My grad-school historiography class had to read The Histories the other day. We all compared Herodotus to the historiographical equivalent of an old man in a rocking chair telling a giant, rambling story.
"And that children is how the Egyptians built the Pyramids" "I thought we were talking about the expansion of the Persian empire." "Ah yes, which reminds about the their attempts to conquer the Scythians, who as you may know live far to the north...." "God damnit, not again."
Like the time I caught the trireme over to Athenai, I needed a new heel for my sandal. To take the trireme cost a drachma, and in those days, drachme had pictures of gold-digging ants on them.
Watching this again. When Herodetus claims to only state what he hears and he draws conclusions, all I couldn think is :he is probably more of an anthropologist than historian
Yo watup, it’s ya boi, Herodotus, coming at ya with another video. And... just heard about that shit with the Spartans, and thought I’d drop my two cents. Like, I don’t know how else to put this, but real talk, Leonidas was always kind of a bitch. Don’t even get me started on Marathon, like, Marathon is a whole other video. But yeah. Anyways. And, so I was in Sparta the other day, and, by the way, I don’t know if you saw it but they got this new kind of bread shit there that’s really good. Great guy I know is in the bread making business and let me tell you that shit is something else. If you’re ever in the area be sure to check it out.
Mark Schwartz, PhD sums Herodotus up perfectly: "Herodotus is more like the world's first blogger than an objective historian... Nobody in their right mind believes everything he says is true."
Bless Herodotus, he made the historical account equivalent of a lumpy pottery mug- not as deliberately structured as later works in the field of history would be, but he Made A Thing successfully and I am extremely proud of him. Also I relate SO hard to starting off with one specific writing project in mind and doing research in an attempt to contextualise it but falling down a research hole so deep I can't leave. How do I join the Herodotus fandom
I created a D&D character that kind of did that. A rogue con artist who decided to do a con as a cleric to swindle rich people out of the spare cash, but ended up doing more research than strictly nessisary for believability, and in the process of over researching, became a real cleric. Dual class character.
Man, imagine hotboxing with Herodotus. The conversations would be so cool. I just have this feeling Herodotus was the most interesting man alive during his time.
He was sent out to a colony, so he must have been an adult, he can't however have been to old for that, so he was probably younger than 60. That already places him at 40±20 years of age. Now add to that, that he was noteworthy enough to be mentionable and that more or less eliminates at least 10 years from his earlier years, probably more. This way you roughly get 40 years of age.
@@mysticnovelbro It is called Overly Sarcastic Productions after all. Interpretation is not a skill exactly relevant to the job this channel is meant to provide. That's the experts and your job.
@@mysticnovelbro Except interpretation is something he did later this very video with the anecdote about Solon. He recognizes that the conversation was impossible, then either interpreted himself or used other historians interpretations without complaint, meaning he likely had a genuine complaint with the logic of the 40 years old interpretation.
@@Great_Olaf5 just putting this out there - no he didn't, and i don't appreciate people hitting me up over a year after the fact to lie and make excuses for OSP when he's already been outed for this multiple times
*Entire Greek Literary/Mythical/Religious Tradition* : -"Hey, watch out for hubris, it'll get ya!" *Every Greek Monarch/Statesman ever * -"Not me fam"-Proceeds to get got by hubris
It clashes with their high regard to hysterophemia, (if I wrote that correctly in english) that is to say their after-fame/legacy. I am sure if you told Pericles that he would die and Athens would be defeated, but his works and speech would still stand and be known around the world 2500 years later and if you told Alexander that he would die at 32 and his empire would collapse soon enough but he would be one of the most influential personalities in world history they both would be like: "Worth it."
If we're making suggestions, how about a video on Ibn Khaldun: the most influential historian of the Islamic Golden Age, also famous as an early economist and the "Father of Sociology."
RE: including mythical creatures: At the time he would have had no way to determine what creatures he's told about are or aren't mythical. He didn't have our modern luxury of assuming any creature without scientific evidence isn't real. Also, there are plenty of modern stories of dolphins saving people.
About Gold hoarding Griffins So most gold mines in the ancient ages were also filled with dinosaur fossils such as the ceratopsian species which to Ancient Man would look like a weird bird headed loin skeleton i.e. a Griffin
Herodotus is definitely my favorite ancient writer. Everything Blue says is true, but the stories AND the digressions, the whole thing is an absolute banger of a read!
3:28, small correction, Darius wasn't Cambyses' son. iirc he was a General within the Persian Military that overthrew Cambyses' Brother, Bardiya. He later changed the story to show that he was not a usurper to the Persian throne and claimed that Cambyses killed Bardiya and a pretender pretending to be Bardiya took the throne, after which Darius took the throne for himself in a coup. Edit: Bardiya was Cambyses' brother, not son.
In the Herodotus account, both the imposter and the real king are called Smerdis. Only Persian sources make the distinction between Bardiya and Gaumata, the imposter.
