How significant is it that Croesus is not Greek, in Herodotus Histories? :: essays research papers

match to Herodotus, Croesus was the first non greek to come into relate with the GreeksHe was the first foreigner, so far as we know to come in direct contact with the Greeks, both in the way of conquest and allianceAlthough this statement is unbelievable to be true, the significance of Croesus not cosmos Greek is obviously very high.Herodotus notifys moral stories using historical figures, Croesus being one of them. For example, the story of him and Solon, which is nearly certainly untrue when we see Croesus ignoring a discerning persons thoughts and advice. As his Histories were written for a Greek audience, it wouldnt have been wise to show a Greek to be so foolish and a barbarian like Croesus would have been a good person to choose.Herodotus, at the time of writing, would have been telling the histories to entertain Athenian people. For entertainments sake, Croesus being a foreigner would have been very important, as his feel would be a new and untold story that his aud ience wouldnt have heard before, whereas had he been a Greek, people knowing almost him would have been highly likely.Croesus, we see, while being extremely generous towards the enigmatic Oracle, questions and tests it and later makes mistakes in interpreting the prophecies. Any message Herodotus was trying to bugger off here, again is better done so through a non-Greek, being somewhat foolish, rather than a Greek like his audience.The point of Herodotus Histories was to tell the story of the Persian Wars with background from both sides so to find a cause for it. He says in his opening paragraph