Literally. I finally finished reading Herodotus’ The Histories and it was very, very good. It’s a bit of a difficult read since it is written in a style that isn’t familiar to modern eyes, but the stories are interesting even if the translator of my edition didn’t believe half of them. Herodotus is known for being one of the first writers (along with Thucydides) to distinguish between what he saw himself, what he thought was evidence of reliable witnesses and spurious stories and hearsay. He talks up Athens quite a bit, (he is a native) but he’s also quite willing to give a lot of credit and respect to the Spartans and their role in the defeat of Persia. I haven’t seen 300, and I don’t really plan to. (The comic book it was based on wasn’t any great shakes.) But some of those famous lines (“Then we shall fight in the shade.”) were fun to read in the original and I have a better understanding of the chronology of the war than I did previously.
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Listening to: Cake – Motorcade of Generosity – 02 – Ruby Sees All
via FoxyTunes
Neh 