Until the fifth century BCE the Greek historical interest remained centred on the city-state of Greece. The geographical area was political unit and what happened within state engaged the thinking of historians. As foreigners like Macedonians and Persian were considered as enemies, their doing did not figure in their writing. But this attitude outmoded, when the Greek forces and Greek ideas crossed the geographical frontiers and conquered alien lands. Not…
Category: Historiography
Thucydides
Apart from Herodotus, the Greek historiography owes a lot to Thucydides who made himself a noted historian of ancient Greece through his book History of the Peloponnesian war. The theme he selected from his writing was the struggle between two leagues of city-states-one led by Athens and the other Sparta- the Peloponnesian war. He explored all accessible sources for collection of materials so as to render his works monumental. As…
Herodotus
Herodotus, considered the ‘Father of History’, was born at Helicarnassus, Darian settlement in Asia minor, about 480 BCE. The period witnessed the ascendancy of Athens in Greece. Young Herodotus studies the poetry of the Greeks, especially the epics of Homer and learned the art of prose writing from works of Hecataeus. His curiosity to learn more about the world led him to long travel to Thrace, Scythia, Egypt and Babylon.…
Homer
Homer is one of the most popular of the early chronicles who wrote Iliad and Odyssey, narrate the splendor of Greece. Dionysius wrote a history of Persia in 5 books. Charon, a contemporary of Dionysius, was author of two important works-a History of Greece and a history of Persia. However, it was Hacataeus who laid the foundation of Greek historical writing. A witness to the Persian invasion of Greece, diplomat,…
Greek Historians
As a matter of the fact, historiography is the product of Greek mind, which made it as a powerful a branch of knowledge as literature and philosophy. For a long, ancient Greece was lost in politics and conflicts. Until the climax of her civilization, the country produced no real history. Yet, the circumstances appeared favourable for the development of historical sense and historical writing. Situated on the higway between the…
Relationship b/w History and other subjects
The major aims of education in the unification of knowledge existing in different branches of learning. To achieve such a unification a conscious effort has to be made by teachers teaching various subjects. It is only by such a joint venture that we will be able to achieve the goal of unification of knowledge and bridge the gap that separates them. POLITICAL SCIENCE AND HISTORY Political science can be defined…
Classification of History
For the convenience of study, historians have divided history into various parts or branches. Every such part is complete in itself. No one can be called a true historian if he has read only a part of this long and varied journey of the progress of mankind. A true historian is one who has read all the branches of history. BASIS OF CLASSIFICATION Based on SPACE OR GEOGRAPHICAL BOUNDARIES, ü World…
Importance of History
History is useful in many ways as it reflects human beings achievements, failures glories, follies and mistake and stands in front of us as a veritable lesson for the entire human race. John Seely stated that “when we learn history, we do not learn the past but future”. 1. Provides Employment 2. Intellectual and educative value 3. Provides historical Background 4. Imbibe’s values 5. Guiding force 6. Knowledge of History 7. Historical inheritance 8. Realization of human dignity…
Scope of Historical Writing
The term ‘Scope’ refers to the breadth, comprehensives, variety and the extent of learning experiences in any discipline. The scope of history has changed from historian to historian and period to period. In ancient times, history was synonymous with a collection of legendary stories, heroic accounts, and folk tales. People believed in historical events and in what they heard or come or came to know of without any critical analysis.…
Nature of History
The happenings in the lives of human beings are prone to change, resulting in a consequence change in the nature of history. In the most, it was merely a cataloger of events serialized in a descriptive manner. Later on the trend became to study history in a critical and scientific way, and thus history became a study of reality. The term history stands for three related sharply differentiated concept such…