Gullible’s Travels? An Introduction to Herodotus with Dr. Ken Bratt (Ad Navseam, Episode 141)

This week Dave and Jeff welcome back into the studio (this guy's becoming a regular!) our longtime friend, mentor, former colleague, and teacher, the inestimable Ken Bratt. You may know him from such episodes as "From there We Travelled to Philippi" (46), and, "A Visit to the Roman Catacombs" (76). For this go 'round, Ken reaches back into the more distant, misty past, as he talks a little about why he chose Herodotus for his doctoral dissertation at Princeton. Using a 1968 article by J.A.S. Evans entitled, "Father of History or Father of Lies: The Reputation of Herodotus", Ken leads us through questions of Herodotus' purpose, methods, theism, charm, and style. Was the man of Halicarnassus a mere credulous stooge, or is there something deeper going on? Does he really deserve such negative comparisons to Thucydides? And what about the urination practices of Egyptians? Tune in for this and more.