Does Herodotus believe in Cultural Relativism?

Does Herodotus believe in Cultural Relativism

For its time and place , The Histories of Herodotus is a work of remarkably expansive scope . To set the stage for the wars between Greece and Persia ( 490-479 B .C , Herodotus describes the geographical and cultural background and reviews the political history of Lydia , Media Babylon , Egypt , Persia , Scythia , Libya , Ionia , and various Greek city-states in Asia Minor , on the Aegean islands , and on the European mainland . To record the results of his "research (histori , in Greek with the greatest vigor and accuracy , Herodotus traveled to

many of these places and gathered firsthand data from native informants . For this type of research , in the words of a modern commentator , Herodotus merits the title not only of the father of history he is also the father of comparative anthropology

Among the various classes of information which Herodotus seems to have emphasized , thus suggesting a pattern for later s , were marriage customs , religious rites , burial practices , and food habits The of these four categories of traits , or "social institutions " were not necessarily executed in the round for every tribe that happened to stroll across the pages of the Histories but they were mentioned often enough to indicate the direction taken by his curiosity , and the content of the questions he probably put to informants

Herodotus , the ancient Greek , was a cheerful , inquisitive , rationalistic extrovert who traveled over his world to discover the facts , who took delight in telling a good story but usually avoided the temptation to wander very far from sober common sense . His cultural relativism is well known and much discussed , but it is particularly noteworthy that Greeks and barbarians are placed on a equal footing at the outset . Distinctions between Greek and non-Greek break down as the work progresses : the first barbarian for whom we get any detailed information is the Hellenized Lydian king , Croesus the divisions of lands customary among the Greeks that separate Greek and non-Greek peoples are purely arbitrary we learn of the Phoenician descent of Sparta 's kings and Herodotus states that the descendants of Perseus came to be counted as Greeks . The key dichotomy is not the Hellenic-barbarian bipolarity , but rather the opposition of the ed society based on law and the arbitrary rule of the despot . But political and social institutions are fragile structures , and Herodotus gives no guarantee that the Greek superiority at the time of the Persian Wars , which was based upon those institutions , will last . In fact his work closes on an ominous note that appears to warn imperial Athens that it is in danger of becoming , if it has not already become , the barbarian . We are presented with the gruesome picture of the crucifixion of the Persian satrap Artayactes at the command of the Athenian commander Xanthippus , father of Pericles and a piece of wisdom from the Persian founding father , Cyrus , on the dangers of success and affluence . And it is well to remember that Herodotus wrote long after the Persian threat...