Herodotus is that one friend who you originally invited over to help you with your history homework, but then mid-conversation, he WILDLY veers off into what his friend did that week. Or what he ate on his last trip. Or this cool story idea his sister had. The man is a tangent master.
5:09 - I suspect a bigger reason his peers didn't like him was because he didn't go full propaganda "Greece rules, everyone else drools!" so they minimized his contributions. Objective documentation wasn't exactly a priority back then (or even now ¬_¬). 8:44 - Don't hatchet your counts before they chicken.
@@davidlathrop9360 Golden Eagles maybe? They're quite large, very bold (even Honey Badgers are afraid of these things), and have top class flight speeds that rival the peregrine falcon.
Blue's excitement and love of history is great, and I'm glad I found this channel. I learn so much more now. I actually want to become an archeologist because of all the learning! So thanks!
*school bell ringing* Me: *turning on my Phone* *Overly Sarcastic Productions YT Alarm goes off* Me: ಠ_ಠ 4 real now?... literally my last class was history...
Since I happen to be quite early I would like to suggest a video on the Scythians. It's an ancient culture that I personally don't feel like gets enough credit despite being credited with the invention of the composite bow. Edit: hey look at that you even reference them in this one!
Herodotus describes them as winning against persia by just moving. Essential if your entire city is a wagon train you cant get conquered, hence the name for it being the Scythian Defense. (Run away waiting for a good counter attack) its better than i described
I've been a subscriber for like 3 years I just wanted to say congrats on the 1 million subs!! This channel deserves it so much. Thank you Blue and Red!!!
King cambysis the mad was succeeded by his "brother" bardyia who ruled for several months before being overthrown and killed by king Darius who was an important local lord who claimed that bardyia was actually garmata an impostor however it is debated on whether or not he was imposter That's a pretty big glaring mistake
I was looking for this comment! I wouldn't say its a big mistake relative to the rest of the video (which is about Herodotus and not the politics of the Achaemenid empire) but it is a glaring one if you have learned a lot about that time period
@@Ben-ph4pe This is just one i caught the question is how many did i not catch and how much of this is incorrect information that's the problem it throws into question the entire validity of the video
@@shadymerchant1198 I mean he is just... summarizing a book. You can just read it if you want to find out how accurate this video is, and as someone who just read it for a history class I can say that Blue's slip up about Darius is the only error I see.
Egyptian historical accounts makes the entire story of the "mad" king Cambysis, which was written in giant text on a mountainside by darius, the guy who likely killed Cambysis and confesses to having killed Bardyia, excuse me, the shape shifting sorcerer Garmata in said giant inscription, rather suspect. One of Cambysis' supposed big oofs that got him the title of "mad king" was the killing of a sacred bull during an egyptian religious ceremony. The egyptian accounts, only readable since the translation of hieroglyphics, recounts him as having fulfilled his royal duties during the ceremony, not as having committed sacrilege by killing the bull. The Egyptians, taking both their religious ceremonies and the recording of anything important to them rather seriously, are unlikely to have failed in recording such a fuck up. Most likely either Cambysis died unexpectedly or Darius, Cambysis' cup bearer at the time of his death, murdered him and then went back home and led a group of nobles in a successful coup against Cambysis' brother. Then Darius made up the lie about Bardyia having been murdered in complete secrecy by Cambysis, more "proof" of his madness, and having been replaced by a shape shifting sorcerer, Garmata, while Cambysis was away with no one the wiser. A textbook example of a coup followed by the fabrication of circumstances that *obviously* means that it wasn't *really* a coup. Poor Darius was just doing the right thing. Honestly.
I remember having a seminar on the greco-persian war and our lecturer was like: I have some good news and some bad news for you. The good news are that because there are basically no other authors on this topic we pretty much only need to read one book. The bad news are that we have to read Herodotus....
we have studied this in the equivelant of 3rd grade here in greece. most dont remember shit. however i was a huuuuuuge nerd and i remembered some of the stuff in the video. as a stem undergrad i really really enjoy having a subject i dont have to study in depth to be explained to me. thank you for the content and the effort and oddly enough the nostalgia for one old subject!!!
@@JakaVerdnik Plato made up Atlantis and Herodotus died while Plato was still a toddler, if not a fetus. There's no way Herodotus would have ever even heard about Atlantis.
This is great as I’m studying Herodotus in my first term at University. I will probably have contributed to half the views this video gets by the time the term is over so...yay? Cheers Blue for an incredibly insightful video as per usual; your history maker series has actually been *Chef’s kiss* so far!
