CLASSIC 36B Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: Strategos
Document Summary
Herodotus: his conclusions are based on evidence better than poets who exaggerate feels that peloponnesian war was the greatest war ever and must be recorded accurately. Note his attitude toward past wars: critical of sources; recognizes necessity to use reliable sources, explains his use of speeches, theory regarding speeches. What particular people said in their speeches, either just before or during the war, was hard to recall exactly, whether they were speeches i heard myself or those that were reported. Issue with this speech is that he can be biased. Its in his own interpretation of the events that are presented in his speeches. And as for the real action of the war, i did not think it right to set down either what i heard from people i happened to meet or what i merely believed to be true. Even for events at which i was present myself, i tracked down detailed information from other sources as far as.
