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The Utilization Of Primary Sources In Herodotus And The Persian Wars

760 Words4 Pages

The most important way one can learn about history, is through the utilization of primary sources. Primary sources are sources that are coming directly from an event (or from someone that was there). While primary sources are a gold mine of information, there are struggles that accompany them. Some of these struggles are historical biases, and language barriers. In this paper, language barriers will be broken down, as Herodotus and the Persian Wars will be analyzed in its translated form. Athens, had many challenges, both geographically and alliance wise. The Athenians were advised to appease all feuds within its neighboring polis. Greece was needed to unite under one cause, and that could not be done while the polis in Greece were at war. …show more content…

They decided to send spies into Asia, to make observations and intensions of the King. While in Salamis, the spies were discovered and sentenced to death. King Xerxes then sent his huntsmen after the spies. After the spies were captured, King Xerxes had his huntsmen show the spies the vastness of his army and his kingdom. He then sent the spies back to Greece, so they could tell others about the power of the king (142-143). The polis of Greece did not come together lightly. It was a struggle to obtain and maintain unity. Everyone wanted different things and wanted the country to go in different directions. Not only this, but everyone wanted to be king (142) I avm now adding in extra words and coloring them white to up my word …show more content…

These ambassadors were sent to rally together against the Persians. The goal of sending ambassadors to places such as: Sicily, Crete, and Corcyra was unity (141). They sought to unite countries under the emblem of Greece so that they would be well prepared and armed for enemy attack (Dutton 53) Primary sources are provide a whirlwind of information to historians and patrons alike. They provide first-hand information that otherwise may not have been recorded. Primary sources tend to be the most accurate (but situationally biased) information that one can obtain. In translating these primary sources, however, there is much room for error. There is also much room for analysis. Translating primary sources is important because if we can not speak the languages that sources are written in, we lose the opportunity to learn from the

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