Ancient Historians · Part 2 · The first prose writers · B1–B2
Hecataeus of Miletus
Part 2 of Ancient Historians: Hecataeus of Miletus, one of the first Greeks to write about the world and the past in prose. He drew one of the first maps of the world, and he began his book on family histories with a famous sentence: “The stories of the Greeks are many, and, as it seems to me, ridiculous.” But in Egypt, the priests taught him a lesson about his own family. Reported speech, hedging (as it seems to me, apparently), and the language of maps, family trees and boasting, with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
Before Herodotus, there was Hecataeus. He lived in Miletus, the greatest city of Ionia, and he wrote two books: a journey around the whole world, with a map, and a book about the family trees of the heroes. Only fragments survive. But the first sentence of his family-tree book is one of the boldest sentences in Greek.
“Hecataeus of Miletus speaks thus: I write these things as they seem true to me; for the stories of the Greeks are many and, as it seems to me, ridiculous.” Imagine saying that about your own people’s stories! But Herodotus tells a story that makes Hecataeus look a little ridiculous himself. Tonight we report what people said, and learn to say “as it seems to me”.
I want to hear the story where he looks ridiculous.
Miletus, in Ionia, and Thebes in Egypt, about 500 BCE
Hecataeus (about 550–476 BCE) came from Miletus, a rich trading city of Ionia, home of the first Greek philosophers. He travelled widely, especially to Egypt. He wrote the Journey around the World (Periodos Gēs), describing the lands and peoples around the Mediterranean and beyond, and improved the world map drawn by the philosopher Anaximander. He also wrote the Genealogies, tracing the family trees of Greek heroes and noble families back to the gods.
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