What did Herodotus discover in geography? The scientist's contribution to science

In school years, everyone studied compulsory program disciplines, including history and geography. And, of course, everyone has heard about the ancient Greek traveler Herodotus, whom amateurs of giving out clichés were enrolled in the "fathers of history" on the grounds that the scientist wrote a voluminous work with the same name. Let's try to understand the validity of this statement, and at the same time to find out what Herodotus discovered in geography.

Biographical information

Progressive man of his time, a historian and geographer, the first traveler - that was the legendary Herodotus. His biography contains some gaps due to the considerable prescription of the events, but basic information is available. Herodotus was born in the Dorian colony of Greece, the ancient Halicarnassus (modern city of Bodrum). The most probable date for the birth of a scientist is 484 BC. E.

The family in which the boy was brought up was very well-off and famous, with numerous connections. This fact allowed the young Herodotus to obtain an excellent education for those times. Mother Rio and father Licks brought up one more son - Theodore. A strong influence on the worldview and tastes of the boy was rendered by his relative Paniasis, who was a famous poet.

Scientific nugget of antiquity

If not for the two Persian wars, in the interval between which Herodotus was born, the biography and fate of the young man would have developed differently. Once he decided to compile a detailed chronicle of the Greco-Persian wars, and at the same time describe the customs, customs, geographical details of the areas that he decided to visit. The travel of the scientist was pushed by curiosity, which appeared after studying the myths, the knowledge of which he had learned from loglographs. In addition, he wanted to see with his own eyes what the lands that were available to the survey in that era look like.

The first who decided to compile a detailed work describing the main aspects of the origin and flow of wars between the Persians and the Greeks was Herodotus. Contribution to the development of geography, he did in passing: to make a reliable picture of everything, it was necessary to visit many countries. This is fully reflected in the famous work of Herodotus ("History"), which is 9 books with the names of muses instead of names.

Persian notes

Much of his work is devoted to the description of countries, customs, landscape, weather characteristics, political and religious structure. Herodotus undertook a voyage at the age of twenty for the states of Asia Minor, as well as Persia. On the roads of these countries it was possible to move without fear, as they were well guarded, and the traveler was provided with the necessary places for recreation. Without the need for money, the scientist probably rather pleasantly traveled, not experiencing any discomfort. Thanks to the detailed description of the terrain and customs that he met on his way, Herodotus' achievements in geography are based. This is the only scientist, using the works of which, contemporaries can form an idea of the ancient world order and genuine geographical knowledge.

He rode on the road from Ephesus to Suz, saw the great Babylon in its heyday with its magnificent buildings, huge libraries, gardens and fanatical cults, was in Ektaban, the capital of the state of Media. Probably, Herodotus was present in the ruined Assyria. All this is carefully written down in the book that Herodotus planned and created. The contribution to the development of the geography of the Galician scholar is obvious and is not questioned.

Interestingly he describes the mores of the Persians: they did not build temples for the gods and did not give human deities to deities, meat preferred fruit and wine, sacredly honored the right to live and at the same time despised the sick with leprosy, considering them damned. The Persians first of all valued military valor.

The scientist learned a lot when visiting these regions. But this is only part of what Herodotus discovered in geography.

Herodotus and the country of the pyramids

But the longest lived Galician lived in Egypt. He collected detailed information about the peculiarities of the climate of this African region: the floods of the Nile, droughts. Described the unprecedented in his homeland of living creatures: crocodiles, birds, hippos. He studied the current wonders of the world: the pyramids and the Sphinx, drew from the priests basic information about Ancient Egypt and even personally measured the pyramid of Cheops. Herodotus was in the city of kings, saw Meridovo lake, near which in those years there was a labyrinth, containing up to 3 thousand rooms. This building was especially struck by the scientist, which, of course, was reflected in his geographic-historical work. Thus, everything that Herodotus discovered in Egypt has become a world heritage.

After Egypt, he visited Libya. There he studied the life of desert inhabitants. Later, confident that the sea would rise to Alexandria, the scientist descended to Saudi Arabia, but, probably, having received an inhospitable meeting from the excessively religious inhabitants of this country, was forced to return.

Travel to Scythia

Sailing along the Black Sea, the scientist listed many rivers along with the tributaries flowing into it, visited the Greek colonies on the banks of the Pontus of Euxine, but this is not the only thing that Herodotus discovered in geography. Among other things, the "father of history" made a long-term journey to the lands of Scythia (the southern extremity of Ukraine). This terrain struck the geographer: a long winter and a rainy summer, ice, about which Herodotus had no idea, vast steppes and pastures. From the Scythians, Herodotus heard many myths, in particular about the gold of one-eyed people living to the north. He also realized that there are mighty, deep-water rivers that do not necessarily originate in the mountains, as taught since childhood. I learned about the tribes that live nearby: the Ural hunters and agripees. In all probability, he was told about the inhabitants of the Urals and the Urals, and at the same time Herodotus learned about the nature of those places: forests full of fur-bearing animals, mountains, beautiful and inaccessible. He also heard that far to the north there is an eternal cold and desert, and winter lasts six months. It was in Scythia that Herodotus obtained these priceless geographical representations and subsequently shared them with the whole world.

Herodotus visited Colchis (modern Georgia), the Balkans, including southern Italy, and reached the end of the world, according to the ancient Greeks, in the territory of India. The historian was shocked by the wealth and customs of this Asian country. He described the rituals and habits of Indians, strange in his opinion, plants and grasses (bamboo, rice), trees with fruits in the form of woolen tangles, and huge deposits of gold. Therefore, the first association, which should arise after the utterance of the name Herodotus, is geography. Briefly touching on his wanderings, one can draw conclusions about the significance of his work.

Geographical footprint

Considering that in ancient times travels were made either with an aggressive or commercial purpose, we can say that Herodotus first founded cognitive tourism. What Herodotus discovered in geography:

• First detailed description of the real world picture of those times;
• Made maps of the basins of the Azov, Caspian and Black Seas;
• Collected information about the life of the Sarmatians and Scythians, which later helped in the excavations;
• Discovered a mythical female ethnos: the Amazons;
• The first geographer who described the terrain and features of the rivers of Ancient Egypt;
• Studied the Balkan Peninsula;
• Designated the boundaries of the oecumene (a known territory) and identified three climatic zones: northern (Scythia), the second, located in the Mediterranean, and the third - part of North Africa and Arabia;
• Described the signs, rites, myths, the history of many peoples.

In ancient times, there was a certainty that the world was finite, so Herodotus, being a materialist, did not try to look "beyond the face," and explored those lands where he could get.

After a stormy life, his dream is sweet

Herodotus' life was full of adventures, including not very pleasant ones. For political reasons, his family was forced to leave their home and settle on the island of Samos. After 10 years of travel, he found peace in Furies, which the descendants of the Sybarites founded. Conflicting evidence indicates the date of death of this eminent person, but most converge on 424 BC. E. A friend of Sophocles, a favorite of the kings, an outstanding historian and geographer, was buried in the town square in Furies, which was a great honor. The inscription on the grave briefly lists his merits and concerns some details of the biography. In addition, Herodotus' cenotaphy is found in the Macedonian Pella and the great Athens.

Reflections at last

Herodotus is not just a museum exhibit or a long-gone person from the pages of textbooks. What Herodotus discovered, what he achieved in the field of history and geography, in which he was the discoverer, gives him the right not to be forgotten. The only scientist of antiquity who created not a description of one part of the world, but from fragments recreated the whole. Therefore, his "History" is not only a huge contribution to geography as a science, but also is doomed to be known.