Herodotus: The Father of History | The Victory of Greece (Lecture 19)

Lecture 19: In this lecture, we turn to three more crucial battles, Salamis, Plataea, and Mycale, and to the final siege of Sestos, which brought Xerxes’ campaign against Greece to its end. The lecture concentrates on Herodotus’ account of the events leading up to the Battle of Salamis. We begin by discussing Xerxes’ actions after Thermopylae and Artemisium and the implications for Athens and the other Greek poleis.

The lecture discusses the divergence between Herodotus’ account and that of the Troezen Decree and the implications for our evaluation of Herodotus’ accuracy. After sketching the Battle of Salamis itself and touching briefly on the account of it in Aeschylus’ tragedy The Persians, we look quickly at the last two important battles of the Persian Wars, the Battles of Plataea and Mycale. Finally, the lecture discusses the Athenian siege of Sestos and Herodotus’ use of Artaÿctes to reintroduce Cyrus the Great in the final chapter of the Histories.

Essential Reading:
Herodotus, Books VIII.40–IX.

Supplementary Reading:
Aeschylus, The Persians.
Cambridge Ancient History, pp. 569–622.
Green, Greco-Persian Wars, Pts. 5–7.
Pelling, “Aeschylus’ Persae and History.”
Sealey, History of the Greek City-States, pp. 212–230.

Lecture 20: https://www.bitchute.com/video/kQWVySu8TW68/