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Aristotle and the Politics of Herodotus's History

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2009

Elliot Bartky
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Abstract

In the Poetics, Aristotle criticizes Herodotus by claiming that poetry is more philosophical and more serious than history. Aristotle's remark may be understood as a defense of poetry against Herodotus's attempt to supplant the political teaching of the poets and the wise men. Aristotle aligns poetry with philosophy because the poets' political teaching serves the city at the same time that it anticipates political philosophy. In the second section of the article Herodotus's quarrel with the political teaching of the poets, especially Homer, is considered in light of Aristotle's account of the poets. Approaching Herodotus in this manner underscores the significance, for Aristotle, of the politics of Herodotus's History. The third section of the article begins with a discussion of Herodotus's indebtedness to, and difference from, the pre-Socratic philosophers, and goes on to consider Herodotus's quarrel with the wise men. Herodotus's quarrel with the poets and the wise men provides us with a better idea of why Aristotle sought to associate poetry with philosophy, and distinguish them from history.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Review of Politics , Volume 64 , Issue 3 , Summer 2002 , pp. 445 - 468
Copyright
Copyright © University of Notre Dame 2002

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References

1. Although we believe that Aristotle is serious about the distinction between poetry and history a number of scholars have come to doubt this. Rosenmeyer, Thomas G., “History or Poetry? The Example of Herodotus.” Clio 11 (1982): 239–59Google Scholar, argues that Aristotle's comparison of poetry and history does not establish a rigid distinction but a relative one. To say that poetry is more philosophical and serious than history means neither that poetry is the same as philosophy, nor that history necessarily lacks philosophic or serious content. Michael Davis, in his excellent study of the Poetics, is “suspicious of the absoluteness of the distinction Aristotle is in the midst of formulating between poetry and history.” Histories may “turn out to be poetic” when an historical individual such as Alcibiades represents a type of democracy, and poetry may “turn out to be historical” when the poet makes use of historical figures and events (Davis, , Aristotle's Poetics. [Lanham, MD.: Rowman and Littlefield, 992], p. 57Google Scholar). Davis suggests that Aristotle himself is in a sense both poetic and historical as he incorporates both myths and past events in his treatises.

2. Many scholars reject Aristotle's depiction of Herodotus and accept that Herodotus's History is both a well thought out whole, and a text written with future generations in mind. Many follow the assertion in the great commentary by How and Wells that Herodotus's “method was natural to a Greek trained on poetry” (How, W. W. and Wells, J.. A Commentary on Herodotus, 2 vols. [Oxford: Clarendon Press 1991], p. 46Google Scholar). Fornara, Charles W., Herodotus: An Interpretive Essay (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1971), recognizing the literary character of the text, argues that the Histories is both an artistic creation and “didactic-moral” (p. 23).Google Scholar Detlev Fehling goes so far as to say that, in Herodotus, “poetry and truth must be blended not in an arbitrary manner but in accordance with a coherent method. He did nothing less than found a new literary genre” (Fehling, . Herodotus and His ‘Sources’: Citation, Invention and Narrative Art, trans. Howie, J. C. [Leeds: Francis Cairns, 1989], p. 11Google Scholar).

3. Rosen, Stanley, “Herodotus Reconsidered,” in Herodotus: The Histories, eds. Blanco, Walter and Roberts, Jennifer Tolbert. (New York: W. W. Norton and Co., 1992), p. 333Google Scholar.

4. I have used Grene's, David translation of The History (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987Google Scholar).

5. Rosen, , “Herodotus Reconsidered,” p. 336Google Scholar.

6. Aristotle's understanding of the politics of poetry is perhaps not so obvious as Plato's argument with the political teaching of the poets. Aristotle's account of the politics of poetry is most readily found in the Politics, bks.7 and 8. Among the many fine commentaries on the topic are Berns, Laurence, “Aristotle's Poetics,” in Ancient and Moderns, ed. Cropsey, Joseph (New York: Basic Books, 1964Google Scholar); Lord, Carnes, Education and Culture in the Political Thought of Aristotle (Ithaca: Cornell University Press,1982Google Scholar); Salkever, Stephen G., “Tragedy and the Education of the Demos,” in Greek Tragedy and Political Theory, ed. Euben, J. Peter (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986Google Scholar). For an account of the politics of Aristotle's Poetics see Bartky, Elliot, “Plato and the Politics of Aristotle's.” Review of Politics 54 (1992): 589–619CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

7. Mythos has a double meaning. First, in the sense applied here where Aristotle uses it to mean the tragic plot as opposed to a particular incident. Second, mythos is used in the sense of legend, as opposed to logos, or true account.

