/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.20578592]

It really is awesome

[Anonymous No.20578676]

>>20578592
Loving this read right now though did find it hilarious he considers and immediately disregards the (now known) reason for the Nile's backward flooding season

[Anonymous No.20578701]

>>20578592
I love it. One can read it as "fantasy" by assuming Herodotus is fallible (and deliberately embellishing) but essentially correct about his world, or as a historical document to apply historiography on. So many cool mysteries to ponder about either way.

[Anonymous No.20578722]

I love Penguin covers.

[Anonymous No.20578755]

>>20578676
Or when he finds the Phoenicians' story of sailing around the south of Africa and having the sun on their right hand side a one hard to believe.

[Anonymous No.20578774]

>>20578722
This is a great cover concept, maybe add a full croc at end

[Anonymous No.20579435]

>>20578592
I loved it. The part about the harvesting of cinnamon got a sensible chuckle out of me, and as a whole, the tangents from the narrative regarding the Greco-Persian Wars really make the book

[Anonymous No.20579454]

>>20578592
>translations
you didn't read it, you read some incel's fanfic

[Anonymous No.20579496]

>>20578592
Does anything even come close to this? Thucydides and Xenophon were quite boring in comparison.

[Anonymous No.20580446]

bump

[Anonymous No.20580487]

What does it talk about specifically? Things happening during his time or things that ocurred in the past relatively to him?

[Anonymous No.20580534]

>>20579496
I actually found Thucydides to be more entertaining. Especially the speeches of the war generals

[Anonymous No.20580565]

>>20578592
Livy is better tb h

[Anonymous No.20580870]

>>20580487
Yes

[Anonymous No.20581269]

literally ordered a copy today, the Everyman's Library one

[Anonymous No.20581569]

it's soo comfy. people are usually wrong about herodotus

[Anonymous No.20582693]

bump

[Anonymous No.20582819]

How bad is the Oxford translation of the Histories? I was skimming through the Walsh translation of The Golden Ass and saw
>Peter Pan
as a placeholder for perpetual youth. I don't appreciate that kind of anachronism in translation.

[Anonymous No.20582961]

>>20579454
kys

[Anonymous No.20582995]

>>20582819
Oxford (Robin Waterfield)
>Here are presented the results of the enquiry carried out by Herodotus of Halicarnassus. The purpose is to prevent the traces of human events from being erased by time, and to preserve the fame of the important and remarkable achievements produced by both Greeks and non-Greeks; among the matters covered is, in particular, the cause of the hostilities between Greeks and non-Greeks.

Penguin (Aubrey de Sélincourt)
>Herodotus of Halicarnassus here displays his inquiry, so that human achievements may not become forgotten in time, and great and marvellous deeds – some displayed by Greeks, some by barbarians – may not be without their glory; and especially to show why the two peoples fought with each other.

[Anonymous No.20582999]

>>20582995
I'd like to shit in Robin Waterfield's mouth right now

[Anonymous No.20583002]

>>20582999
kek why?

[Anonymous No.20583008]

>>20579496
Wrong, Thucydides is better

[Anonymous No.20583021]

>>20582995
Why do I get the feeling that Oxford translations are incredibly sanitized and sterile? I bet in a few years they'll be changing shit like "breastfeeding" for "chestffeeding" or some of that woke nonsense.

[Anonymous No.20583080]

>>20583008
You Are Wrong, And You Have Autism desu senpai

[Anonymous No.20583114]

>>20583080
He's actually correct unless you explain why Herodotus is better.

[Anonymous No.20583154]

>>20583114
Herodotus is the father of history.
His history is grand in scale and he does not waste time trying to attack other historians like thucydides does

Oh and of course herodotus' history is actually entertaining

[Anonymous No.20583167]

>>20583154
Attacking contemporaries in a historical account does seem quite autistic

[Anonymous No.20583184]

>>20579496
Thucydides is the truth itself.

[Anonymous No.20583198]

>>20583154
>>20583184

[Anonymous No.20583354]

thucydideez nuts LMAO

[Anonymous No.20584235]

>>20581269
Good taste. The footnotes were all written in 1850's England so it's a hell of a ride; lot's of quoting Biblical texts as primary sources: very fun.

[Anonymous No.20584598]

>>20582995
penguin chads can't stop winning

[Anonymous No.20584627]

I prefer the earlier parts where it's a lot of crazy stories about random peoples and places, before it bogs down into the war stuff

[Anonymous No.20584686]

>>20584627
But it's a cool war with plenty of drama and great characters.

[Anonymous No.20585346]

>>20578592
>proto-history
>awesome
why?

[Anonymous No.20585354]

>>20584627
sounds like a boring pastime book

[Anonymous No.20585363]

>>20579454
do people really feel smart for pointing this out? it isn't news to anyone. you're still going to read translations despite their inherent imperfection.

[Anonymous No.20585368]

My favourite so far was probably the revolt of the Magi, culminating in Darius et. al. taking them on in the capital.

[Anonymous No.20585429]

>>20585346
kys

[Anonymous No.20585936]

>>20583198
No thucy is a butt hurt Athenian who wrote a dry piece of nothing and had to have xenophon finish it cause he couldnt himself

Meanwhile chad H daddy got cheered when he read his work. And said work made thucy seethe, just like it does modern historians as herodotus is proven right and they wrong
>Egyptian bull cult
>great zigguret
>ant vs marmot translation error
Etc

[Anonymous No.20586784]

>>20583354
Melians btfo

[Anonymous No.20586850]

>>20578592
Yes. Definitely on my top 10.

[Anonymous No.20586863]

>>20582995
Waterfield states clearly that he goes for fluency.

[Anonymous No.20587118]

awesome read on so many levels. i have landmark version for both. not sure how the literature compares to other versions but loved it for the maps on every other page. same w thucydides.
>>20580534
this. epic speeches showing the arguments for the different sides.

[Anonymous No.20587160]

>>20586863
Go to bed, Robin.

[Anonymous No.20587249]

Where do I go after H > Thuc > Xeno? Was considering Arrian since I had thought he wrote using sources contemporary with Alexander

[Anonymous No.20587340]

>>20587249
Plutarch’s Lives

[Anonymous No.20587357]

>>20587249
Livy, Ab Urbe Condita

[Anonymous No.20588620]

Just ordered this book, a friend was recently reading it and it came highly recommended
I like history but I haven't read the Greek primary sources yet. I've mostly read about the Bronze Age from academic sources and Rome from primary authors

[Anonymous No.20588647]

>>20585354
More of a travelogue. Read it, you’ll like it.

[Anonymous No.20588729]

>>20587249
look up ancient Greek historiographers, there are dozens. Same with Rome. Some are more widely known and read of course.

[Anonymous No.20588734]

>>20582995
What in the world is going on with the top version? Why the purple prose? Was it like that in the original Greek? I find it doubtful.

Aubrey de Sélincourt. It flows so well.

[Anonymous No.20589948]

>>20587249
Yeah Alexander is where you go after, just be sure you pick up something that talks about his dad phillip
Demosthenes speeches discuss macedons expansion but it's probably not the well rounded picture you want