Page:Imperialdictiona02eadi Brandeis.pdf/934

HER Histories." The author writes with the air of a man well acquainted with the events he records, and appears to be both truthful and impartial. It has been translated into most modern languages.—B. H. C.  HERODOTUS, called by Cicero the Father of History, and the most ancient Greek historian extant, was born at Halicarnassus 484 ., if we may rely upon the authority of A. Gellius, who tells us he was fifty-three years old at the commencement of the Peloponnesian war. Materials for the life of Herodotus are by no means plentiful. Suidas says he was the son of Lyxes and Dryo. His family was illustrious; he had a brother named Theodorus. He removed to Samos on account of Lygdamis the third tyrant of Halicarnassus after Artemisia. At Samos he cultivated the Ionic dialect, and wrote his history in nine books, from Cyrus the Persian and Candaules the king of the Lydians. Returning to Halicarnassus and expelling the tyrant, when he saw that the citizens envied him, of his own free will he went to Thurium when the Athenians colonized it, where he died and was buried, though some say he died at Pella. It is evident that Herodotus was intimate with Homer, Hesiod, and other Greek authors who flourished before him; and that, by one means or another, he contrived to acquire a large amount of varied information respecting other countries. According to Larcher, on his first journey he traversed all Greece, the Epirus, Macedonia, and Thrace, and visited the Scythians beyond the Ister and Borysthenes. Subsequently he went into Egypt and examined the wonders of that remarkable country, at Memphis, Thebes, and Heliopolis. From Egypt he went to Tyre and Thasos, having previously made excursions into Lybia and Cyrenaica. It is supposed that he even went to Carthage. Some think, and not without reason, that after seeing Palestine, he made a journey into Assyria and saw Babylon. There is no doubt that he went to Colchis, and after passing through the country of the Scythians and the Getæ, he crossed by way of Thrace, Macedonia, and the Epirus, again into Greece. It was after these travels that he retired to Samos, which he left in order to expel Lygdamis. Lucian says he recited his history at the Olympic games in 456 .; but as Herodotus was then but a young man, there must be a mistake; and we can at most only admit that it was the first book, or a sketch of his plan. Dio Chrysostomus says that Herodotus rehearsed his account of the battle of Salamis at Corinth; and because the Corinthians gave him no token of their approval, afterwards modified his narrative, so as to make it unfavourable to them. Of course we cannot disprove this, neither can we believe it. Herodotus probably spent many years upon his work, which is now regarded as one of the most precious monuments of antiquity. He is supposed to have lived to the age of about eighty years. That Herodotus continued to incorporate new facts in his work till near the time of his decease, is certain. He probably designed to make it as complete as possible, and to this end obtained such information as was fitted for his purpose. He is said to have spent his closing years at Thurium, which he only left for one or more occasional excursions into Græcia Magna, or Southern Italy, which was then inhabited by Greek colonists. There is every probability that, notwithstanding the statement of Suidas given above, it was at Thurium and not at Samos that Herodotus wrote his work in the form we now have it. Among the facts which belong to the advanced age of Herodotus, the critics mention several, as, the invasion of Attica by the Lacedemonians in the first year of the Peloponnesian war (Bk. ix. 72); the fate of the ambassadors sent by the Lacedemonians into Asia in the second year of the Peloponnesian war (Bk. vii. 137); the revolt of the Medes under Darius Nothus (Bk. i. 130). This last event occurred when Herodotus was at least seventy-seven years of age. That he wrote his entire work after this period of his life is incredible, notwithstanding the absence of external evidence of a revision. The chief sources of information of which Herodotus availed himself are to be inferred from the known facts of his life; and from the statements made by himself, he owed most to his travels and inquiries. He must have noted down everything remarkable which came under his own observation. His ignorance of the languages spoken in some of the countries he visited, was no effectual barrier to his researches. In Egypt, for example, he accumulated a mass of information which modern scholars are agreed in regarding as most important and valuable, and one of the most precious portions of his work. But it is evident that Herodotus