The sources of The Histories

1. Homer 1 authority · 2 neutral · 1 refuted 4 citations

   book 2 · book 4 · book 5 · book 7

   Herodotus names Homer (or an older poet) directly as the origin of the 'Ocean' river notion and explicitly rejects the notion as an invention, a genuine citation of a specific poetic authority rather than an anonymous oral tradition.

   and I suppose that Homer or some older poet invented this name and brought it into his poetry.

2. Odyssey Homer 1 authority · 1 endorsed 2 citations · 12 passages

   book 2 9 passages anchored here · book 4 3 passages anchored here

   Herodotus quotes the Odyssey as further evidence that Homer was aware of the Egyptian episode in the Helen story, endorsing its testimony.

   In these verses the poet shows that he knew of Alexander 's wanderings to Egypt;

3. oracle concerning the Battle of Salamis Bacis 1 authority · 1 neutral 2 citations · 9 passages

   book 8 9 passages anchored here

   Herodotus explicitly names Bacis as the author of a detailed oracle concerning Salamis, quotes it at length, and affirms its truth as a source of authority.

   Considering this, I dare to say nothing against Bacis concerning oracles when he speaks so plainly, nor will I consent to it by others.

4. Aeschylus 1 neutral 1 citation

   book 2

   Herodotus names Aeschylus with patronymic and identifies a specific mythological claim as his poetic innovation, reporting it as a fact of literary history without endorsing or attacking it.

   It was from this legend and no other that Aeschylus son of Euphorion took a notion which is in no poet before him:

5. Hesiod 1 neutral 1 citation

   book 4

   Herodotus simply reports that Hesiod mentions the Hyperboreans, without endorsing or disputing the claim.

   But Hesiod speaks of Hyperboreans, and Homer too in his poem The Heroes' Sons, if that is truly the work of Homer.

6. Iliad Homer 1 endorsed 1 citation · 8 passages

   book 2 8 passages anchored here

   Herodotus cites and quotes the Iliad as reliable evidence that Homer knew of Alexandrus's detour through Egypt, endorsing the passage's testimony even while noting Homer chose not to use the fuller Egyptian story.

   This is apparent from the passage in the Iliad (and nowhere else does he return to the story) where he relates the wanderings of Alexander, and shows how he and Helen were carried off course, and wandered to, among other places, Sidon in Phoenicia.

7. Pindar 1 endorsed 1 citation

   book 3

   Herodotus explicitly credits Pindar with a poetic statement he endorses as correct, generalizing the custom-relativity anecdote just given.

   and it is, I think, rightly said in Pindar 's poem that custom is lord of all.

Each stands at a single passage. The chapter carries the anchors.

book 1 12 sources

Corinthians and Lesbians · Delphians · Herodotus's own promised account of Babylon's kings (his Assyrian history) · Iambic verses · Milesians · Persian account of origins · Phoenician account of Io · Solon's saying that no one among the living is fortunate · Thales' prediction of the solar eclipse · The Delphic oracle of Apollo (Loxias) · responses of the Delphic Oracle to Croesus, Lycurgus, and the Lacedaemonians · the oracle given to the Cnidians (a Delphic verse oracle)

book 2 6 sources

Cypria (the Cyprian poems) · a genealogy tracing descent from a god in the sixteenth generation · a law requiring annual declaration of livelihood · a poem attacking Kharaxus · the oracular response of Ammon concerning the extent of Egypt · the poems establishing the gods' genealogy, names, provinces, and forms

book 3 2 sources

Delphic oracle's response to the Siphnians · Oracle of Buto's prophecy concerning Cambyses

book 4 5 sources

Arimaspea · Darius's inscribed pillar at the source of the Tearus · Mandrocles' dedicatory inscription at the Heraion (poem commemorating the Bosporus bridge) · hymn to Opis and Arge · oracular response concerning Aristeas' vision

book 5 14 sources

Delphic oracle response bribed by the Alcmaeonidae (bidding Sparta free Athens) · Delphic oracle response to Cleisthenes of Sicyon (on Adrastus) · Delphic oracle response to Eetion · Delphic oracle response to the Athenians (thirty-year restraint on Aegina) · Delphic oracle response to the Epidaurians (on Damia and Auxesia) · Delphic oracle response to the Thebans (the 'many-voiced' and 'nearest') · Delphic oracle's response to Dorieus · Earlier Delphic oracle to the Bacchiadae (the eagle and the lion) · Oracle given to the Paeonians concerning Perinthus · Oracles of Laius · oracle given to Cypselus at Delphi · poem extolling Philocyprus · poem to Melanippus (on the loss of his armor) · praise poem for Eualcides

book 6 11 sources

Hecataeus's history (account of the Pelasgian expulsion) · Oracle concerning Miletus and Argos · Oracle on Demaratus' paternity · Oracle on making both twin sons kings · Oracle on the shaking of Delos · Oracle to Cleomenes on taking Argos · Oracle to the Argives and Milesians ('when the female defeats the male') · Oracle to the Dolonci and Miltiades concerning a founder for the Chersonese · Oracle warning Glaucus against a false oath · Oracular response of the Pythia at Delphi · The Fall of Miletus

book 7 11 sources

Delphic oracle instructing prayer to the winds · Delphic oracle response to the Cretans · Delphic oracle to the Argives · First Delphic oracle to the Athenians · Oracle instructing the Athenians to invoke their son-in-law as an ally · Oracle prescribing the Achaean sacrificial rule for Phrixus' descendants · Oracles of Musaeus · Second Delphic oracle to the Athenians (the wooden wall oracle) · epitaph for Megistias · oracle response to Sparta concerning the war · saying about Cythera

book 8 7 sources

Delphic oracle commanding the Lacedaemonians to demand justice for Leonidas · Oracle of Amphiaraus concerning the Thebans · Oracle of Ptoan Apollo delivered through Mys · Oracle response concerning the wooden wall · Oracle response on the Delphic sacred treasure · Oracle verses concerning Euboea · oracle concerning the Colian women and the shore of Colias

book 9 4 sources

Oracle response given to Tisamenus at Delphi · Oracular response to Apollonia concerning Evenius · Oracular verses on the Persian defeat · Prophecy concerning the destruction of the Persians at Plataea

The harvest records where a citation is made: the paragraph in the citing book, and the book that paragraph stands in. It does not record which page of this book is meant. Where the citing text names a locus, you will find it in the quotation.

1. Orations Dio Chrysostom 1 endorsed 1 citation

   oration 88

   Herodotus's history is explicitly recommended and characterized for the addressee's reading.

   With Herodotus, then, if ever you have need of cheerfulness, you will consort with much repose.

2. The Rights of War and Peace Hugo Grotius 1 authority 1 citation

   ch. 11

   Invoked to ground the distinction between justifiable causes, pretexts, and beginnings of war.

   But though there is an actual distinction between the justifiable causes, the pretexts, and the beginning of war;