W.W. How and J. Wells's two volume Commentary on Herodotus, published by Oxford's Clarendon Press in 1912, is a line by line historical, textual and geographical commentary on the Histories, its first volume covering Books 1 to 4 and its second, consulted for this entry, covering Books 5 to 9, including the Persian invasion of 480 BCE and the stand at Thermopylae. It remains a standard scholarly point of reference for close questions about Herodotus's text, his sources and his reliability, and it distinguishes passages the authors judge historically sound from those, including the oracle Herodotus reports to Leonidas before Thermopylae, that they argue were shaped or invented after the events they claim to have predicted.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
W. W. How and J. Wells's two volume Commentary on Herodotus, published by Oxford's Clarendon Press in 1912, the top tier reflecting a line by line historical, textual and geographical commentary that remains a standard scholarly point of reference for close questions about Herodotus's text, sources and reliability, distinguishing passages the authors judge historically sound from those, including the oracle reported to Leonidas before Thermopylae, they argue were shaped or invented after the events they claim to have predicted. NotesA two volume line by line historical and textual commentary on Herodotus, still a standard scholarly reference on the text more than a century after publication, valued for its close attention to internal consistency and its willingness to flag passages, this oracle among them, that it judges to be later additions rather than treating every episode Herodotus records as equally reliable. Its age means it predates some archaeological and papyrological evidence later commentators have used, so it is read here alongside, not instead of, more recent scholarship.
Citation
AuthorW.W. How and J. Wells
PublisherClarendon Press
Publication Year1912
URLhttps://archive.org/details/commentaryonhero0002wwho
Source Typeacademic monograph
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Persians directly: "W.W. How and J."
Claims Backed By This Source (14 claims)
This source backs 14 claims across the atlas. As facts: 10 well-attested, 1 scholarly debate. As cited relationships: 1 holds. Plus 2 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Sources, 9 claims: 8 well-attested, 1 holds.
- Deities, 3 claims: 2 well-attested, 1 general references.
- Prophecies, 2 claims: 1 scholarly debate, 1 general references.
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