WTF NO
Dear Unnamed Person Whose AS-Level Ancient History Textbook I Am Proofreading:

AS level history is simplistic by the standards of someone who has an MA in the subject. I get it. I'm biting my tongue through your oversimplifications even when I think they're patently wrong as well as merely simplistic, because it is nto my job to fact-check for you and besides, I don't know the curriculum you're working to. But there's a limit.

HERODOTUS IS NOT A RELIABLE SOURCE.

NEVER.

You're skimming over the bullshitting, the numerical exaggerations, the fact that his 'sources' were probably mostly people he met in pubs, the unacknowledged Hellenocentric biases, the whole reason he's called the Father of Lies.

Herodotus. Is. Not. Reliable.

You ESPECIALLY do not get to say this and then dedicate three pages to dissecting Thucydides' reliability. He's not perfect, Christ no, but if you can analyse him in detail then you can analyse Herodotus too.

ETA: And he's even less reliable if you distort what he's saying for no apparent purpose!

WHAT THE HELL

(Post a new comment)

	jkefka 2010-12-15 01:23 pm UTC (link)
	Especially since Thucydides spends a good half his text screaming about why Herodotus is a terrible historian. Was it Herodotus who talked about giant ants in egypt or was that someone else? It's been a long time since I took a humanities course. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	charamei 2010-12-15 01:30 pm UTC (link)
	Herodotus is the one who brought us this wonderfully accurate description of the hippopotamus, with its horse's mane and tail and snub nose, so I wouldn't be surprised if he mentioned giant ants somewhere along the way. BECAUSE USING MULTIPLE SOURCES MAKES ORAL HISTORIES SO ~ACCURATE~, YOU SEE. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	khym_chanur 2010-12-15 11:26 pm UTC (link)
	Was it Herodotus who talked about giant ants in egypt or was that someone else? The textbook writer could combine that the movie Them to conclude that the aliens tested nuclear weapons out in the desert. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	khym_chanur 2010-12-15 11:29 pm UTC (link)
	Oops, I meant that the Egyptians tested nukes. ... But the aliens building the pyramids and testing nukes to make giant ants would be fun too. ... Or the aliens tested nukes, left, ants grew giants, and the Egyptians used the giants ants to build their pyramids. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	ecchaniz0r 2010-12-16 04:51 am UTC (link)
	Somehow, in my peripheral vision, your last sentence mutated itself into 'alien testicular weapons out in the desert'. ...Herodotus would've claimed that was legit too, I bet. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	khym_chanur 2010-12-16 05:03 am UTC (link)
	testicular weapons Weaponized bukkake? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ecchaniz0r 2010-12-16 05:44 am UTC (link)
	Maybe! My brain kind of fell over when I tried to think of the logistics of it. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	ajatshatru 2010-12-15 11:24 pm UTC (link)
	his 'sources' were probably mostly people he met in pubs :D :D Oh yes, oh absolutely ! 'm so sure about this :D (Reply to this)(Thread)

	kylenne 2010-12-16 01:28 am UTC (link)
	And that is why he's not just unreliable, but really fucking funny. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	ajatshatru 2010-12-21 07:35 pm UTC (link)
	Have you read Pratchett's 'Small Gods' ? There's a lovely discussion of philosophers in a tavern there, and I can just imagine Herodotus in a place like that :D (Reply to this)(Parent)

	tehrin 2010-12-16 03:50 am UTC (link)
	(Reply to this)(Thread)

	charamei 2010-12-16 07:27 am UTC (link)
	dies laughing (Reply to this)(Parent)

	magnolia_mama 2010-12-16 11:49 am UTC (link)
	If I'm ever fortunate enough to get hired as a history teacher, I'm going to tell my students that Thucydides thought of Herodotus as "the father of fat butts." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	altoidsaddict 2010-12-16 03:07 pm UTC (link)
	I use Kate Beaton's stuff in my classes ALL THE TIME. The students love it. (Also Wondermark.) (Reply to this)(Parent)

	jkefka 2010-12-16 12:35 pm UTC (link)
	Aha! I knew it was Herodotus! (Reply to this)(Parent)

	Sorta relevant at the beginning; also funny as hell. ecchaniz0r 2010-12-18 07:52 am UTC (link)
	…well it’s Herodotus. He isn’t the most factual of scholars. (Reply to this)