Herodotus and Sima Qian: The First Great Historians of Greece and China: A Brief History with Documents / Edition 1

by Thomas R. Martin

Overview

Comparing the writings of Herodotus in ancient Greece with those of Sima Qian in ancient China, Herodotus and Sima Qian: The First Great Historians of Greece and China highlights how their efforts helped invent modern notions of history writing and the job of the historian.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780312416492
Publisher:	Bedford/St. Martin's
Publication date:	09/08/2009
Series:	Bedford Cultural Editions Series
Edition description:	First Edition
Pages:	162
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Thomas R. Martin (Ph.D., Harvard University) is Jeremiah O’Connor Professor in Classics at the College of the Holy Cross. He is the author of Sovereignty and Coinage in Classical Greece (1985) and Ancient Greece (2000), and he is a co-author of The Making of the West: Peoples and Cultures (2009). He is also one of the originators of Perseus: Interactive Sources and Studies on Ancient Greece (www.perseus.tufts.edu).

Table of Contents

Foreword
Preface
List of Illustrations

PART ONE. INTRODUCTION: Inventing History Writing in
Greece and China
The Life of Herodotus (ca. 484-ca. 414 BCE)
Herodotus’ Historical Work, The Histories
Greek History Writing Before Herodotus
The Form and Content of Herodotus’ Historical Work
Length and Complexity of the Narrative
Objectivity of Evidence and Subjectivity of Interpretation
The Life of Sima Qian (ca. 145-ca. 86 BCE)
Sima Qian’s Historical Work, The Records of the Historian
Chinese History Writing Before Sima Qian
The Form and Content of Sima Qian’s Historical Work
Five-Part Structure of the Narrative
Moral Judgments
Conclusions: Comparing Why Herodotus and Sima Qian
Wrote History

PART TWO. THE DOCUMENTS
Translated selections from Herodotus, The Histories
1. How Asia and Europe Became Enemies: The Story of
Croesus (sixth century BCE)
2. How Others Live: The Customs of the Persians, the
Egyptians, the Massagetai, and the Scythians
3. Roping Asia to Europe: The Persian Invasion of
Greece (480 BCE)
4. Death Before Dishonor: The Battle of Thermopylae and the
Story of the 300 (480 BCE)
5. Retribution and Justice: Artemisia’s Advice and Hermotimus’
Revenge (480 BCE)
6. Ending Stories: Cruelty and Revenge on Both Sides
(479 BCE)

Translated selections from Sima Qian, Shiji
7. Castration as the Price of Writing History: Sima Qian’s
Autobiographical Letter to Ren An
8. The First Emperor of China (259-210 BCE): The Basic Annals
of the Qin Dynasty
9. Born from a Dragon: The Origins of Gaozu, founder of the
Former Han Dynasty (206 BCE-9 CE)
10. A Woman in Power: Empress Lü (ruled 188-180 BCE)
11. Heroic Hermits: The Biographies of Bo Yi and Shu Qi
12. Arts of War: The Biographies of Sun Zi Wu and Sun Bin
13. Imperial Assassin: The Biography of Jing Ke
14. How Others Live: The Customs of the Xiongnu

Appendixes
Chronologies of the Lives and Works of Herodotus and
Sima Qian
Questions for Consideration
Selected Bibliography
Index