Study Questions for Assignment 13 -- Herodotus, Histories
For a good brief overview of the Persian Wars, go to this site
Thomas R. Martin, An Overview of Classical Greek History from Homer to Alexander, and then scroll down to section 8.3 and read from there to section 8.4.3. Each section is very short (a paragraph or so) and this will not take you long. It's an excellent summary of the War.
(For your own interest, compare Herodotus, 2.75-76, and 3.107-109 with Isaiah 30.6)
- II.86-88 What are the three methods of embalming which Herodotus describes?
- II.112-120 Recount Herodotus's version of what happened to Helen and contrast it with Homer's.
- Why does Herodotus think it was improbable that Helen was actually in Troy?
- II.124-125 How was the great pyramid of Cheops built?
- III. 29-38 What wickednesses does Cambyses commit that cause Herodotus to doubt his sanity? What final thing convinces Herodotus? What does Herodotus mean by "Law is the king o'er all"?
- III. 72 What modern cliché means the same thing as Darius' statement, "though their conduct is so opposite, the end of both is alike"? What does this section reveal about his philosophy of morality?
- III. 80 What arguments does Otanes make in favor of democracy?
- III. 81 What arguments does Megabyzus make in favor of oligarchy?
- III. 82 What arguments does Darius make in favor of monarchy?
- III. 102-105 How do the Indians near Caspatyrus gather gold?
- III. 119 Who does the wife of Intaphernes remind you of in her choice and reasoning?
- III. 129-134 What events led up to Darius first considering war against Greece?
- III. 150-160 By what strategem was Babylon finally take for the second time?
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