Herodotus (Ancient Greek: Ἡρόδοτος) was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria (modern day Bodrum, Turkey) and lived in the fifth century BC (c. 484 – 425 BC). He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a well-constructed and vivid narrative. The Histories—his masterpiece and the only work he is known to have produced—is a record of his "inquiry" (or ἱστορία historía, a word that passed into Latin and acquired its modern meaning of "history"), being an investigation of the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars and including a wealth of geographical and ethnographical information. Although some of his stories were fanciful, he claimed he was reporting only what had been told to him. Little is known of his personal history.
An Account of Egypt by Herodotus
Translated by George Campbell Macaulay (1852 - 1915)
Read by Phil Chenevert, Morgan Scorpion, Philip Gould, Pamela Nagami, Linda Johnson, Sondra Robinson
Running Time:03:42:01 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
HERODOTUS was born at Halicarnassus, on the southwest coast of Asia Minor, in the early part of the fifth century, B. C. Of his life we know almost nothing, except that he spent much of it traveling, to collect the material for his writings, and that he finally settled down at Thurii, in southern Italy, where his great work was composed. He died in 424 B. C.
The subject of the history of Herodotus is the struggle between the Greeks and the barbarians, which he brings down to the battle of Mycale in 479 B. C. The work, as we have it, is divided into nine books, named after the nine Muses, but this division is probably due to the Alexandrine grammarians. His information he gathered mainly from oral sources, as he traveled through Asia Minor, down into Egypt, round the Black Sea, and into various parts of Greece and the neighboring countries. The chronological narrative halts from time to time to give opportunity for descriptions of the country, the people, and their customs and previous history; and the political account is constantly varied by rare tales and wonders.
Among these descriptions of countries the most fascinating to the modern, as it was to the ancient, reader is his account of the marvels of the land of Egypt. From the priests at Memphis, Heliopolis, and the Egyptian Thebes he learned what he reports of the size of the country, the wonders of the Nile, the ceremonies of their religion, the sacredness of their animals. He tells also of the strange ways of the crocodile and of that marvelous bird, the Phoenix; of dress and funerals and embalming; of the eating of lotos and papyrus; of the pyramids and the great labyrinth; of their kings and queens and courtesans. - Summary by the author
Herodotus' Histories
The Histories of Herodotus of Halicarnassus is considered the first work of history in Western literature. Written about 440 BC, the Histories tell the story of the war between the Persian Empire and the Greek city-states in the 5th century BC. Herodotus traveled extensively around the ancient world, conducting interviews and collecting stories for his book. The rise of the Persian Empire is chronicled, and the causes for the conflict with Greece. Herodotus treats the conflict as an ideological one, frequently contrasting the absolute power of the Persian king with the democratic government of the Greeks.
Herodotus' Histories Vol 1
Translated by A. D. Godley (1856 - 1925)
Read by Graham Redman, Julie V. Walikin, Eric Franklin, J. C. Guan, H. Floyd, Jennie Hughes, On The Road, David Leeson, Sibella Denton, Anne Cheng
Running Time:10:13:47 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Herodotus' Histories Vol 2
Translated by A. D. Godley (1856 - 1925)
Read by Caroline Fokke, Shirley Anderson, Sibella Denton, Morgan Scorpion, David Leeson and Graham Redman
Running Time:6:57:22 in 1 MP3 Audio CD
Herodotus' Histories Vol 3
Read by Rachel Klippenstein, Anna Simon, Jason Tiearney, Sibella Denton, Nathan and M.C. Minos
Translated by A. D. Godley (1856 - 1925)
Running Time:7:01:45 in 1 MP3 Audio CD