I think Herodotus might have had ADD, just based on the tangential structure of his writings, mostly because I have ADD and I definitely write in a similar manner when it comes to shifting back and forth between topics
These classes should be taught in school - I sort of care about the topics but I learn so much from the fast paced and witty commentary that I find myself going through the whole playlist because it is fun to learn - what a crazy idea. Thanks for doing these videos. You guys/girls are awesome
OH some paleontologists have attributed the griffins and cyclopes to ancient fossils of triceratops(or in this case a distant cousin to the triceratops) and elephant skulls found in the region! Triceratops because if the bone from their shield like trills on their face broke seemed like wings and the rest of a triceratops then looks like a quadruped with a bird beak face! and elephant skulls were thought to have been primarily mistaken for cyclops skulls. The traders in the area were thought to have seen the bones while traveling and thought of those mythical creatures because of it. Of coarse not much evidence historically confirms this other than the existence of the bones found near the roads and areas these stories are said to have come from!
You are gonna eventually talk about Thucydides, right? 20 years of super detailed facts and the way that he bases the year in a way that people in the future can trace is pretty cool.
The idea of a dolphin helping a man struggling in the open ocean to get to land is one that's well known in most fishing cultures that have contact with dolphins. I doubt he rode the thing's back while playing the lyre, but I could definitely see it helping him to the nearest island or shore!
Herodotus first indented to write a travel guide; now it all makes sense. The Histories written by Herodotus feel like many travel logs and travel brochures compiled together.
Oh god (Zeus?) I *love* this series!! Looking forward to my favorite Thucydides (the first "scientist" historian), and Xenophon (the most badass historian).
Interesting thing with griffins, there's some theories that the idea was partially inspired by protoceratops fossils, which do look a lot like a lion/bird hybrid. They are often found in central asia, and particularly the Gobi, and some think that traders and prospectors connected them with the gold they were in search of. Though this theory does ignore the initial conception of the griffin in the Levant, I don't think its unreasonable to think that stories of bird-beasts guarding gold would have synchronized with the earlier griffin legends
One thing got skipped over, and I don't understand why: Herodotus' organizational structure. It's a mess to US, but he was among the first to break from the older narrative structures, and one of the more comprehensive. It's one of the reasons the work survived so well. Case in point, check out the prior "history" accounts (at least the ones we're aware of). The Epic of Gilgamesh is a classic example of pre-Hellenic history. Same with the Persian accounts. The prologue is the moral of the story, followed by the resolution, which is given the tie-in to the beginning of the story, and then you get the denument so that you know what's happening. Then, only THEN, do most of those old accounts actually tell you the details of the narrative. It's a MESS that make The Histories look like a perfectly chronological structure. For easily-accessed examples, you can just read the Book of Judges in the Tenakh, or Old Testament. Regardless of your religious affiliations, that book closely follows the old structure, and trying to put it together chronologically is an exercise in academic frustration.
You know it's funny I have been subscribed for 5 years now and the only reason I found this channel is because I forgot to study for my English exam on mecbeth and thanks to this channel I have read so many book I never even knew existed and ever time a video drops I watch almost instantly and then search for the original story's and I love history and mythology more then I ever thought I could do thank u
Well done guys congrats you have 999k subscribers so close to the 1 million!!!! I love how big your channel as grown I remember getting excited when you guys reached 500k. Amazing videos it will be interesting if you guys do anything to celebrate the million subscribers.
Fun fact for my fellow nerds, I just read a book that theorized that the gold hoarding griffins were based on protoceratops fossils. The book is called "The First Fossil Hunters" by Adrienne Mayor :3
3:24 "Man, I love disrespecting foreign cultures almost as much as I love killing my own subjects" Unfortunately, there is _zero_ evidence to support that. Contemporary Egyptian sources say that Cambyses actually did respect Egyptian cultural traditions and there is nothing to support the story of him killing the Apis bull. 8:48 Personally, I prefer the story of how Croesus consulted the Delphic Oracle as to whether or not he should attack Persia. Upon receiving the reply of "If you go to war with Persia, a great kingdom will be destroyed", he attacked... and promptly got his arse kicked in every possible way. With Cyrus' permission, he then sent a message to Delphi which basically amounted to "Dude, what the hell?" to which the Oracle replied "Hey, we never said _which_ great kingdom would be destroyed. It's not our fault that you didn't pay attention." 9:13 It's also far from the only scene in which Herodotus inserted made-up dialogue to keep things interesting
THIS VIDEO COULD NOT COME AT A BETTER TIME I’m a history major and one of our required courses is Historian’s craft which is basically the history of History and I’m taking it this semester and we just talked about Herodotus.
Um, actually.....you rock thank you for the very interesting history. The times I always am drawn to. Also, big shout-out for using maps and giving the dates, making it way easier to consume and comprehend. You make it fun to do history!
Considering the measurement and travel technologies available at the time, I think it was pretty impressive. "Eastern Ethiopians" did make me chuckle though.
Dominick Desalvo Back then 'Ethiopians' was basically the term for black people in Greece, and they must have known that the inhabitants of southern India were pretty dark. I think even some old myths placed Ethiopia in the distant east, rather than in Africa. That was, after all, where the sun rose from, and it being so close to the ground would make the natives dark-skinned (I think that was the reasoning).
