse and to follow what he knows to be good and pleasing to God.”
Chronological history of England at the time of Roman occupation → first known work to use AD dating system
Development of Christianity in England
Spread the correct teaching of the gospel → saw himself as a teacher (one who was a propagandist for his view of Christianity)
Bede (Construction)
Spent most of his time in the monastery → Had at his disposal one of England’s finest libraries
He may have: “began his History by generating a list of events…He then added entries from regnal bishops’ lists and Irish records…he then expanded the narrative with updated material from saint’s lives…” (Hughes-Warrington,M.)
“He ransacked the library and archives at Wearmouth/Jarrow, asked friends to search for documents, and questioned people he met.” (Antonia Gransden,, 1974)
Inclusion of miracles as a demonstration of power → turn readers to Christianity
When St Alban was executed, the executioner’s eyes fell onto the ground
Fires where put out by the power of prayer
Von Ranke (Who)
lived in 19th century
Considered the ‘father of the objective writing of history’
His family had deep Lutherean roots → as he grew up he took his faith very seriously
Sincere religious faith coming from his strong Lutheran roots, explain his rejection of Enlightenment thinking
Enlightenment → spreading atheistic ideals
Von Ranke (Purpose)
Aim: Scientific Objectivity
Ranke is committed to the strict presentation of facts, historical truth was to be displayed through this means. He demands objectivity.
The historian should present the past ‘as it actually was’
He should avoid imbueing the past with the spirit of the present
Von Ranke saw political power as the key factor in the story of the past → his history tends to be a political history
Strong focus on the actions of kings and other leaders
Von Ranke (Construction)
Had great distrust of history textbooks
He claimed he was trying (through his unique use of sources) to write a history which was free of prevailing theories, prejudice and bias
Von Ranke distrusted previous historian’s works in general and relied on primary evidence. His aim was scientific objectivity.
Sought out eye-witnesses and what he called “the most genuine immediate documents”
His aim was achieved from scrupulous, uncorrupted and honest use of primary sources
Despite his best intentions, Von Ranke’s history ends up having its own bias towards the thinking and attitudes of the aristocracy
He could not reconcile that these sources were produced for, by and about the rich and powerful.
This led to a limited history of events from the perspective of the educated, literate ruling classes.
E.g. Venetian Relazione → reports made by Venetian Ambassadors//’upper class outlook’
E.P Thompson (Who)
20th century historian
marxist influence
History from below → studied the activities of ordinary people ‘The Major work: Making of the English Working Class’
