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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 5 page paper discusses the roles gods, oracles and dreams play in the lives of the leaders Xerxes, Cambyses and Croesus, as described by Herodotus. Bibliography lists 6 sources.
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5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_HVHerdot.rtf
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when he was "uncertain of the truth of an event or unimpressed by the lacklustre [sic] facts presented to him," he reported the "several most prominent accounts of a given
subject or process" and then gave his opinion as to which he considered most probable (Herodotus, 2006). Herodotuss contemporaries accused him of inaccuracy, bias and "even plagiarism, (for example, Lucian
of Samosata attacked Herodotus as a liar in Verae historiae and went so far as to deny him a place among the famous on the Island of the Blessed)" but
recent historians have been more generous and consider him to be a relatively objective observer, particularly given the times in which he lived (Herodotus, 2006). This paper considers Herodotuss description
of several leaders, and how gods, oracles and dreams are involved in these accounts. Discussion Because Herodotus traveled widely and wrote about many different people, its not possible to discuss
every leader he mentions. Well concentrate on three: Croesus, Cambyses, and Xerxes. Its also interesting to use these three because they appear in different books in Herodotuss Histories (Herodotus, 2006).
The Histories are divided into nine books; Croesus and Cambyses appear in the first six and Xerxes in the last three. The first six books "deal broadly with the growth
of the Persian Empire" (Herodotus, 2006). Herodotus begins his story with "an account of the first western monarch to enter into conflict with an eastern people -- Croesus of Lydia"
(Herodotus, 2006). Croesus attacked "the Greek city-states of Ionia" and then went on to attack the Persians, after having misinterpreted an oracle (Herodotus, 2006). Croesus was finally defeated by Cyrus,
who founded the Persian Empire (Herodotus, 2006). Cambyses was the successor to Cyrus and under his rule the Roman Empire annexed Egypt (Herodotus, 2006). The sixth of the nine books
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