On the malice of Herodotus
Encyclopedia
Plutarch
in his On the Malice of Herodotus, with the original title in Greek criticizes the historian Herodotus
for all manner of prejudice and misrepresentation. It has been called the “first instance in literature of the slashing review.” . The 19th century English historian George Grote
considered this essay a serious attack upon the works of Herodotus, and speaks of the "honourable frankness which Plutarch calls his malignity." Plutarch makes some palpable hits, catching Herodotus out in various errors, but it is also probable that it was merely a rhetorical exercise, in which Plutarch plays devil's advocate to see what could be said against so favourite and well-known a writer. Some scholars however have dismissed the essay as the work of a Pseudo-Plutarch
, "full of the most futile accusations of every kind", in which the author merely establishes his own malignity, and whose "calumnious fictions" were inspired by wounded Theban patriotism (Thebes is treated unflatteringly in The Histories).
According to another Plutarch scholar, R. H. Barrow, Herodotus’ real failing in Plutarch’s eyes was to advance any criticism at all of those states that saved Greece from Persia. “Plutarch,” he concluded, “is fanatically biased in favor of the Greek cities; they can do no wrong.”
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
in his On the Malice of Herodotus, with the original title in Greek criticizes the historian Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
for all manner of prejudice and misrepresentation. It has been called the “first instance in literature of the slashing review.” . The 19th century English historian George Grote
George Grote
George Grote was an English classical historian, best known in the field for a major work, the voluminous History of Greece, still read.-Early life:He was born at Clay Hill near Beckenham in Kent...
considered this essay a serious attack upon the works of Herodotus, and speaks of the "honourable frankness which Plutarch calls his malignity." Plutarch makes some palpable hits, catching Herodotus out in various errors, but it is also probable that it was merely a rhetorical exercise, in which Plutarch plays devil's advocate to see what could be said against so favourite and well-known a writer. Some scholars however have dismissed the essay as the work of a Pseudo-Plutarch
Pseudo-Plutarch
Pseudo-Plutarch is the conventional name given to the unknown authors of a number of pseudepigrapha attributed to Plutarch.Some of these works were included in some editions of Plutarch's Moralia...
, "full of the most futile accusations of every kind", in which the author merely establishes his own malignity, and whose "calumnious fictions" were inspired by wounded Theban patriotism (Thebes is treated unflatteringly in The Histories).
According to another Plutarch scholar, R. H. Barrow, Herodotus’ real failing in Plutarch’s eyes was to advance any criticism at all of those states that saved Greece from Persia. “Plutarch,” he concluded, “is fanatically biased in favor of the Greek cities; they can do no wrong.”
External links
- The Malice of Herodotus online: Complete William W. Goodwin translation 1878 in PDF facsimile, plus selections as PDF ebooks and HTML.