Herodotus Histories Summary

Herodotus, in his work, The Histories, describes the leaders of the two combatant coalitions in the Persian War, Themistocles of the Greeks and Xerxes of the Persians, in very different ways. Herodotus often points to how both men handle council and their own piety as a tool to depict what kind of men they are, and at times reinforces his own generalizations of the Greek and Persian people using these men as his proxy. Herodotus seems to accept the idea that men, as individuals, can shape great events, along with the gods. He lends this idea great weight through his explanation of both Xerxes’ and Themistocles’ actions and decisions. Generally, Xerxes is depicted as somewhat irrational and possessing poor-judgement and Themistocles, for the most part, is depicted as clever and opportunistic. These accounts are quite useful to historians analyzing the Persian War as they provide a Greek perspective on the leaders of both sides, and also provide focal points for historians to further analyze with other sources and form more informed accounts. This paper will argue that in The Histories, Herodotus presents us with an image of a clever Greek in Themistocles, and an irrational, or at the very least unlucky, and impious Persian in Xerxes. This …show more content…
These depictions do seem to reflect generalizations from a Greek perspective of the Greeks, represented through Themistocles, and the Persians, represented through Xerxes. Herodotus lends great weight to their individual actions, in a sense attributing the victory at Salamis that set the tone for the entire war to the cleverness of Themistocles, and the gullibility of Xerxes. This is of course still useful to historians for extrapolation as well as a framework for more research and will continue to be academically inclined, as well as