Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; References and texts; 1. Introduction; 2. Medicine and the ethnography of health; 3. Dividing the world: Europe, Asia, Greeks and barbarians; 4. Nomos is king: nomos, environment and ethnic character in Herodotus; 5. 'Wonders' and the natural world: natural philosophy and historie; 6. Argument and the language of proof; 7. Polemic and persuasion; 8. Performance, competitive display and apodeixis; 9. Epilogue; Appendix. beavers and female ailments; Bibliography; Indexes.

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An examination of Herodotus' Histories in the context of the intellectual developments of his time.

About the Author

Rosalind Thomas is Reader in Ancient History at Royal Holloway, University of London. She is the author of Oral Tradition and Written Record in Classical Athens (1989 HB 0521350255; 1991 PB 0521425182) and Literacy and Orality in Ancient Greece (1992/HB 0521373468; PB 0521377420).

Reviews

"The "Father of History," Herodotus, has developed into a particularly active field of research in the past 25 years and hardly goes by without an important new study. This book by Thomas is one of the best." Choice "...this leads to a provacative, yet highly compelling, new perspective on the intellectual and cultural dynamics of this seminal era... Thomas has made a valuable contribution to our appreciation of Herodotus and his work, and to our understanding of the fertile, fluid, and contentious intellectual atmosphere in which he lived and to which he contributed." New England Classical Journal "The 'Father of History,' Herodotus, has developed into a particularly active field of research in the past 25 years and hardly a year goes by without an important new study. This book by Thomas is one of the best." --Choice