“Herodotus of Halicarnassus here displays his inquiry, so that human achievements may not become forgotten in time, and great and marvellous deeds — some displayed by Greeks, some by barbarians — may not be without their glory; and especially to show why the two peoples fought with each other.”
~Herodotus, The Histories, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt, revised by John Marincola.

Herodotus (c. 484–425 BC) was born at Halicarnassus, which is on the Aegean coast of modern day Turkey. Cicero called him the Father of History because he is the first person we know of who systematically inquired into events of the past and tried to make sure that they had actually happened before creating his own narrative.

That seems obvious to us, but compare his book’s opening lines with the usual way of telling of memorable deeds of the past:

Sing, O Goddess, the anger of Achilles son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans. (The Illiad. tr. Butler)

and:

Speak to me, Muse, of the adventurous man who wandered long after he sacked the sacred citadel of Troy. (The Odyssey, tr. Palmer)

Homer appeals to the goddess for inspiration, and then tells how the gods' actions led to the events following.

But Herodotus begins by saying that he’s going to tell about great things people have done and then gives a lengthy account of the Persians' version of what caused the war: Io was kidnapped by a group of Phoenecian sailors and then in retaliation Europa was kidnapped by a group of Greeks followed by the abduction of Medea which inspired Paris to kidnap Helen. Evidently the Persians thought all this kidnapping was no big deal, but “the Greeks, merely on account of a girl from Sparta, raised a big army, invaded Asia and destroyed the empire of Priam.”

All of this caused the eternal enmity between the Greeks and the Persians. No mention at all of gods, but simply the actions of men — things that can be verified by inquiry. Just for fun, here’s the original Greek text:

Ἡροδότου Ἁλικαρνησσέος ἱστορίης ἀπόδεξις ἥδε, ὡς μήτε τὰ γενόμενα ἐξ ἀνθρώπων τῷ χρόνῳ ἐξίτηλα γένηται, μήτε ἔργα μεγάλα τε καὶ θωμαστά, τὰ μὲν Ἕλλησι τὰ δὲ βαρβάροισι ἀποδεχθέντα, ἀκλεᾶ γένηται, τά τε ἄλλα καὶ δι᾽ ἣν αἰτίην ἐπολέμησαν ἀλλήλοισι.
[Source: Sacred Texts]

Oh, and the “word” from Herodotus? The third word in Greek is ἱστορίης, which means inquiry. It is pronounced something like istoria, and gives us our word history.

And there you have the history of History.

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This post was originally published 1 October 2013 on my old blog when I was taking an online course in Greek history. My youngest daughter, who is studying the Greek language now, informs me that the little mark above the first i in ἱστορίης is a “rough breathing mark” so there is supposed to be an /h/ sound at the beginning of the word, and the sigma at the end should be pronounced. Historias it is, then!

One the funnest parts of looking at medieval art is running across an illustration of a knight fighting a snail.
 

There are many theories as to what these snails are doing in the art, but not a one of them matches my own, which I came up with this year while reading through the Psalms with my family. Take a look at this:

Psalm 58

1 Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men?
2 Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
4 Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear;
5 Which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.
6 Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Lord.
7 Let them melt away as waters which run continually: when he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows, let them be as cut in pieces.
8 As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the thorns, he shall take them away as with a whirlwind, both living, and in his wrath.
10 The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 So that a man shall say, Verily there is a reward for the righteous: verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth.

 

The psalmist is describing how ferocious and dangerous the enemies of God appear, but then in verse 8 he says, "As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away."

In other words, they appear unconquerable, but they really aren't. 

The popular idea about this image is that the knight has given up and is begging mercy of the victorious snail, but I believe he has recognized that this is spiritual warfare, so he has laid down his sword and is praying to God for deliverance.