In Herodotus' explanation of the past, the most ready medium through which he knew to make himself understood was that of the Homeric epic. ... On the other hand, Herodotus does not treat divine intervention and the decision of the gods as being quite so fundamental to his Histories as folktale does. ... Moreover, gods never appear in the flesh in the Histories, as they do in Homer. ... Whilst Herodotus attributes this to the intervention of the gods, it appears reasonable to posit that, for Herodotus, divine intervention provided a "metaphysical framework" through which to unde...

• Word Count: 2143
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Graduate