Abstract

Herodotus practices a scientific inquiry ; his presentation of the results of that inquiry ought to be interpreted in the context of the 5th-century Greek Enlightenment. Herodotus' inquiry is ethical in nature: that is, the historian investigates the ethical or moral factors which make historical actions and decisions intelligible. ;The Solon-Croesus episode serves as a programmatic introduction to the ethical concerns of the Histories. In particular, the concept of eudaimonie, which that episode treats at length, may be regarded as a leading question of Herodotus' ethical inquiry. One important principle derived from this episode is that human happiness depends upon ethical character . In a series of type-scenes, Herodotus depicts the factors which influence character formation. He explains ethical character as a product of the combined influence of natural circumstances and cultural norms. These views on character serve in Herodotus' explanatory account of the war. ;Solon's argument rejecting Croesus' claim to happiness turns on a basic ethical question: what goods are necessary and sufficient for a truly good life? In 5th-century ethical discourse, this basic question is formulated in terms of the nomos-physis antithesis: the norms or ideals of society, that is, the goods which society sanctions as worthy of pursuit, are weighed against the alleged advantages of following nature. Herodotus' work reflects a serious engagement in the contemporary debate on these issues. For Herodotus, social norms represent firmly entrenched social and psychological orders, such that the norms cannot be violated without harmful consequences. At least some norms ultimately represent transcendent moral values. ;The position which Herodotus takes in this contemporary debate is a foundation for his explanatory account. In that account, Persians and Greeks are characterized by their attitude toward cultural norms . The Persian monarchs fulfill an individualist ethical ideal which is touted by some sophists, or at least popularly perceived to be sophistic. By contrast, the major Greek protagonists of the narrative act in the context of the polis and of the social norms enshrined there. ;Although Herodotus is reluctant to make strong claims about the role of the divine in human events, he clearly does conceive of a deity or deities who participate in human affairs. Herodotus finds a moral order in the interconnection of human character, cultural ideals, and historical events; this order may be regarded as evidence that human affairs, like natural phenomena, are governed by rational and divine principles