Philosophy, Science, Politics

Herodotus and the Intellectual Trends of his Time

Bibliographic Data

ID23155246
AuthorsKurt A Raaflaub (corresponding author)
Year2002
Pages149-186
Publication date2002-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeCHAPTER
VenueBrill's Companion to Herodotus (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherBrill (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1163/9789004217584_008
OpenAlexW931240036
ISBN9789004217584
LanguageEN
Citations received38

This chapter surveys the many ways in which Herodotus shares in contemporary intellectual trends, that is, in ideas and theories developed by philosophers, sophists, and 'scientists' before and in his time. It discusses his contribution to the advancement of historical and political thought, and explores the thesis that, despite major differences, Herodotus in many respects is much closer to Thucydides than scholars usually allow. The author discusses correspondences between Herodotus and his intellectual predecessors and contemporaries among philosophers and scientists, and looks more closely at the role of historical and political thought, and at the end returns to the question of similarities with Thucydides. The use of political thought to interpret history and demonstrate its immediacy and relevance for present and future is one of Herodotus' crucial contributions to creating a new genre of history as a 'multi-subjective, contingency-oriented' narrative of events. Keywords: Herodotus; intellectual trends; philosophers; political thought; scientists; Thucydides

Art · Contingency · Epistemology · Immediacy · Intellectual history · Literature · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Relevance (law) · Social science · Sociology · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classical Philosophy and Thought · History · Law · Philosophy

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