Herodotus (Hermes Books Series) [Hardcover]

James Romm (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 11, 1998 | Series: Hermes Books Series

Herodotus, widely known as the father of history, was also described by Aristotle as a mythologos, or "tale-teller". In this stylish and insightful book, intended for both general readers and students, James Romm argues that the author of the Histories was both a historian -- in the original sense of "one who inquires" -- and a master storyteller.

Although most ancient historians wrote only about events they themselves had lived through, Herodotus explored an era well before his own time -- from the rise of the Persian Empire to the Persian invasions of Greece in 490 and 480 B.C., the heroic fight of the Greeks against the invaders, and the final Greek victory. Working without the aid of written sources, Herodotus traveled widely and wove into his chronology, descriptions of people and countries he visited and anecdotes that shed light on their lives and customs. Romm discusses the historical background of Herodotus's life and work, his moralistic approach to history, his insatiable fascination with people and places, his literary powers, and the question of the historical "truth" behind the stories he relates. He gives general readers a fresh appreciation of thc Histories as a work encompassing fiction and nonfiction, myth and history, and poetry and prose. Herodotus becomes not simply a source of historical data but a masterful and artistic author who created a radically new literary genre.

Editorial Reviews

Review

[Romm] explores succinctly Herodotus' double roles as an historian and a spinner of yarns (it's sometimes hard to tell when one begins and the other leaves off), and he makes it clear that the ancient world was populated by folks who could be as duplicitous or heroic as any alive today. -- Herbert Kupferberg, Parade

Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; 1St Edition edition (December 11, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300072295
• ISBN-13: 978-0300072297
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,170,979 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

James Romm was born in 1958 in New York. After receiving his B.A. in Classics from Yale, he went on to earn a Ph.D. from Princeton in 1988. He has taught Greek language, literature and history at Bard College since 1990.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Companion, July 7, 2000

By 

T. Kearns (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Herodotus (Hermes Books Series) (Paperback)

Herodotus does not need to be made interesting or enjoyable. He has always been loved and for good reason. Nevertheless, for a deeper understanding of the text and a critical examination of the features of Herodotus' style as a master storyteller, James Romm's Herodotus is a superb volume. With clarity and skill, Mr. Romm takes the reader through the Histories, always with one eye focused on the man, on Herodotus himself. This volume lives up to the foreward and the expectations set forth by Mr. Herrington, the Hermes Books foudning editor, in that foreward. The general reader will find this volume useful and enjoyable. I should not overstate, however. Romm's book does not provide what we might call a reading of Herodotus but rather it allows the reader to appreciate the Histories more by pointing out continuing themes and main features of Herodotus' storytelling. This book will be recieved well by any serious student of Herodotus, ancient history, or the classics.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended for bridging readings of "The Histories", June 6, 2006

By 

Jesse Steven Hargrave (Silver City, NM) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Herodotus (Hermes Books Series) (Paperback)

This "Herodotus" is not the work of the "father of history" but a commentary on that work. Author James Romm takes a thematic approach to his explication of "The Histories". His chapters - with titles such as "From Homer to Herodotus", "The Structure of the Earth", and "Persians and Greeks" - choose certain aspects of Herodotus' treatment and subject them to further analysis and explanation.

Romm has no particular ax to grind or thesis to extol. He evidences an enthusiasm and appreciation of Herodotus without needing to take him at face value. Although there is much retracing of "The Histories" necessary to providing the right context for his discussions, Romm tries as much as possible to avoid simply retelling Herodotus.

Much of what Romm accomplishes is the pulling together of threads from various parts of "The Histories" and exposing us to aspects of the work that we might not have fully grasped in a first reading. For example in a chapter titled "The Kingdom of Culture", Romm treats the frequently evenhanded way in which Herodotus deals with other cultures. Along the way, Romm reminds us that it was only in Herodotus' day that the Greeks had begun to think of themselves as possessing a common cultural identity of their own. In Romm's reading, it was in fact the Persian invasions of Greece that both accelerated the Greek development of self-identity and their recognition of cultural variability within the "non-Greek-speaking" world, a variability which Herodotus exalts in discovering and presenting.

Romm further illuminates this cluster of ideas through his apparently deep knowledge of the history of the Greek language. In Homer, he tells us, the collective words "Hellenes" and "barboroi" do not appear. When we translate Herodotus' use of "barboroi" as "barbarians", we are perhaps giving it a modern interpretation that Herodotus did not usually intend. For him, it seldom carries a value judgment, instead simply marking the subjects as not of the Greek-speaking world. There are many such helpful linguistic insights in Romm's chapters.

Part of a series on ancient writers, this is a relatively short book, but manages to absorbingly treat many different themes. It concludes with a "Bibliographical Note" that gives useful perspectives on both alternative translations of "The Histories" and longer general studies of Herodotus.

Romm will best be read with an existing knowledge of Herodotus and his work. But it will certainly make a subsequent reading of "The Histories" yield up more of its nuances, presumptions, and purposes.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What about Kazantzakis?, November 2, 2011

By 

Charles Day - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Herodotus (Hermes Books Series) (Paperback)

The first two reviews are excellent and cover the book well. I have just one bone to pick with Romm: on p. 12f he says, "...Milton, author of the last long epic that is still widely read (even if mainly by college students)...." I wonder why he does not mention Nikos Kazantzakis' The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel - 333,333 lines - perhaps it is the author's impression that it is "not widely read". I've read it and found it to be very powerful and inspired me to read Homer, Virgil and Joyce - no small accomplishment.

As a newcomer to the classics I found Romm very helpful in preparing me to read the Histories.