Herodotus Nationalism

Herodotus set forth his History as an inquiry into the lives of the Greeks and barbarians to find some kind of causation to the events that transcribed during his lifetime. Herodotus focused mainly on the peoples' lives and their different religions. In referencing the Greeks' religion, Herodotus often incorporates Homer as one of the early theologians in his epic poetry. As the Athenians identify with Athena, Homer's writing instills a great sense of nationalism in the people. This nationalism, however, can be dangerous when faced with war, as people can become overconfident in their abilities. Although a sense of nationalism can be good to keep a nation together during times of war, Herodotus observed how dangerous nationalism can be, as …show more content…
Herodotus wrote his History following the Peloponnesian Wars in Greece. Through his book, Herodotus mentions tensions between the Athenians and the Peloponnese. Specifically, Herodotus writes that during a fourth invasion of Athens by the Dorians, Sparta's allies, the Athenians wanted revenge against Sparta and its allies (Herodotus 5.77). War has the effect of bringing a nation together under a common enemy. Herodotus later provides an inscription on the Acropolis in Athens that describes its victories in war, as it states that the "Boeotians and Chalcidians, both nations, have been conquered by sons of the Athenians, in deeds of warlike valor. In murk and iron bondage they quenched the flame of their insolence and from the tenth of their ransom gave these horses to Pallas" (Herodotus 5.77). One can observe how the favors of war were directly tied to religion in Athens, as part of the ransom was given up to Athena as a tribute. Also, any individual who came to observe the state religion would encounter this inscription when they first entered the Acropolis. As the metopes on the outside of the Parthenon would suggest, festivals would be held around the Parthenon on a regular basis for the entire city of Athens. Words like valor in the inscription highlight the actions of war in a positive light as well and could have given people in the state a sense of nationalistic pride whenever they came to this …show more content…
While Herodotus acted as an anthropologist in Egypt, he discovered a different story about the famous Helen in the Iliad. After Alexander's servants confess his misdeeds of stealing Helen from Menelaus to Thonis, Thonis states that "this woman [Helen] and the property I will not let you take with you, but I will keep them myself for your Greek host till the day he comes here and wants to take them away" Herodotus (2.115). Unlike in the Iliad, Helen remained in Egypt until Menelaus came to retrieve her after Troy fell (Herodotus 2.119). Herodotus agrees with this account (Herodotus 2.120), as he is very vocal about whether he believes the stories that people told him throughout his research. Herodotus concedes that Homer included Alexander's wandering in the poem (Herodotus 2.116), but he omitted that he had lost Helen. As Homer's poetry was taken seriously as a form of history of Greeks, Herodotus' statement about Homer would have contested part of Athens' own sense of nationalism. Herodotus could have seen this as a benefit, as there was a lingering influx of nationalism as a result of the Peloponnesian War. One can recognize how Herodotus would want to decrease this sense of nationalism in Athens, as it led to their downfall against the Spartans and its allies. This thought would be imperative, as the Athenians would have to fight the great Persian