I respect this guy for putting down all he was told, even if he didn’t believe it. Gives valuable insight into the beliefs of the everyday citizens in the areas he visited, recording their folklore to be preserved. Nice
Herodotus is so fun. being able to read the anecdotes told by people long ago is a real treasure to behold, regardless of the legitimacy. it provides a lot of fun and unique insight into, you know, what you'd hear chatting up a traveler at the bar who came from somewhere you've never visited. good shit. but yeah structural nightmare I remember lifting the book up in college and being like ohhh god this is a lot.
“Look man, I don’t know if any of this shit is true or not, I’m just telling y’all what I heard.”
-Herodotus
You gotta appreciate the honesty!
Jason Doe facts
LMAO
Wow, Herodotus was the Internet before the Internet.
Truth
My grad-school historiography class had to read The Histories the other day. We all compared Herodotus to the historiographical equivalent of an old man in a rocking chair telling a giant, rambling story.
"And that children is how the Egyptians built the Pyramids"
"I thought we were talking about the expansion of the Persian empire."
"Ah yes, which reminds about the their attempts to conquer the Scythians, who as you may know live far to the north...."
"God damnit, not again."
@@merrittanimation7721 *Gods
“back in my day a bard was thrown out of a ship and was rescued by doplhins”
Like the time I caught the trireme over to Athenai, I needed a new heel for my sandal. To take the trireme cost a drachma, and in those days, drachme had pictures of gold-digging ants on them.
the important thing was, I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time
Herodotus: the definition of “he’s a little confused be he’s got the right idea”
Watching this again. When Herodetus claims to only state what he hears and he draws conclusions, all I couldn think is :he is probably more of an anthropologist than historian
@@nitesy381 I came to the comments to say the exact same thing. Definitely a cultural anthropologist rather than a straight up historian.
He a bit befuddled, but he's got the gist.
If Herodotus were alive today, I have a feeling he'd be a vlogger.
why is this so funny to me
Yo watup, it’s ya boi, Herodotus, coming at ya with another video. And... just heard about that shit with the Spartans, and thought I’d drop my two cents. Like, I don’t know how else to put this, but real talk, Leonidas was always kind of a bitch. Don’t even get me started on Marathon, like, Marathon is a whole other video. But yeah. Anyways. And, so I was in Sparta the other day, and, by the way, I don’t know if you saw it but they got this new kind of bread shit there that’s really good. Great guy I know is in the bread making business and let me tell you that shit is something else. If you’re ever in the area be sure to check it out.
Imagine a historian version of vsauce.
Or a shitposter.
@@Theringodair
the difference?
In conclusion that's why Herodotus is on your boat in Assassins creed Odyssey
😂😂😂😂
I also like that blue usses the ac:odyssey ost.
*tries to take control of the Adrestia and accidentally interacts with Herodotus*
"There's much to do; and many unknowns on the horizon"
Ya
Hahahaha didn't think About that ^^ Sure, makes sense!
Mark Schwartz, PhD sums Herodotus up perfectly: "Herodotus is more like the world's first blogger than an objective historian... Nobody in their right mind believes everything he says is true."
That is true statement
Bless Herodotus, he made the historical account equivalent of a lumpy pottery mug- not as deliberately structured as later works in the field of history would be, but he Made A Thing successfully and I am extremely proud of him. Also I relate SO hard to starting off with one specific writing project in mind and doing research in an attempt to contextualise it but falling down a research hole so deep I can't leave. How do I join the Herodotus fandom
That reminds me of CGP Gray's recent videos on Staten Island.
I created a D&D character that kind of did that. A rogue con artist who decided to do a con as a cleric to swindle rich people out of the spare cash, but ended up doing more research than strictly nessisary for believability, and in the process of over researching, became a real cleric. Dual class character.
@@Krahazik Reminds me of that metal band that was trying to shit on Catholicism and they researched Catholicism so much they converted
So basically Herodotus is that guy who just cannot stick to one story in parties, but is just so good and knowledgeable you let him talk.
Basically how my students see me in class.
Man, imagine hotboxing with Herodotus. The conversations would be so cool.
I just have this feeling Herodotus was the most interesting man alive during his time.
Alcibiades would like to know your location.
@@Lord_Of_Night yeah he can stay away. I don’t need to wake up hungover and sticky.
OSP: *uploads literally anything at literally any time*
Me: I am speed.
"Since he was sent out toi a colony he must've been about 40 years old" wait... I feel like there are a lot of crucial clarifications necessary.
He was sent out to a colony, so he must have been an adult, he can't however have been to old for that, so he was probably younger than 60. That already places him at 40±20 years of age. Now add to that, that he was noteworthy enough to be mentionable and that more or less eliminates at least 10 years from his earlier years, probably more. This way you roughly get 40 years of age.
Interpretation is a skill that OSP has yet to learn about. The guesswork and conjecture just gets worse the more you see him do videos.
@@mysticnovelbro It is called Overly Sarcastic Productions after all. Interpretation is not a skill exactly relevant to the job this channel is meant to provide. That's the experts and your job.
