Module Catalogue 2025/26

Pre Requisite Comment

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Co Requisite Comment

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Aims

This module uses Herodotus's Histories as a vehicle for exploring topics as varied as his accounts of far-off lands - home to warrior women, fantastic beasts, and exotic spices - and his reception both under the Byzantine empire and Victorian Britain (with a particular focus on historical paintings, periodicals, and children's literature).

The focus upon the role of ethnographic description within the Histories will lead to wider consideration of the politics of representation together with concepts of race/the Barbarian (variously illustrated by examples including depictions of Persians in Frank Miller's 300 and the Dothraki). Close readings of 'the Prose Homer of History' (as he was known in antiquity) will shed light on both Herodotus's narrative technique and engagement with his audience but also the place of the Histories within wider debates surrounding Climate Change.

The module also aims to equip you with the necessary skills and experience to be able to communicate complex material to non-specialist audiences via the medium of powerpoint.

Outline Of Syllabus

Topics covered may include: Herodotus’ predecessors and use of evidence; his narrative technique and ideas of causation, religion, and science; Geographical knowledge; Herodotus's descriptions of steppe nomads, Late Period Egypt, and Achaemenid Persia including the rise of Persia under Cyrus the Great, the palace coup that led to Darius’ succession and the Persian invasions; his relationship with Athens; his views on democracy, tyrants and despots; gold-digging ants and bearded ladies; the reception of Herodotus’ Histories both in antiquity and during the long 19th century (aka ‘The Age of Empire’).

Seminars will address topics such as: A ‘Serious’ historian? (Gold-digging ants and other tall tales); True lies? (Sources and veracity); Herodotus and the Persian Empire; Empire and tyranny; Herodotus the barbarian-lover?; Ethnographic writing; Brave and bold? (Herodotus’ women); Race and the Barbarian; Herodotus in children's literature; Herodotus and Climate Change.

Intended Knowledge Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this module, you will have acquired:

A sound knowledge and understanding of both the Histories themselves and the intellectual, social and cultural milieux from which they arose, together with the manner in which subsequent scholarship has perceived an author variously regarded as both ‘Father of History’ (not to mention Geography, Ethnography and Anthropology) and ‘Father of Lies’.

Enhanced knowledge and understanding of both the thought-worlds and histories of some of the various non-Greek peoples that feature in the text (e.g Achaemenid Persians, Scythian nomads, Late Period Egypt).

A critical understanding of both the role of ethnographic description within the Histories with particular reference to contemporary debates surrounding questions of race, ethnicity, and culture as well as the place of Herodotus (and Classics more broadly!) within wider debates e.g. surrounding decolonising or Climate Change.

Enhanced knowledge and understanding of the way Herodotus's work has been variously 'received' in later generations, whether under the Byzantine Empire or Victorian Britain (illustrated through a visit to the Philip Robinson Library's Special Collections).

Intended Skill Outcomes

The module will foster a variety of transferable skills (not all of which will be directly assessed), including: oral discussion and communication, the effective use of visual/other supporting materials when delivering an oral presentation, analytical reading of set texts, listening and note-taking, ethnographic writing, exposition (both written and oral) of a logically structured argument employing the appropriate primary and secondary materials, critical self-reflection, and effective time-management.

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

Lectures and associated materials will introduce you to key topics and how to approach them. Lectures are not merely intended to provide you with answers. Instead, they will provide you with the knowledge and skills that will enable you to both formulate and answer your own questions. Your listening, reading and note-taking skills will play a key role in this process. The seminar discussions are an opportunity for you to develop your understanding dynamically, e.g. by engaging in discussion of how you should go about addressing historical questions, the relative merits of different types of evidence or approach to the sources or by gaining clarification of any points that you do not understand. In doing so you will develop your analytical and oral communication skills and your ability to work collaboratively as part of a team.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The written assignment assesses knowledge and understanding of both the text which provides a focus for the module, Herodotus' Histories, and related themes such as the function and purpose of ethnographic description (whether in the Histories or more broadly). The assignment will also test your ability to respond creatively to a set brief in clear, succinct prose whilst also requiring you to demonstrate your familiarity with scholarship on Herodotus's prose style and modes of description (whether by linking to underpinning scholarship during the course of your ethnography or in the commentary exercise which forms an alternative mode of assessment for those wishing to focus upon textual criticism).

In addition to testing the students' knowledge of a particular aspect of the course, the oral presentation tests the students' key skills in research, written and oral communication together with their ability to develop and employ visual/other materials effectively. The underpinning research will expand the student's understanding of Herodotus's prose style and modes of description prior to their embarking on the Creative Project/commentary.

General Notes

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