| August 18 |  |
Editor says, what if the revolt in city of Halicarnassus had succeeded? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the August 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
| Share this Article on: |  Facebook |  Twitter |
In 484 BC, on this day Herodotus was born in the ancient Greek city of Halicarnassus.
Birth of HerodotusThe brutal execution of the poet Panyasis finally sparked a revolt that had been long brewing under a series of murderous rulers starting with Artemesia, the famous naval commander at the battle of Salamis. A man of modest literary ambition, Herodotus was so thoroughly enraged by this senseless murder of a fellow artist that he became an outspoken leader of the revolt.
After the overthrow of the despot Lygdamis, he settled into a middle-ranking position in the new Government. Evidently the occupation was far from fulfilling, because his personal account includes heartfelt regrets that his Halicarnassian loyalty prevented him from giving expression to his wander lust. Nevertheless, towards the end of his civic career, he wrote a charming account of the history of the city which was praised by his contemporaries for its sweetness and charm.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
© Alternate Historian, 2004-.Story Tags
Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: Personalities Source: Wikipedia Labels: Herodotus, Greece, Greek, Halicarnassus, History. Editor says, in reality the revolt failed, he was forced into exile and began the travels that collected the only surviving accounts of historical events across the ancient Greek world. In authoring this post, we have repurposed content from Wikipedia.
~ Would someone else have written histories that survived? So much was lost...
~ Somewhere, at the bottom of a long-buried cave, sealed with wax inside a stone sarcophagus, lies a collection of velum scrolls...
~ Hmmm. Without those records, we would not have the Greek legacy including democracy, totalitarianism, architecture and epic poetry. So it WOULD be a great loss. Unless, of course, it continued by word of mouth to the Roman empire, where they wrote lots of things down.
~ Wonder how long it would be until someone else would've come up with the idea of distinguishing history and folktale.
~ Jeff, the folktales often prove to have some historical basis...as Schliemann demonstrated when he discovered Troy.
© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
