Jennifer Roberts introduces the background and writing of the 5th century Greek thinker and researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus, who invented the genre of historical investigation. She discusses all aspects of his work, including his fascination with his origins; his travels; his interest in seeing the world; and the recurring themes of his work.

• Introduction


• 1: The world of Herodotus


• 2: Origins and the historian


• 3: Greeks and Persians at war


• 4: Herodotus as Ethnographer


• 5: Women in history, women in the histories


• 6: Herodotus and the divine


• 7: Herodotus as storyteller


• 8: Herodotus as historian

Jennifer Roberts was educated at Yale and has taught since 1992 at the City University of New York, where she directs the doctoral program in Ancient History at the Graduate Center. She has published widely in the field of Greek history and historiography and has particular interests in ancient and modern democracy, Herodotus, Thucydides, and ancient warfare. She is particularly concerned with the history of attitudes towards social justice and its manifestations in government and law.