8. Herodotus's religiosity is a complex matter that has been the subject of much debate. On the one side are those, like How and Wells, Commentary, who argue that he is so influenced by theological concerns that he often fails to comprehend the human cause of an historical event. On the other side, are those who argue that “his theological beliefs about the world's workings are the least important cement to the work” (Lateiner, Donald, The Historical Method of Herodotus [Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1989], p. 226CrossRefGoogle Scholar). Perhaps it is difficult to understand Herodotus's religious nature because we view his understanding of the cause of an event in a modern sense. Since Herodotus is a pre-Socratic thinker it is somewhat puzzling that we should approach him from what might loosely be called an Aristotelian approach to causality.

9. For a different view of Herodotus and Homer see Thompson, Norma, Herodotus and the Origins of the Political Community: Arion's Leap (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1996), pp. 31–35Google Scholar.

10. In the Generation of Animals (756b7) Aristotle derides Herodotus the “mythteller” (mythologos) whose accounts of animal reproduction, he says, resemble the stories of fishermen. In the Rhetoric (1407a39) he cites Herodotus's famous account of the oracles' ambiguous portent to Croesus warning him that a great empire will be destroyed if he goes to war. Aristotle brings in the story of the oracle to exemplify an incorrect style of language that a speaker must avoid; avoid, that is, unless his intent is to be ambiguous. Elsewhere, Aristotle faults Herodotus's telling of past events not because the past is his only concern, but because his story telling too often confounds myth with proper inquiry. Of Aristotle's seven direct, and many more indirect references to Herodotus, the most often heard objection is that Herodotus misapprehends the nature of facts he relates. Regardless of this complaint, Aristotle is certainly cognizant of the poetic-mythic content of the History.

11. Diels, H. and Kranz, W., eds., Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 3 vols. 6th ed. (Berlin 1951)Google Scholar.

12. In antiquity there are weighty opinions doubting the prudence of the wise men. Diogenes Laertius records critical opinions (Lives of Eminent Philosophers, trans. Hicks, R. D.. [Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1959], 1.40Google Scholar). One author he cites regards them only as poets, and another claims they are neither wise, nor philosophers, but merely clever about matters of legislation.

13. Among the ancients, many doubted Thales' practical wisdom. Aristophanes and Plato made light of Thales' alleged practical knowledge; Socrates provided a comic image of Thales that he says “applies to all who spend their lives in philosophy” (Theaetetus 174Google Scholar). In the Politics (1259a6), Aristotle tells a story of Thales that has been taken to mean that he opposed Plato's view and recognized Thales practical wisdom. Yet Aristotle only uses the story to suggest that if the philosopher chose to be interested in practical matters that his knowledge would be useful. The philosophers are not, he says, serious about practical affairs. Moreover, Aristotle even doubts the truth of the story about Thales.

14. See also 2.123 where Herodotus says that the doctrine of metempychosis came from the Egyptians. Herodotus is obviously referring to Pythagoras here but says he will not write down the names of the Greeks who have used the Egyptian myth.

15. Benardete writes that Herodotus makes us think “how much credence we ought to give to Solon” (Benardete, Seth, Herodotean Inquires [The Hague: Martinus Nijoff, 1969], p. 17Google Scholar). Most commentators, however, regard Herodotus as sympathetic to Solon, some going so far as to argue that Herodotus's Solon represents Herodotus's own views. Our argument opposes the common wisdom on this matter. For two excellent views opposed to the one presented here see Thompson, , Herodotus, pp. 14–16; 21–22Google Scholar, and Rosen, , “Herodotus Reconsidered,” pp. 353–55Google Scholar.

16. Lattimore, Richard, “The Wise Advser in Herodotus.” Classical Philology 34 (1939): 34CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

17. Herodotus, as Lattimore argues, presents two types of wise adviser. One is the tragic warner whose advice, typically not to proceed with an action, prior to an impending catastrophe is often ignored. Another is the practical adviser whose advice to take action is sometimes taken and sometimes ignored. In Lattimore's scheme the sages fall into both categories. Since he thinks that Herodotus has no particular interest in the sages he fails to notice that their advice is never followed, even when it is advice of a practical nature.

18. Herodotus adapts this passage from Pindar (Diels, Hermann and Kranz, Walther, Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, 6th ed. [Berlin: Weidmann, 1961], fr. 169Google Scholar).The Cpassage is cited in Plato's Gorgias 484bGoogle Scholar.

19. Thompson argues that Aristotle's opposition to Herodotus is part of his larger argument with the unsystematic approach of the pre-Socratics where “the basic human condition is one of change and instability (Herodotus, p. 11Google Scholar).

20. Saxonhouse, Arlene W., Fear of Diversity: The Birth of Political Science in Ancient Greek Thought (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992)Google Scholar.