@@mysticnovelbro Except interpretation is something he did later this very video with the anecdote about Solon. He recognizes that the conversation was impossible, then either interpreted himself or used other historians interpretations without complaint, meaning he likely had a genuine complaint with the logic of the 40 years old interpretation.
@@Great_Olaf5 just putting this out there - no he didn't, and i don't appreciate people hitting me up over a year after the fact to lie and make excuses for OSP when he's already been outed for this multiple times
“Herodotus is an infamous liar and goes on long rambling tangents seemingly at random.”
Me: so he’s the og lemony snickett.
"'Og' here meaning original which it is a shortened form of." - Lemony Snicket, probably
*Entire Greek Literary/Mythical/Religious Tradition* :
-"Hey, watch out for hubris, it'll get ya!"
*Every Greek Monarch/Statesman ever
*
-"Not me fam"-Proceeds to get got by hubris
It clashes with their high regard to hysterophemia, (if I wrote that correctly in english) that is to say their after-fame/legacy. I am sure if you told Pericles that he would die and Athens would be defeated, but his works and speech would still stand and be known around the world 2500 years later and if you told Alexander that he would die at 32 and his empire would collapse soon enough but he would be one of the most influential personalities in world history they both would be like:
"Worth it."
"rip to them but I'm different-" *dies*
I really love Herodotus' writing style, the way he goes on off tangents and answers any lil questions I might have is something I am thankful for
If we're making suggestions, how about a video on Ibn Khaldun: the most influential historian of the Islamic Golden Age, also famous as an early economist and the "Father of Sociology."
Huey? Is that you?
How is being a ghost?Are you still bored?
Yeah, I'm sure he'll get to Ibn Khaldun. Also undoubtedly Sima Qian. I mean, dude gave up his balls for history. Literally.
Sima Qin perhaps or maybe even Ibn Battuta though technically he wasn't a historian.
The things I would do to hear a series on the Islamic Golden Age
RE: including mythical creatures: At the time he would have had no way to determine what creatures he's told about are or aren't mythical. He didn't have our modern luxury of assuming any creature without scientific evidence isn't real.
Also, there are plenty of modern stories of dolphins saving people.
About Gold hoarding Griffins
So most gold mines in the ancient ages were also filled with dinosaur fossils such as the ceratopsian species which to Ancient Man would look like a weird bird headed loin skeleton i.e. a Griffin
Herodotus is definitely my favorite ancient writer. Everything Blue says is true, but the stories AND the digressions, the whole thing is an absolute banger of a read!
3:28, small correction, Darius wasn't Cambyses' son. iirc he was a General within the Persian Military that overthrew Cambyses' Brother, Bardiya. He later changed the story to show that he was not a usurper to the Persian throne and claimed that Cambyses killed Bardiya and a pretender pretending to be Bardiya took the throne, after which Darius took the throne for himself in a coup.
Edit: Bardiya was Cambyses' brother, not son.
In the Herodotus account, both the imposter and the real king are called Smerdis. Only Persian sources make the distinction between Bardiya and Gaumata, the imposter.
Herodotus is that one friend who you originally invited over to help you with your history homework, but then mid-conversation, he WILDLY veers off into what his friend did that week. Or what he ate on his last trip. Or this cool story idea his sister had.
The man is a tangent master.
There is much to do and many unknowns on the horizon
Yay new video.... but I have school in like 5 minutes
I just came from school
NERDS!
Good luck, dude
Yay new video.... but I should really be asleep right now
It is 4:09 PM why are you going to school now it started 8 hours ago.
5:09 - I suspect a bigger reason his peers didn't like him was because he didn't go full propaganda "Greece rules, everyone else drools!" so they minimized his contributions. Objective documentation wasn't exactly a priority back then (or even now ¬_¬).
8:44 - Don't hatchet your counts before they chicken.
Well said
Just home from school and this comes up with the Odyssey music in the background... bliss
"gold hoarding griffins"
they're magpies
even worse, exaggerated magpies
Exaggerated magpies? so.... magpies in Australia in spring?
Oh shit you’re right!
@Lance Bermudez I was going to suggest this, and there it is.
@@davidlathrop9360 Golden Eagles maybe? They're quite large, very bold (even Honey Badgers are afraid of these things), and have top class flight speeds that rival the peregrine falcon.
I had to read Herodotus in my classics class for a semester. It was my favorite class and textbook along with Livy. Thank you for making this video.
Blue: How many tangents do you go on in this book!?
Herodotus: ALL
That was Age of Mythology music in the background! Where I learned so much of my history and myths as a kid. Awesome game :)
The first Historian! Also, fifth.
y tho
Hey did you use some kind of character creator to make that profile picture or is it drawn?
@@kazzajaxon7566 Honey I wish it was drawn, it's a doll-thing a friend of mine showed me a while ago.
Blue's excitement and love of history is great, and I'm glad I found this channel. I learn so much more now. I actually want to become an archeologist because of all the learning! So thanks!
