The Shelves · History
Histories
Ἱστορίαι
Known · Attestedin Alexandria?Conjecturedvery likely class
I · The entry, in his form
In the table of History
Conjecturedvery likely classHerodotus of Halicarnassus
Histories
Ἱστορίαι
Opening words
Ἡροδότου Ἁλικαρνησσέος ἱστορίης ἀπόδεξις ἥδε
This is the display of the inquiry of Herodotus of Halicarnassus
Length: not counted
Above, his entry form, filled from what we know. Below, ours.
II · Does it survive? Where to read it
Survives whole
Was it in Alexandria?
Known · AttestedEdited in Alexandria.
In the cupboard: edited, classified or commented on by the Library's scholars.
Read it today
- Greek with English (Scaife Viewer) · original and translation · link checked 31 Oct 2026
- Godley, Herodotus I (books 1-2) (public-domain Loeb scan, PDF) · a translation · link checked 31 Oct 2026
III · In the show
- Pythagoras in Egypt: Initiation & Study, episode 20, at 39 minutes 32 secondsTranscriptLegend: told story
- Egyptian Influence on Greek Thought, episode 20, at 42 minutes 1 secondTranscriptLegend: told story
- Egyptian & Babylonian Influences on Thales, episode 21, at 25 minutes 51 secondsTranscriptLegend: told story
+ 6 more
- Transmission of Knowledge from Egypt to Greece, episode 21, at 1 hour 8 minutes 37 secondsTranscriptLegend: told story
- What the Egyptian mysteries may have taught, episode 4, at 44 minutes 31 secondsTranscriptLegend: told story
Correction
- What was said
- Porphyry says Pythagoras spent 22 years in Egyptian temples.
- What the sources say
- The twenty-two years come from Iamblichus, not from Porphyry's Life of Pythagoras.
Reference
- Iamblichus, On the Pythagorean Life 4.19
- Egyptian & Babylonian Influences on Thales, episode 21, at 25 minutes 51 secondsTranscript“he says that Thales actually went to Egypt and Babylonia”'Flut' is Plutarch (a Middle Platonist, not a Neoplatonist): On Isis and Osiris 10.Legend: told story
- Plato: Philosophy, Truth & Misconceptions, episode 21, at 35 minutes 32 secondsTranscript“He learned from the wise men of Egypt studying the universe”Answered by the co-host's correction on Hermes at 36:14.Legend: told story
- What the Egyptian mysteries may have taught, episode 4, at 45 minutes 20 secondsTranscript“it's attested that Plato went there it's attested that Thales the father of logic went there it's attested that Solon the lawgiver was initiated”Legend: told story
Correction
- What was said
- It is "attested" that Plato, Thales and Solon studied in Egypt.
- What the sources say
- Reported by later writers (Herodotus, Plato, Plutarch, Diogenes Laertius), not by contemporary evidence: testimony, not attestation.
- Perennial traditions and Eastern influence, episode 1, at 20 minutes 17 secondsTranscript“Pythagoras spent two in 20 years in Egypt astronomizing and geometrising and was initiated in no casual or superficial way”Legend: told story
Correction
- What was said
- Porphyry says Pythagoras spent 22 years in Egyptian temples.
- What the sources say
- The twenty-two years come from Iamblichus, not from Porphyry's Life of Pythagoras.
Reference
- Iamblichus, On the Pythagorean Life 4.19
IV · Sources and the living entry
Ancient references
- Herodotus 2.50, 2.123, 2.171
Modern scholarship
- R. Pfeiffer, History of Classical Scholarship from the Beginnings to the End of the Hellenistic Age (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1968)
Entry checked 31 Oct 2026 · no corrections · Suggest a correction ›
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