Hdt. 4.95. As mentioned in 4.88, it seems apparent that Samos was a place of great intellect. Pythagoras is mentioned here who is known as the great founder of the Pythagorean Theory.

1.30. Croesus has Solon come to Sardis. Croesus expects Solon to be enthralled by what he sees and thus would tell Croesus that indeed he is the luckiest man of all. However, Solon explains to Croesus that to be the happiest man of all time, he would have to die a happy man since living jeopardizes one's potential to downfall. The story of Cleobis and Biton is then explained to Croesus and how they can be conceived as being the happiest men to ever live. There seems to a moral agenda to the Histories that explains a simple life is a good life. We see this later on how luxury and things that are associated with luxury makes a people soft. It seems the best life to live is a simple good 'ole country life and to work hard.

Hdt. 1.17. Herodotus starts his Histories with the rise of the Lydian empire. Why is that? The people who would have been reading his work would have been Greek. Does he start with them because they are not totally 'barbaric' and actually share some of the same customs. They were sort of an "in-between country" and thus are preparing the Greek readers to cultures which Herodotus will be getting into. That is, he will give a history of the Persians (who believe in a total different political system but are somewhat 'civilized.' Furthermore, he will go into details about the Scythians, the Man-Eaters, and so forth which are groups who are as far from Greek customs as possible. And yet have Greek origin explanations.

Herodotus 1.60. This place might actually be known

Hdt. 2.2. The Nature vs. Nurture enigma is presented here. It is advocated here that language is biologically programmed here and thus language is a nature phenomenon. However, the nature v. nurture debate has become bane in the field of psychology. Do the lengths or widths make a rectangle?

1.24 Where else in the Mediterranean are we finding stories of a man being forced to leave the vessel and being saved by a water creature? The story of Jonah can be related to this story, which means how should we take this tale that Herodotus is telling. It is noted that there is a statue of Arion and his dolphin. But what is the overall importance of the story? How were stories at this time influencing the beliefs of people and how were they being assimilated into other societies? Why is Herodotus feel the need to write this story and not other ones?

Hdt. 4.88. We see a Samian here being mentioned for his work on a bridge that Darius had gazed upon. We saw Polykrates in Book 3 and the three engineering feats they had accomplish. It seems that Samos was a place of great intellect in antiquity.

Hdt. 1.154. W see the story of Pactyes as an example of how characters in Herodotus are treated and how he is cautious with religious matters. First of all, Pactyes was the Lydian who Cyrus had entrusted with booty taken from Croesus and the Lydians. In short, Herodotus tells us: Pactyes seizes the gold, hides in Kyme to escape his Persian pursuers and then the Kymaeans consult Apollo's oracle at Branchidae in an unmarked, direct-speech narrative, in identical manner from what precedes it. The unique thing here is that the oracle chastises the Kymeans here for even asking about whether or not they should give up the suppliant. Thus a parallel can be seen here and when Herodotus explains a tale about asking the Indians how much money it would it take for them to burn the bodies of their fathers. Some things were just taboo and the mere thought of them meant that you were in trouble with the gods.

Hdt. 4.108. Careful here. According to Robert Strassler in the book Histories, ancient and modern readers have interpreted this passage differently. either the Boudinoi painted their bodies blue-gray and red, or had blue-grey eyes and red hair.

Hdt. 4.76. Herodotus mentions this story of Anacharsis. who much like Herodotus, was interested in foreign customs and foreign practices. Furthermore, Herodotus mentions how Anacharsis gained much wisdom after his travels. Then having Anacharsis killed by the king for performing foreign customs seems to make him a protagonist. Does Herodotus mention this story to put himself in the story?

Like for most of the major characters we see in Herodotus, he gives us a very thorough history of a character's ancestry. Nevertheless there are times where he gives a state's history instead. Here we see Herodotus begin the story of the Lydians.

What evidence is there that the Lydians suffered from famine? In addition, is there any evidence of them being in Etruria? If this holds to be true, what does it say about Herodotus and his inquiry?

2.104 Here Herodotus talks about the practice of circumcision. From here, one cannot help but think about the story of Jacob and his twelve sons with the Hittites. What made people think of circumcision in the first place? We see here Herodotus talking about an ancient custom that we should look for in ancient documents like the Egyptians to see if they actually coincide with what Herodotus was saying.

Kosher

Herodotus 1.70. To show their gratitude to Croesus, the Spartans sent a bronze bowl to him in Sardis; however, the bowl never reached him. There are two different stories on why the bowl never got their. The question that should be asked though should be, "what was the relationship between the Samians, the Spartans, and the Lydians."

Herodotus 1.69. A network has been established between Croesus and the Spartans. The text gives an instance where Croesus instead of trading with the Spartans actually gives them a free gift.

The struggle for social sciences using hard science to make better interpretations and analysis of data.

Digital Humanities can look at authors and publishers and the relationships they have with one another.

A network can be good but it has be used correctly. It has a specific purpose and a specific function. Using it for other means is abusing its power like a hammer on a screw.

Networking can be good but can also be hazardous because they can be abused in different ways. Methodology can also be detrimental when used perversely.

Satellite Imagery is helping Syria's Arhcaeology