The Literature And Historical Study Of The Tyrant-narration By Herodotus

Tyranny is a political system which appeared in Archaic Greece diffusely,having been studied by scholars on history,politics and philosophy for centuries.However,the records of the tyranny and tyrants are quite not detailed,because the time of tyrants is long ago from the time when records formed.This thesis means to conduct an attempt that regarding the speech of Socles in Herodotus’ History as a text,with the literature and historical study methods,try to find how the Greeks in Herodotus’ time treated the tyranny and tyrants.In the speech of Socles,numerous motifs of folklore appear.Researching the content of these motifs and how they combine with each other,it shows the revenge of tyrants against those families who did parricide to their kin(tyrants)pushed the plot of text.And this makes the behavior of tyrants justice.But on the other hand,Herodotus also brought the cruelty of tyranny to light.What’s more,the recordings from History show the complication of tyrant-image.A tyrant could be a competent and powerful man,but during his rule,he could also show unlimited evil.In the era of Herodotus,the literature and history were still influenced by oral culture in Greece society.The folk oral materials still effected the composing of writers and the forming of text.In other word,the text in a certain degree reflect the attitude of ancient greeks to tyrants.And Herodotus’ personal experience influenced his composing of tyrants as well.Comparing Herodotus’ record with the works of Aeschylus and Pindar,who lived in same era with Herodotus,it is obvious that these writers show the similar attitude to tyranny.First,the rise and doom of tyrants were led by gods’ will and justice.Second,personal will and desire guided the activity of the second and later generation of tyrants.Third,the members of tyrant family showed common cruelty in ethics.Finally,the style of tyrant’s behavior is exceeding and wanton.However,comparing with Plato and Aristotle,Herodotus’ records emphasize the involvement of supernatural power in the fate of tyrants.And differing from Plato and Aristotle,Herodotus didn’t regard tyranny as a kind of political system as well.