Herodotus

by go21

Despite the Persian Wars taking place nearly two and a half thousand years ago, many of the themes and lessons from Herodotus’ Histories many centuries ago can transcend time. In the Histories, Herodotus records the clash of the Persians from the east, and the Greeks of the west.

Numerous parallels can be drawn between these conflicts of the past and the situations the world finds itself in for thousands of years afterwards. Primarily, the clash between the cultures of the east and west has gone on for thousands of years, before and after the Persian Wars. From the ancient war to the Pacific front of WWII and the tension of the Cold War the clash of eastern and western cultures has plagued history. Even today, with the war on terror, America and western Europe continue to go head to head with the people of the eastern world.

During the Histories, Herodotus has the unique ability to provide an entirely unbiased portrayal of the not only the western side but he also provided the eastern opponents accounts. This allowed for an unparalleled depiction of the conflict. We can take some valuable lessons from Herodotus when detailing our own histories. If we continue to study Herodotus when analyzing today’s geopolitics we will be able to leave a far different impression on our descendants.