HERODOTUS. 15 HEROIDES. ■when viewed in connection with the whole. The lirst three books deal with centuries of time, and the vast barbarian world: (1) The overthrow of the Lydian kingdom of Croesus, and, in retro- spect, the establishment of the Persian monarchy as the heir of the immemorial empires of the East. (2) Egj'pt in retrospect and description in connection with the Persian Conquest. (3) The consolidation of the Persian Empire under C'ambyses and Darius. The last three bonks are concerned with ten; or, more strictly, three years of conflict on Greek soil, books vii., viii., and ix. being marked respectively by the battles of Ther- mopylae, Salamis, and Platica. The three inter- vening books at once link and divide the extremes, and trace the progress of Persia and the inter- lacing of Greek and Persian interests to the point where the struggle became inevitable. (4) The campaigns of Persia, in Scythia and Libya, with vast geographical and ethnological digres- sions. (5) The subjugation of the north coast of the ^gean — Thrace and Macedon. The begin- nings of revolt among the Ionic cities, with anecdotal digressions on Athens and Sparta that prepare us for the role to be assumed bj' those cities. (6) The revolt of the lonians aided by Athens and Eretria : its suppression : the aveng- ing mission of Mardonius against Eretria and Athens; his defeat at ilarathon. Herodotus, though an artistic, is not a critical historian. A critical history was possible in that age only to a Thucydides describing on the testimony of documents and eye-witnesses a con- temporary war between Greeks. The Greeks of the generation of the Persian Yars were too busy making history to write it, and the tradition of the great struggle was already transfigured by legend and local patriotism when he took it up. Nor could he deal scientifically with the dim legends and inextricably crossed traditions of the East which he gathered on the frontiers of the CJreek and barbarian worlds. Fortunately, he did not make the attempt. Ignorant of the lan- guages, unable to decipher the records, if he had applied to the tales told him by dragomans, mi- nor priests, commercial travelers, and Greek mercenaries either his own standards of credi- bility or ours, he would have deprived us not only of many a delightful story, but of much in- valuable information. "It is my business to relate what is told me." he declares, "but I am under no obligation to believe it." He does not believe that tlie Phcenicians got the noonday sun on their right liand in circumnavigating Africa — ■ but he tells us the story. And, wasting no time on vain critiial discussions or pretentious phi- lo.sophies of history, he contrives to tell us more fascinating stories and interesting facts to the page than any other writer in the world. In view of this and his evident good faith, genial simplicity, and earnest piety, we may disregard the critics who impugn his honesty because his account of a crocodile would amuse a naturalist, and his description of Babylon would not satisfy a Baedeker. The charm of his secminglv simple, artfully artless, naive, Ionic style has been celebrated by all critics, ancient and modern. Andrew Lang's entertaining parody in bis Lrfter.i In Dead All- fhnrf!. gives, by exajriTeration. n cood idea of it to the English reader. 'Macaulay's essay "On History" contains a picturesque rhetorical char- acterization. BiBLiOGBAi'HY. De Quincey wrote on what he called the "Philosophy of Herodotus," and his essay ou "Style" has a fine digiessiou on Herodo- tus at Olympia. The chief translation is the classical work of Rawlinson in four volumes with elaborate notes and introduction (London, 1858, often reprinted). The translation of G. C. Sla- caulay {London, 1890) is well spoken of. Stein's annotated German edition (Berlin, 1901 et seq.) is read chiefly by students. Sayce, Uerodutua, i.-iii. (London, 1883) deserves attention for his introduction, notes, and appendices, ilacan, Herodotus, iv., v., vi., with appendices (London, 1892), is rich in historic criticism. Hauvette, IUrodo4e: hislorien dcs yuerres mediques (Paris, 1894), is an e.cellent monograph. The volume ou Herodotus in Blackwood's Ancient Classics is readable. Consult also: Kirchhoff, Ueber die .lbfassungs::eit dcs Uerodotischen Geschichts- irerks (Berlin, 1878), and Bauer, Eerodots Diographie (Vienna, 1878). HEROES, he'rOz (Lat. heros, from Gk. 7)pus, connected with Lat. servare, Skt. sar, Av. har, to protect). In the older portions of the Homeric poems the heroes are warriors ; in the Odyssey the word has extended its meaning, and denotes any distinguished character of the stories of the past. In the later time a third meaning prevails, and tlie 'heroes' are the semi-divine objects of worship. To such heroes the later noble families, or even whole communities, traced their origin, and it .seems probable that the original use of the word was to denote the souls of the blessed ancestors. These 'heroes' were commonly regarded as sprung from the union of a god and a mortal. Their cult ritual was like that of the gods, but natu- rally had closest resemblance to that of the chthonic divinities. Their worship was wide- spread, and it seems very clear that in the large majority of cases those- worshiped in historic times as heroes were originally gods, who had been superseded by the growth of the great per- sonal gods. It was natural that eminent men, who had seemed to possess somewhat of the divine essence, should receive reverence as super- natural beings after death. Such are the cases of Brasidas. Themistocles. and in later times some of the founders of philosophical schools, as Epicurus. From this it seems to have been easy to worship the living, as in the case of Alexander and some of his successors, who were honored as 'savior gods' {6eoi cu^^ptc)- In Thrace the conception of the heroized dead as heavenly horsemen is common, but the word niero' has become the name of a mighty god. to whom dedications are frequent. For the I>est brief account of the growth and character of the hero-worship in Greece, consult: Usener, Oot- ternamen (Bonn, 189G) ; more elaborate, but in their discussion less satisfactorv, Rohde, Psi/che (2d ed., Freiburg. 1898) ; Deneken. in Roscher. l.exilcon der fjriechischrn iind romisehcn ily- tholofiie (Leipzig, 1886-90). with full collection of authorities: and Furtwangler, Sammlung Slabouroff, vol. i. (Berlin, 1883). HEROFDES, hi*-ro1-dez. An early work of Ovid, a collection of twenty fictitious love-letters sent by noble women of the olden time to their estranged husbands or lovers. The theme in all is the same, but their romantic nature and dramatic settinc have placed them among the most popular of Ovid's works. The last sis
