Ancient Greece is generally regarded as the source of Western thought — democracy and freedom, for example. The origins of ancient Greek democracy are usually seen as the beginning of Western democracy and Western philosophy. Today we begin with the first part of this liberal arts course on ancient Greek thought: Herodotus.
Herodotus, the “Father of History,” and the Histories
Herodotus is honored as the “Father of History” in the West, mainly because he wrote the Histories. This book records in detail the rise of the Persian Empire around 450 BC, as well as the course of the two Greco-Persian Wars. Several famous battles were fought in those wars, such as the Battle of Marathon, the Battle of Thermopylae, and the Battle of Salamis. These classic battles had a profound influence both on the balance of power at the time and on the modern world.
Today we begin studying the humanistic thought of the ancient Greek classics, starting with Herodotus’ Histories. Our reading comes from A Liberal Arts Course on Ancient Greek Thought: Herodotus, written by Professor Zhang Xingang and published by Hunan People’s Publishing House.
“Custom Is King of All”: The Clash of Customs
In the preface of this book, the author uses the difference between northern and southern China over whether zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) should be sweet or salty to introduce the discussion of customs in the Histories.
Darius once summoned some Greeks and some Indians together and conducted an experiment about customs.
Darius said: “You deal with your dead in different ways. The Greeks cremate their dead, while the Indians eat the bodies of their relatives.”
He first asked the Greeks: “How much money would it take for you to eat the bodies of your own relatives?”
The Greeks were horrified and said: “How could anyone make such an outrageous demand?”
He then asked the Indians: “How much money would it take for you to cremate the bodies of your relatives?”
The Indians were equally horrified and said: “Absolutely not!”
Faced with the same thing, people handle it in vastly different ways, and each side believes its own way is reasonable and right, unwilling to follow anyone else’s. From this story Herodotus concluded with the famous line: “Custom is king of all.”
Here the first character (li, “rites”) can be understood as customs, ideas, or traditions, while the second (fa, “law”) refers to rules. In ancient China, the Zhou dynasty was often described as “governing the state through rites,” placing special emphasis on customs, inheritance, and rules. Yet history has also seen many movements emphasizing reform and breakthrough, opposing blind adherence to custom. These differing attitudes are exactly how we differ in our treatment of “custom and law.”
In the Histories, Herodotus not only records the causes of the Greco-Persian Wars around the theme of custom, but also explores in depth how custom shapes and influences people’s thought and behavior.
What Is a Classic, and What Is a Liberal Education?
The book we are reading is part of the Western canon and of liberal education. In the preface, the author discusses what a classic is and what liberal education is. The three types of education described by the ancient Greek philosopher Plato in the Laws are highly illuminating:
- Vocational education: learning a skill so that one can later enter a trade and meet the needs of daily life. But Plato pointed out that a person of superb skill sometimes does things that violate custom and moral bottom lines. In such cases we would not say the person is well educated — only that he has good skills.
- Political education: teaching people how to participate in the affairs of the polis as rulers or ruled, to shoulder civic duties and become a “political person.” Its core is to help people understand how to properly exercise citizens’ rights and fulfill their obligations.
- The ideal education: devoted to cultivating a person into a good person or an excellent person. Someone formed through this kind of education is not only a qualified citizen, but also possesses rational thinking, wise judgment, and good character. This is a perfect education for cultivating a fully developed human being.
If we accept this classification, then the influence of liberal education — or education in the classics — falls mainly within the second and third types: it helps us understand public affairs, cultivates rational thinking, and brings us wisdom.
On the significance of the classics, the book quotes the famous literary critic Harold Bloom in The Western Canon:
Reading the classics is not meant to serve any ideology… Deep reading of the classics makes one neither better nor worse, and makes a citizen neither more useful nor more harmful. The mind’s dialogue with itself is, in essence, a social reality. The whole meaning of the Western canon lies in helping one make proper use of one’s own solitude — a solitude whose final form is one’s encounter with one’s own death.
History as “Inquiry”: Herodotus’ Vision
Herodotus is regarded as the founder of history. He observed and recorded events across the ancient Mediterranean world, including Persia, Egypt, Greece, and even the Scythians. More than that, he sought to inquire into the patterns behind the rise and fall of human societies, observing how different customs evolve, clash, and merge.
In ancient Greek, the word “history” (Historia) originally meant “inquiry” or “research” — essentially an action in pursuit of wisdom, not merely faithful recording. So when we read the Histories, we find that beyond historical facts, there are also many of Herodotus’ own interpretations and comments. Although later generations jokingly called him the “Father of Lies” because parts of the book conflict with other historical sources, this does not prevent us from appreciating the book’s value.
The Background and Purpose of the Histories
Herodotus (c. 480 BC – c. 420 BC) personally lived through the entire Greco-Persian Wars and the early years of the Peloponnesian War. He traveled across a vast region from Western Asia to Italy, and was deeply influenced by many intellectual traditions, including the Homeric epics, the Sophists, tragedy, and medicine.
Herodotus was the first author in Western history to narrate grand themes in prose and to depict the collisions between different civilizations. In the preface to the Histories, he stated his two purposes:
“Herodotus of Halicarnassus here presents the results of his inquiry, so that the deeds of humankind may not be dimmed by the passage of time, and that the great and marvelous works achieved by Greeks and barbarians alike may not lose their glory; and among other things, to show the reasons why they went to war with one another.”
So the core of reading this book lies in understanding two themes:
- Recording the great achievements of humankind.
- Inquiring into the reasons why Greeks and barbarians went to war.
On the second question, after narrating the immediate causes of the war, Herodotus quotes Pindar’s famous line: “Custom is king of all.” Is he hinting that, in his view, the true root of the Greco-Persian Wars lies in the clash and conflict of civilizations?
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