TTC Herodotus - The father of history torrent

Course Lecture Titles

1. Herodotus and History
2. "Inquiry" and the Birth of History
3. Myth, Legend, and Oral Tradition
4. Homeric Epic and the East-West Conflict
5. The Ionian Enlightenment
6. Athens in the Archaic Age
7. Politics and Culture in Fifth-Century Athens
8. Scope, Design, and Organization of the Histories
9. The Beginnings of the Conflict
10. Croesus, Solon, and Human Happiness
11. Cyrus and the Foundation of the Persian Empire
12. Herodotus' Account of Egypt
13. The Ascension of Darius
14. Darius and the Scythians
15. Sparta and the Spartan Way of Life
16. The Ionian Revolt and the Battle of Marathon
17. Xerxes and the Threat to Greece
18. The Battles of Thermopylae and Artemisium
19. The Victory of Greece
20. Persons, Personalities, and Peoples
21. The Gods, Fate, and the Supernatural
22. History or Literature-Or Both?
23. Herodotus, the Peloponnesian War, and Thucydides
24. Aftermath and Influence

Witness the "works and wonders" of the ancient world through the eyes of its first great historian.

Given the number and the superb quality of the courses on classical literature that Professor Elizabeth Vandiver has contributed to The Great Courses, we knew that we had to bring her into our studio to lecture on Herodotus.

His monumental work, the Histories, was the subject of her doctoral dissertation and first book. And it remains one of her great loves among Greek and Roman writings.
An Exceptional Teacher

If you've enjoyed any of Professor Vandiver's previous courses on the epics of Homer and Virgil, Greek tragedy, or classical mythology, you will surely want to add this one to your library of recorded learning.

If you are new to Professor Vandiver or The Teaching Company, however, this course is still a great investment in learning.

She presents the material to you as a self-contained unit that is readily accessible and requires no special background knowledge.

Herodotus (c. 484–420 B.C.E.) was a Greek who was born in what is now the modern Turkish resort town of Bodrum (called Halicarnassus, in his day) and who died, so tradition says, in the south of Italy.