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An Evaluation of Herodotus’s Historical Descriptions of the Scythians to What Extent Are Herodotus’s Literary Works on the Scythians Credible?
- 1 Shanghai World Foreign Language Academy
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Abstract
Extensive research papers discussing the ancient Greek cultures or nomadic tribes refer primarily to one particular source – Herodotus’ Histories. A series of observations and oral information from various Persian territories were taken into account in this well-known work. As contemporary scholars use Herodotus' jobs, they often regard his accounts as accurate descriptions and come up with their conclusions respectively. Such a perspective should be considered a severe issue since history is a serious study of past events from all aspects of human society. Reckless approaches can, in terms, arise from wrong interpretations. This article focuses on Herodotus' descriptions of the Scythians and argues that Herodotus' works are invaluable in better understanding the archaeological findings. However, several mistakes are found in his accounts compared with other current archaeological findings. While directly citing from his works, scholars should make necessary cross-references to avoid potential errors.
Keywords
Herodotus, historical descriptions, the credibility of literary works, archaeological findings, Scythian kurgans, kings' burials, and tombs
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Cite this article
Shen,J. (2023). An Evaluation of Herodotus’s Historical Descriptions of the Scythians to What Extent Are Herodotus’s Literary Works on the Scythians Credible?. Communications in Humanities Research,5,36-42.
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