Travel - Herodotus and Tacitus: Two Archetypal Narratives and "What is Travel Writing?" Herodotus · Uses mythology · How does intellect travel? - Herodotus gained his knowledge by travelling to various regions and asking · The city Herodotus was from was considered the crossroad between east and west and so he would have been exposed to other cultures early on which may explain the interest he has in travel and ethnography . Herodotus created the idea of East and West in his history on the Persia wars · Look at if Hellenic identity was real at the time? . Herodotus' idea of the "other" - he created the idea of a simile so A is like B and wanted to explain something with ideas of Greekness and used Greek science · Herodotus was influences by the Ionic Enlightenment but was also part Sophist · Was Herodotus an ethnographer or historian? The ideas of Great Historiography · Ethnography wasn't racist at the time · Herodotus wrote about women which was unusual for the time as he looked at their role in society as powerful - prostitutes included · Herodotus shows awareness of cultural differences and focuses on different customs - talks about those that would seem strange to a Greek · His work was written for entertainment and wold have been spoken - sex sells, as does strangeness, which could explain the focus on it, as well as the myths Greeks would have known . He is not in the story - wouldn't know he had travelled from his writing as there was no first person, tourist language · Talks a lot about Greek culture and tells us more using ideas of things they found strange · Open-minded approach to other cultures but does cast judgement . He travelled towards the east but also Egypt, the latter being crucial to his writing - had not seen Barbarians or Scythians in person and so relies on other reports · Prioritises first hand eye witness accounts and when he doesn't have that, he says he is not certain about things he has heard · Comes from a culture that has a clear idea of their own identity? - us vs them - Skinner would have something to say about this - Jacoby came from a culture obsessed with their own identity so he could be projecting back on the past - Herodotus emphasises behaviour rather than identity as such · Looks at archaeological evidence - Skinner - idea of invention and that it was created . He has been criticised for being somewhat fictional in histories but that is the orality of his work and its nature . His writing talks about Greek and non-Greek which does create an us and them idea . He is modern in some ways in how he talks about other cultures as he does show sensitivity and tries to explain them and does compliment them sometimes as well as demonstrates what they do · Greek superior but