Quote of the Day: Herodotus' Histories 3.21
In my class we are reading the kaleidoscopic multicultural literary monument of Herodotus' Histories . I personally really like Herodotus. While he often exoticizes the people he discusses, he breaks down any Helleno-centrism, undercuts difference at the same time he constructs it. He gives a message that not only should one respect one's own customs, religious or otherwise, but one must always respect others' as well. If not, then bad things will happen to you! So, in Book 3, Cambyses, the Persian King, takes over Egypt and does things that are sacrilegious to the EGYPTIANS, but would be perfectly normal in Greece, namely, burning the dead ( Histories 3.16). He forces Greeks to think about basing what is acceptable and unacceptable upon local norms rather than their own (a lesson Odysseus learns the hard way). In fact, he notes that while the Greeks may think their customs are the best, so does everyone else! So, in that respect, Herodotus undercuts any sense of cu...