The Histories

Herodotuss history is the earliest continuous prose narrative in Western literature. His long narrativelonger than either of the Homeric epicscontinues to hold us spellbound because of the authors storytelling powers and intelligent curiosity. The perfect introduction to Herodotus, this Norton Critical Edition includes the complete text of The Histories. The translation is fully annotated and is accompanied by an introduction, a chronology of events, and a note on the Persian Wars. Seven mapsall new to the Second Editiongive readers a visual understanding of events and places, 490479 B.C.E. Backgrounds includes a rich collection of historical works by Aeschylus, Bacchylides, Thucydides, Aristotle, and Plutarch. New to the Second Edition are contrasting accounts, by Diodorus of Sicily and Strabo, of the Amazons who were believed to be living in the mountainous regions. Commentaries is divided into two sections. Early modern interpretations are represented by Isaac Taylor, John Stuart Mill, and Thomas Babington Macaulay. Seventeen modern assessmentsthree of them new to the Second Editionfocus on historical origins and backgrounds, Herodotuss place in history, and central issues concerning both the Persian Wars and Herodotuss reckoning of them. The new contributors are Franois Hartog, James Redfield, and Siep Stuurman. A Glossary, Selected Bibliography, and Index are also included.