The purpose of this research is to examine The Histories by Herodotus with a view toward demonstrating how the text represents diversity issues, chiefly those of developing cultural identity and concerns about social cleavages within the ancient world. The research will set forth the context in which The Histories emerged and then discuss how the text treats diversity-related issues, with a view toward evaluating whether and to what extent Herodotus retains relevance in historical discourse of the ancient world.
As the first systematic source of Western civilization, TH presents a systematic account of the preeminent forms of social organization in the Ionian area of the Mediterranean. However, from the very first, Herodotus engages in a project of comparative history, explaining that his research will cover "the astonishing achievements both of our own and of other peoples" (Herodotus, 1982, p. I.41). Why that is significant is that Herodotus deliberately looks outward, away from Greece, when going on the record about the internal experience of the Greeks. That implies that he seeks a comprehensive rather than partial understanding of Greek experience, by positioning his home civilization not merely as a self-sustaining entity but in relation to entities that are "other." That owes something to the fact that The Histories is in significant part an account of the protracted war between the Greeks and the Persians; however, war is not the only occasion for comparative study, for Herodotus includes accounts of his travels to places of former but by the fifth century BC declining imperial strength, including Egypt and Mesopotamia, as well as northern Africa and the Levant. As he explains, he wants to understand how the Greeks "came into conflict" as well as the content of the conflict itself.
For Herodotus, the "how" of the developing enmity between the Greeks and the Persians involves intermingling factual and mythological account...