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hey all,

Herodotus (c. 484�420 B.C.E.) was a Greek who was born in what is now the modern Turkish resort town of Bodrum (called Halicarnassus, in his day) and who died, so tradition says, in the south of Italy.
A Tireless Mind

In between, his tirelessly inquiring mind took him from one corner of the known world to another. And he reported on or visited all of its continents (Europe, Asia, and Africa) to write about the vast array of subjects that captured his interest, including:
the "great works" (erga megala) of the ancient land of Egypt
the remarkable kings who built the vast and mighty Persian Empire
the strange customs and unlikely origins of the Scythians, a warlike, mounted people who lived beyond the Danube and whose repulse of Darius and the Persians in 513 B.C.E. made them the first Europeans to throw back an eastern invasion.

These lectures introduce you to the book�Herodotus's only known work�that came out of these "inquiries." (The title Histories, by the way, is a now-common mistranslation of the original title, as Professor Vandiver explains.)

You learn what makes Herodotus one of those rare, landmark figures in the story of thought as Professor Vandiver traces the influences Herodotus assimilated and the new methods he used in crafting this monumental work.
A New Way of Seeing the Past

Herodotus became the first person we know of to see the past in new and fresh ways:
not as a distant recess shrouded in legend and rumor, but as something that lies close at hand
as something that immediately affects the here and now
as a subject whose great personalities and patterns of events can be studied in order to make the reasons behind them as clear as possible.

What You Will Learn

In Professor Vandiver's characteristically comprehensive and systematic treatment, you learn:

Essential background and context... including what we know about the life of Herodotus, the key influences on him, his intended audience and possible reasons for writing the book, and the general task that he set himself (as explained in his all-important first sentence).

The scope, design, and organization of The Histories itself... including both the tantalizing digressions on Egypt and Scythia, and the dramatic Persian War narrative (490�479 B.C.E.) that lies at the heart of the story Herodotus tells.

The key interpretive issues that scholars have long debated include:
Herodotus's focus on individuals as the makers of history
his use of and departures from Homeric models
his handling of materials from myth and legend
his attitude toward facts and verification
his relationship to the new scientific, political, and artistic currents of his day, including Sophism, Periclean democracy, tragic drama, and the Peloponnesian War.

The light shed on The Histories by modern research... including rock carvings left by the Persians, and even the recently discovered traces of one of the military canals that the Emperor Xerxes dug to facilitate the movement of his massive invading forces into Greece.

The continuing influence and significance of Herodotus from his own time to ours... including the renewed appreciation that scholars developed for him in the 20th century and the lasting place he enjoys in the Western imagination.

Stirring Episodes, Unforgettable Characters


Enjoy;
Thanks, as always, appreciated.

Links:

Code:

http://rapidshare.com/files/226440329/Herodotus_-_The_Father_Of_History_-_Elizabeth_Vandiver_-_Audio_Book_-_Teaching_Company.part1.rar http://rapidshare.com/files/226431735/Herodotus_-_The_Father_Of_History_-_Elizabeth_Vandiver_-_Audio_Book_-_Teaching_Company.part2.rar