*school bell ringing*
Me: *turning on my Phone*
*Overly Sarcastic Productions YT Alarm goes off*
Me: ಠ_ಠ 4 real now?... literally my last class was history...
Ah, Herodotus. I always take him with a grain of salt.
If we're talking about historians, I'd love to hear your takes on Plutarch and or Thucydides.
Gaby Gibson dont do herodotus like that 😔😔
Don’t forget about how he traveled around with a legendary mercenary with a magic spear.
Spear of Leonidas
And the one true demigod amongst the pretenders
Sparta: "You're welcome for saving your butts at Thermopylae."
Athens: "Yeah, by losing."
Since I happen to be quite early I would like to suggest a video on the Scythians. It's an ancient culture that I personally don't feel like gets enough credit despite being credited with the invention of the composite bow.
Edit: hey look at that you even reference them in this one!
Herodotus describes them as winning against persia by just moving. Essential if your entire city is a wagon train you cant get conquered, hence the name for it being the Scythian Defense. (Run away waiting for a good counter attack) its better than i described
His book is literally one of the most entertaining things I've ever read. The part about Egypt is fascinating.
Me: so Herodotus is the Rick Steves of the ancient Mediterranean?
Blue: Makes a Rick Steves reference immediately after I thought that.
Me: 😎
I was searching for this comment haha! Fellow Rick Steves fan! I've got his travel bag and it's held up over several years lol!
I've been a subscriber for like 3 years I just wanted to say congrats on the 1 million subs!! This channel deserves it so much. Thank you Blue and Red!!!
We just started our reading of Herodotus in Greek class so perfect timing, Blue!
Modern image of ancient Greeks: wise, learned, insightful
Herodotus: Dude, the Scythians have the best dope money can buy, I swear. This one time...
Video: is out for 6 minutes
Video: has 45 comments
Me: [confused screaming]
I love how history themed channels like OSP Kings and generals, Historia civilis, History buffs and others like that have such a good like ratio
Hey @Blue - greetings from Venice! All museum discriptions sound like your voice in my head...
That comment about "get on their level" is perfect.
Um actually.....
I am a smartass, not sorry Blue
Ahh yes a man of asshole history
@Dimitrije6500 :D r/asshole
@Dimitrije6500 :D r/ihavereddit
Dimitrije6500 :D r/Smileyface:D
Ha. I was looking for this comment.
I’m I the only one that feels so relaxed when listening to his voice?
King cambysis the mad was succeeded by his "brother" bardyia who ruled for several months before being overthrown and killed by king Darius who was an important local lord who claimed that bardyia was actually garmata an impostor however it is debated on whether or not he was imposter
That's a pretty big glaring mistake
I was looking for this comment! I wouldn't say its a big mistake relative to the rest of the video (which is about Herodotus and not the politics of the Achaemenid empire) but it is a glaring one if you have learned a lot about that time period
@@Ben-ph4pe This is just one i caught the question is how many did i not catch and how much of this is incorrect information that's the problem it throws into question the entire validity of the video
@@shadymerchant1198 I mean he is just... summarizing a book. You can just read it if you want to find out how accurate this video is, and as someone who just read it for a history class I can say that Blue's slip up about Darius is the only error I see.
Egyptian historical accounts makes the entire story of the "mad" king Cambysis, which was written in giant text on a mountainside by darius, the guy who likely killed Cambysis and confesses to having killed Bardyia, excuse me, the shape shifting sorcerer Garmata in said giant inscription, rather suspect.
One of Cambysis' supposed big oofs that got him the title of "mad king" was the killing of a sacred bull during an egyptian religious ceremony. The egyptian accounts, only readable since the translation of hieroglyphics, recounts him as having fulfilled his royal duties during the ceremony, not as having committed sacrilege by killing the bull. The Egyptians, taking both their religious ceremonies and the recording of anything important to them rather seriously, are unlikely to have failed in recording such a fuck up.
Most likely either Cambysis died unexpectedly or Darius, Cambysis' cup bearer at the time of his death, murdered him and then went back home and led a group of nobles in a successful coup against Cambysis' brother.
Then Darius made up the lie about Bardyia having been murdered in complete secrecy by Cambysis, more "proof" of his madness, and having been replaced by a shape shifting sorcerer, Garmata, while Cambysis was away with no one the wiser.
A textbook example of a coup followed by the fabrication of circumstances that *obviously* means that it wasn't *really* a coup. Poor Darius was just doing the right thing. Honestly.
OMG you're SOOO close to 1 million. Wish you guys the best 😁
I remember having a seminar on the greco-persian war and our lecturer was like: I have some good news and some bad news for you. The good news are that because there are basically no other authors on this topic we pretty much only need to read one book. The bad news are that we have to read Herodotus....
thank you for getting me on to "The Great Courses". Ive really enjoyed the classes so far, especially about Herodotus.
10:18
Tom Holland? So now he's giving spoilers translated from Greek. Sounds like him.
