Herodotus And The Trojan War

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Herodotus is claimed to be the first critic of Homer and he radically claims that Homer’s ideas are full of flaws of which Homer was fully aware of. The Homeric version of the Trojan War, the Greeks and Trojans have good reason to fight, on the contrary Herodotus does not believe that the Trojans have good reason for war. According to Herodotus, “various conceptualizations of Homer’s accounts of the Trojan War are ineffective.” Herodotus claims because Homer was a poet he rejects the version of Helen going to Egypt because that version did not suit epic poetry and was not seen as dramatic enough for his story. The account of Helen & the treasures going to Egypt was older than Herodotus and he does not believe that the Trojans would have fought under the circumstances for just one woman, Helen. Herodotus is the first historian to place emphasis on Helen and the treasure as causes of the war & the rationality for Menelaus being in Egypt, where as in Homer’s version there is no explanation at all as to why Menelaus is in Egypt. “I think that Herodotus raises interesting points. It also sheds light on the myth of Helen going to Egypt not to Troy. …show more content…
The only criticisms I have is that one, the sources for evidence on some of Herodotus’ remarks are very limited and seem to be based off judgments as a historian and two, who knows if the Trojan War was a real historical event or

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