The Celebratory Purpose of Herodotus: The Story of Arion in Histories 1.23-24

Abstract

The first sentence of the Histories, which identifies and justifies the work as a whole, reveals the author's double aim of celebration and explanation:This is the exposition of the research of Herodotus of Halicarnassus,(1) lest the events of men become faded with time, and the great and wonderful deeds performed by both Greeks and Barbarians be deprived of glory,(2) [the exposition of] among other things how they came to war with one another.Both explanation and celebration account for Herodotus' inclusiveness. On one hand, anything great and wonderful should be saved from oblivion, and is therefore appropriate subject for the exposition. On the other hand, the research of the causes of an event leads the historian beyond the simple narrative of the event itself into its remote antecedents and any circumstance which may have possibly affected it. Thus the specific focus of the inquiry — the war between Greeks and Barbarians — is doubly broadened even before it is announced.