Does Herodotus believe in Cultural RelativismFor its time and place , The Histories of Herodotus is a body of work of remarkably expansive scope . To sink the show for the wars between Greece and Persia ( 490-479 B .C , Herodotus describes the geographical and cultural backg assault and reviews the political hi tommyrot of Lydia , Media Babylon , Egypt , Persia , Scythia , Libya , Ionia , and various Hellenic city-states in Asia fry , on the Aegean islands , and on the European mainland . To record the results of his face (histori , in Greek with the greatest vigor and accuracy , Herodotus traveled to some(prenominal) of these places and gathered firsthand data from native informants . For this type of query , in the words of a modern commentator , Herodotus merits the pacify not only of the father of history he is as h eadspring the father of comparative anthropologyAmong the various classes of information which Herodotus seems to have accentuate , thus suggesting a pattern for later s , were knowledgeable union customs , religious rites , burial practices , and food habits The of these 4 categories of traits , or kind institutions were not necessarily executed in the round for every tribe that happened to stroll across the pages of the Histories that they were mentioned a great deal enough to indicate the statement taken by his distinguishing characteristic , and the content of the questions he in all probability put to informantsHerodotus , the ancient Greek , was a cheerful , wondering(a) , rationalistic extrovert who traveled over his world to distinguish the facts , who took delight in express a good story precisely usually avoided the temptation to wander very furthermost from sober common comprehend . His cultural relativism is well know and much discussed , but it is curi ously commemorateworthy that Greeks and bar! barians are pose on a come to footing at the offset .
Distinctions between Greek and non-Greek shift key down as the work progresses : the first barbarian for whom we bewilder any diminutive information is the Hellenized Lydian king , Croesus the divisions of lands customary among the Greeks that identify Greek and non-Greek peoples are purely arbitrary we learn of the Phoenician descent of Sparta s kings and Herodotus states that the descendants of Perseus came to be counted as Greeks . The key dichotomy is not the Hellenic-barbarian bipolarity , but rather the opposition of the ed family based on virtue and the arbitrary rule of the despot . But political and social institutio ns are fragile structures , and Herodotus gives no guarantee that the Greek superiority at the time of the Iranian Wars , which was based upon those institutions , will give way . In fact his work closes on an ominous note that appears to warn imperial capital of Greece that it is in danger of get , if it has not already develop , the barbarian . We are presented with the pallid picture of the crucifixion of the Iranian satrap Artayactes at the command of the Athenian commander Xanthippus , father of Pericles and a piece of wisdom from the Persian founding father , Cyrus , on the dangers of success and affluence . And it is well to remember that Herodotus wrote long later on the Persian threat...If you indispensability to get a full essay, sanctify it on our website: OrderEssay.net
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