Herodotus as a Critic: Truth, Fiction, Polarity

Abstract

The first half of this chapter tries to relate the debate about Herodotus' reliability to issues of truth and fiction as they arise in the Histories. It argues that Herodotus' conception of his role and the way in which different critics have conceived of this role must be central to the process of establishing appropriate conceptions of truth for the work. The second half of the chapter considers the limitations of Herodotus' outlook and the cultural constraints on his reliability. In the hands of a writer like Herodotus, polarization could be another formidable weapon in the critical armoury, to be wielded against out-of-line, off-message Greeks no less than congenitally disabled Barbarians; in favour of exceptionally endowed Greek women as well as against stereotypically advantaged Greek men; and always on the side of the Gods against mere mortals. On that, his hearers and readers could rely. Keywords: Barbarians; Greeks; Herodotus

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