also had access to the best writers of his own nation. Some of these, especially the poets, he either quotes or refers to by name. The work of Herodotus, as already intimated, is in nine books, which we find inscribed with the names of the muses; but whether they were so designated by the author, or at a later day, is uncertain. These books can scarcely be considered as a continuous history. They bear no resemblance to a mere chronicle of consecutive events. At the same time, a certain order is observed, especially with reference to the conflicts between the Greeks and Persians, so that it is properly termed a history. But the episodes are so numerous and important, and some of them so protracted, that they form the principal portion of the whole, and are by no means the least valuable; neither are these episodes inconsistent with the design of Herodotus, which is stated in very comprehensive terms at the commencement of the first book. In executing his task he shows himself to be deeply imbued with the spirit of his religion, and it has been correctly remarked that this religious character distinguishes him from all other Greek historians. To this cause must be assigned the fact that he sometimes appears to be either credulous or superstitious, and that he speaks with so much reserve on various facts which come under his notice. That he is on the whole very impartial is now admitted by all, and that he sought less to criticise than to narrate the events he had to record. He has been often accused of falsehood, misrepresentation, and weakness. But these charges have been readily met, and it is shown that when he mentions something incredible or suspicious, he takes care to give it as a report, and not as a fact. The work of Herodotus is written in the Ionic dialect, interspersed with forms from other dialects. And as his plan is not artistic, nor his style distinguished either for logical or rhetorical excellencies, the whole is very unadorned and natural. Cicero, no mean judge of such things, says that there is nothing rugged in it, and that it flows on like a gentle river "quasi sedatus amnis fluit," Orat. xii. Quintilian agrees with Cicero, and many other testimonies might be added. Photius says that Herodotus introduces fabulous statements and many digressions; but even in these he finds a suavity of manner which varies with the sense. The same writer tells a story, that when Herodotus was reciting his history, Thucydides, who was then a youth, heard him, and could not refrain from tears, which Herodotus observed, and explained as an indication of the genius of Thucydides for learning. No unbiassed mind capable of appreciating him will hesitate to pronounce his work one of the most remarkable and precious which have come down from ancient times. The first edition of Herodotus in Greek was printed by Aldus Manutius in 1502. Subsequent editions are very numerous; that of L. C. Valckenaer and P. Wesseling, including the Life of Homer, sometimes ascribed to Herodotus, and fragments from Ctesias, &c., is excellent. There are many translations into Latin and most European languages, and many geographical, philological, and historical commentaries.—B. H. C.  HEROLD,, a musician, was born at Paris, 28th January, 1791, and died at Thermes, near Paris, 18th January, 1833. His father Joseph, also a musician, esteemed as a pianoforte teacher, and author of some meritorious compositions, was born at Hamburg in 1757, was a pupil of Emanuel Bach, went to reside in Paris in 1781, and died there in 1806. Young Hérold entered the pianoforte class of Louis Adam, in the conservatoire, six months after his father's death, and so distinguished himself in this branch of study, that he obtained the first prize in 1810. At the same time he commenced the study of harmony under Catel; and he subsequently became Mehul's pupil for composition. In 1812 he gained the prize of the Institût for a cantata called "Mdlle. de Lavallière," which furnished him with the means of visiting Italy to continue his studies. He prolonged his stay in that country until 1815, when he produced at Naples an opera called "La Gioventù d'Enrico V." with a success, the more remarkable on account of the national prejudice against French musicians. Returned to Paris, he was kindly encouraged by Boieldieu, who to give him an opportunity of making his talent known, shared with him the composition of an opera called "Charles de France," which was performed in 1816. Thus favourably introduced to the public, Hérold brought out, with various success, "Les Rosières" in 1816, "La Clochette" in 1817, "Le Premier Venu" in 1818, "Les Troqueurs" in 1819, and "L'Auteur mort et vivant" in 1820. He was now engaged as accompanyist at the Italian 