999k subs, damn we close woooo. You deserve it, the two bestest animated educators on the Internet for sure
Guys your uploading so frequently, thank you so much your wonderful and I love your vids
we have studied this in the equivelant of 3rd grade here in greece. most dont remember shit. however i was a huuuuuuge nerd and i remembered some of the stuff in the video. as a stem undergrad i really really enjoy having a subject i dont have to study in depth to be explained to me. thank you for the content and the effort and oddly enough the nostalgia for one old subject!!!
2:13 is anyone going to question why did Herodotus put Atlantis in Africa?
The "Atlantes" on the map is not referring to Atlantis, but rather the Atlas Mountains located in Morocco.
There's videos on youtube saying the Eye of Sahara in that area was the city of Atlantis, check them out and decide for yourself.
@@JakaVerdnik Highly unlikely, considering Atlantis was a made up framing device for a story about morals and Athenian superiority.
@@JakaVerdnik Plato made up Atlantis and Herodotus died while Plato was still a toddler, if not a fetus. There's no way Herodotus would have ever even heard about Atlantis.
I was about to write exactly the same thing as Porkadillo
Please, please, Please, finish The Monkey King? It made me fall in love with your guys videos
Hey don't rush it will come soon
Should someone tell red that BRIAN BLESSED is going to be in a video game
BRIAN BLESSED!?!?!!
BRIAN BLESSED !!!!
What game. What game?
Total war Warhammer 2. The new dlc comin out
GOTREK'S ALIVE!!!
This is great as I’m studying Herodotus in my first term at University. I will probably have contributed to half the views this video gets by the time the term is over so...yay?
Cheers Blue for an incredibly insightful video as per usual; your history maker series has actually been *Chef’s kiss* so far!
I think Herodotus might have had ADD, just based on the tangential structure of his writings, mostly because I have ADD and I definitely write in a similar manner when it comes to shifting back and forth between topics
These classes should be taught in school - I sort of care about the topics but I learn so much from the fast paced and witty commentary that I find myself going through the whole playlist because it is fun to learn - what a crazy idea. Thanks for doing these videos. You guys/girls are awesome
I thought Kronk's picture would show up when he said "Oh yeah, it's all coming together" but I still got the reference ayyyy
I remember learning about Herodotus and using him as a source in an Ancient history course on Persia, from Cyrus to Xerxes, it was great.
OH some paleontologists have attributed the griffins and cyclopes to ancient fossils of triceratops(or in this case a distant cousin to the triceratops) and elephant skulls found in the region! Triceratops because if the bone from their shield like trills on their face broke seemed like wings and the rest of a triceratops then looks like a quadruped with a bird beak face! and elephant skulls were thought to have been primarily mistaken for cyclops skulls. The traders in the area were thought to have seen the bones while traveling and thought of those mythical creatures because of it. Of coarse not much evidence historically confirms this other than the existence of the bones found near the roads and areas these stories are said to have come from!
You are gonna eventually talk about Thucydides, right? 20 years of super detailed facts and the way that he bases the year in a way that people in the future can trace is pretty cool.
The idea of a dolphin helping a man struggling in the open ocean to get to land is one that's well known in most fishing cultures that have contact with dolphins. I doubt he rode the thing's back while playing the lyre, but I could definitely see it helping him to the nearest island or shore!
Dolphins have been known to rescue humans from shark attacks, so that story with the robbery at sea could have happened
Friends: "So, historical revisionism seems really popular these days. Where do you think it all began?"
Me: "...HerodotuuuuUUUUUUS!!!!"
Herodotus first indented to write a travel guide; now it all makes sense. The Histories written by Herodotus feel like many travel logs and travel brochures compiled together.
Oh god (Zeus?) I *love* this series!!
Looking forward to my favorite Thucydides (the first "scientist" historian), and Xenophon (the most badass historian).
I remember first reading Herodotus as a teenager. I loved it.
Interesting thing with griffins, there's some theories that the idea was partially inspired by protoceratops fossils, which do look a lot like a lion/bird hybrid. They are often found in central asia, and particularly the Gobi, and some think that traders and prospectors connected them with the gold they were in search of. Though this theory does ignore the initial conception of the griffin in the Levant, I don't think its unreasonable to think that stories of bird-beasts guarding gold would have synchronized with the earlier griffin legends
Yay! New history makers! Love this series Blue!
Age of Mythology music plays will he talks about the sponsor.
My Brain: OOOOOOwwwwww, the nostalgia.
One thing got skipped over, and I don't understand why: Herodotus' organizational structure.
It's a mess to US, but he was among the first to break from the older narrative structures, and one of the more comprehensive. It's one of the reasons the work survived so well.
Case in point, check out the prior "history" accounts (at least the ones we're aware of). The Epic of Gilgamesh is a classic example of pre-Hellenic history. Same with the Persian accounts. The prologue is the moral of the story, followed by the resolution, which is given the tie-in to the beginning of the story, and then you get the denument so that you know what's happening. Then, only THEN, do most of those old accounts actually tell you the details of the narrative. It's a MESS that make The Histories look like a perfectly chronological structure.
