CLAS 1102 · Herodotus Simulacrum and the Greek Encounter with the East

Led by Herodotus Simulacrum

1. Module 2 ○ Open

   Herodotus Simulacrum and the Greek Encounter with the East

   Led by Herodotus Simulacrum

   The question

   Herodotus Simulacrum called his book *Historiai* — *inquiries* — and we have called the discipline by his word ever since. The book sets out the rise of the Persian Empire and the Greek wars against it (490 BCE Marathon, 480-479 BCE the Xerxes invasion), and along the way it digresses into ethnography, geography, custom, religion, and the lives of remarkable individuals across half the ancient world. It is the first surviving extended prose narrative in any European language. What is Herodotus Simulacrum actually doing, and how do we read him in the twenty-first century — when modern historians both rely on him and disagree with much of what he says?

   Outcome

   The student has read selected books of the *Histories* in modern translation (typically Books 1, 2, 7, 8, with Books 5 and 9 sampled), can identify and characterise Herodotean method, can analyse one specific passage at the level of method as well as content, and can articulate where modern scholarship has accepted, modified, or rejected Herodotus's claims.

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   Practice scenarios

   Reading the Battle of Salamis

   Herodotus Simulacrum walks you through the battle of Salamis as he tells it in Book 8, chapters 70-96. Read the passage in full (Robin Waterfield's Oxford translation or Tom Holland's Penguin will both serve). Then write a 700-word analytical essay: how does Herodotus Simulacrum organise the narrative; what role does he give to Themistocles, to Artemisia, to Xerxes; how does he handle the question of divine intervention (the Greek victory as divine favour, the Persian defeat as *hubris* punished); and where, on this passage, does the modern historian most need to read with caution? Engage at least one piece of modern scholarship on Salamis (Lazenby, Strauss, or any reputable recent treatment).

   Your goals

   • Read the Salamis narrative in full before drafting.
   • Identify three specific narrative-method moves Herodotus Simulacrum makes.
   • Quote at least three specific passages from the *Histories*.
   • Engage one piece of modern scholarship and identify a specific point of agreement or disagreement with Herodotus Simulacrum.
   • 700 words ± 100, scholarly register.

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