On the Historical and Ethnographic Method of Herodotus: Herodotus and His Sources
Ivantchik Askold I.
This article discusses the problem of Herodotus’ sources of historical and ethnographic information and his methods of their treatment. The text of IV. 5–7, in which Herodotus relates four versions of the origin of the Scythians, borrowed from different sources, is chosen for a detailed case study. The analysis of this text and its comparison with other passages from Herodotus allow us to draw a number of conclusions relating to his entire work. The distinction between oral and written prose sources (λόγος, ἀκοή) is irrelevant for Herodotus. He very rarely and only for special reasons mentions the name of the author of his source, for the most part confining himself to indicating the group to which he belonged or to which he believes the information ultimately goes back (‘Hellenes’, ‘Scythians’, ‘Athenians’, etc.). Obviously, he sees these accounts as representing the common viewpoint of these groups rather than personal views. Herodotus considers poetic texts to be more personal, and he mentions their authors much more often. In doing so, he treats Homer and other authors of early epics with disdain and distrust, while he values the reports of later poets, up to Aeschylus and including Aristeas, more highly. Herodotus willingly combines different logoi whenever possible, and finds in such a possibility confirmation of their reliability. The possibility of their confirmation by what can be seen (ὄψις) is an even more important evidence of credibility for him. If different versions of the same event are irreconcilable, Herodotus simply relates them one after another, often pointing to the one he prefers. His work is characterized by a high level of self-reflection: Herodotus follows a clearly formulated method. He transmits the evidences of his sources, both oral and written, accurately and almost with no distortion. To what extent they reflect the historical reality is another question, and the answer mostly depends on the nature of the sources themselves.
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