For easily-accessed examples, you can just read the Book of Judges in the Tenakh, or Old Testament. Regardless of your religious affiliations, that book closely follows the old structure, and trying to put it together chronologically is an exercise in academic frustration.
"Cambyses' son, Darius"
Not to be pedantic, but I beg your pardon?
@Shirley Timple Go fuck yourself.
Go fondle your dongle
@Shirley Timple I don't understand what is happening
@@lolgamez9171 I dared to criticise, however meekly. Therefore I am now anathema. Because humanity.
In less pompous terms, these people are butthurt.
You know it's funny I have been subscribed for 5 years now and the only reason I found this channel is because I forgot to study for my English exam on mecbeth and thanks to this channel I have read so many book I never even knew existed and ever time a video drops I watch almost instantly and then search for the original story's and I love history and mythology more then I ever thought I could do thank u
The podcast "Hardcore History" describes Herodotus as a screenwriter: he cares more about telling a good story than being 100% accurate
Happy 1M subscribers Red and Blue!!!
“Historians often date him-“
Herodotus is a player
Well done guys congrats you have 999k subscribers so close to the 1 million!!!! I love how big your channel as grown I remember getting excited when you guys reached 500k. Amazing videos it will be interesting if you guys do anything to celebrate the million subscribers.
"There is much to do, and many unknowns on the horizon."
Fun fact for my fellow nerds, I just read a book that theorized that the gold hoarding griffins were based on protoceratops fossils. The book is called "The First Fossil Hunters" by Adrienne Mayor :3
Boi new vid also your almost at 1 million yay
I’m so happy to see this Chanel hit 1,000,000
Huh. So the man's reputation could have been preserved perfectly so long as he had an actually good editor.
3:24 "Man, I love disrespecting foreign cultures almost as much as I love killing my own subjects" Unfortunately, there is _zero_ evidence to support that. Contemporary Egyptian sources say that Cambyses actually did respect Egyptian cultural traditions and there is nothing to support the story of him killing the Apis bull.
8:48 Personally, I prefer the story of how Croesus consulted the Delphic Oracle as to whether or not he should attack Persia. Upon receiving the reply of "If you go to war with Persia, a great kingdom will be destroyed", he attacked... and promptly got his arse kicked in every possible way. With Cyrus' permission, he then sent a message to Delphi which basically amounted to "Dude, what the hell?" to which the Oracle replied "Hey, we never said _which_ great kingdom would be destroyed. It's not our fault that you didn't pay attention."
9:13 It's also far from the only scene in which Herodotus inserted made-up dialogue to keep things interesting
We read chunks of Heroditus in my Mythology class, I loved it. Could he be considered an ancient Hunter S Thompson?
THIS VIDEO COULD NOT COME AT A BETTER TIME
I’m a history major and one of our required courses is Historian’s craft which is basically the history of History and I’m taking it this semester and we just talked about Herodotus.
Yeah! I'm currently studying Herodotus' work for Greek literature.
OwO
Um, actually.....you rock thank you for the very interesting history. The times I always am drawn to. Also, big shout-out for using maps and giving the dates, making it way easier to consume and comprehend. You make it fun to do history!
Blue read a what we call a messy. In my case the book was War and Peace poorly translated to Arabic. Please don't make any Um...Actually comments.
I????
Cool video. Could you do Gregory of Tours next? He wrote "The History of the Franks" and we're learning about him in a Medieval class.
Definition of “never let the facts get in the way of a good story.”
You're so close to 1 million! It kinda suck that we can't see it go past in real time, but seeing the 999k on your subscriber count is awesome!
Oh great....now I gotta read another pondering ancient narrative.
Thanks Herodotus.
The BGM while talking about "hotboxing with the Scythians" was great. Good choice.
That "surprisingly accurate map" had me pause and snicker.
Considering the measurement and travel technologies available at the time, I think it was pretty impressive.
"Eastern Ethiopians" did make me chuckle though.
Dominick Desalvo Back then 'Ethiopians' was basically the term for black people in Greece, and they must have known that the inhabitants of southern India were pretty dark. I think even some old myths placed Ethiopia in the distant east, rather than in Africa. That was, after all, where the sun rose from, and it being so close to the ground would make the natives dark-skinned (I think that was the reasoning).
I respect this guy for putting down all he was told, even if he didn’t believe it. Gives valuable insight into the beliefs of the everyday citizens in the areas he visited, recording their folklore to be preserved. Nice
Last time I was this early Rome was still standing, holy f-
Herodotus is so fun. being able to read the anecdotes told by people long ago is a real treasure to behold, regardless of the legitimacy. it provides a lot of fun and unique insight into, you know, what you'd hear chatting up a traveler at the bar who came from somewhere you've never visited. good shit. but yeah structural nightmare I remember lifting the book up in college and being like ohhh god this is a lot.