Overview:
Labelled both as the "Father of History" (pater historiae) and the "Father of Lies" (pater fabularum), Herodotus of Halicarnassus has had a profound effect on a variety of disciplines and areas of intellectual inquiry: history and historiography, ethnography, archaeology, linguistics, literature, narratology, sociology, anthropology and gender studies. Students in this course will examine Herodotus and his Histories from a number of these perspectives (and others) and assess the quality of his contributions to western thought. The students will contribute to the construction of the course by selecting sections of Herodotus' work that we will read in Greek and by choosing an individual work of secondary scholarship to read and discuss. Through readings and discussions, students will move towards proficiency in Greek grammar and syntax, acquire a vocabulary of Herodotean discourse, and examine aspects of the literary genre of historiography as created by Herodotus.

Goals:

· to read closely and analyze critically Herodotus' Histories

· to read scholarship on Herodotus' and the Histories

· to understand the historical and cultural context of Herodotus and his Histories