Page:History of the Literature of Ancient Greece (Müller) 2ed.djvu/295

Rh naturalists, and geographers, had occasion to admire the truth and correctness of the observations and information which are contained in the seemingly marvellous narratives of Herodotus! It is fortunate that he was guided by the maxim which he mentions in his account of the circumnavigation of Africa in the reign of Necho. Having expressed his disbelief of the statement that the sailors had the sun on their right hand, he adds: "I must say what has been told to me; but I need not therefore believe all, and this remark applies to my whole work."

Herodotus must have completely familiarised himself with the manners and modes of thought of the Oriental nations. The character of his mind and his style of composition also resemble the Oriental type more than those of any other Greek; and accordingly his thoughts and expressions often remind us of the writings of the Old Testament. It cannot indeed be denied that he has sometimes attributed to the eastern princes ideas which were essentially Greek; as, for example, when he makes the seven grandees of the Persians deliberate upon the respective advantages of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. But, on the whole, Herodotus seizes the character of an Oriental monarch, like Xerxes, with striking truth; and transports us into the very midst of the satellites of a Persian despot. It would be more just to reproach Herodotus with a want of that political discernment, in judging the affairs of the Greek states, which had already been awakened among the Athenian statesmen of his time. Moreover, in the events arising from the situation and interests of states, he lays too much stress on the feelings and passions of particular individuals; and ascribes to Greek statesmen (as, for instance, the two Cleisthenes of Sicyon and Athens, in reference to their measures for the division of the people into new tribes) motives entirely different from those by which they appear, on a consideration of the case, to have been really actuated. He likewise relates mere anecdotes and tales, by which the vulgar explained (and still continue to explain) political affairs; where politicians, such as Thucydides and Aristotle, exhibit the true character of the transaction.

§ 7. But no dissertation upon the historical researches or the style of Herodotus can convey an idea of the impression made by reading his work. To those who have read it, all description is superfluous. It is like hearing a person speak who has seen and lived through an infinite variety of the most remarkable things; and whose greatest delight consists in recalling the images of the past, and perpetuating the remembrance of them. He had eager and unwearied listeners, who