TC 2016; 8(1): 1–16 Nikos Miltsios* Sight and Seeing in Herodotus DOI 10.1515/tc-2016-0001 Abstract: The theme of sight and vision is particularly pronounced throughout the Histories of Herodotus. It plays a privileged role in both the historian’s overt methodological remarks and the purely narrative sections of his work. But while Herodotus explicitly values sight as an important means of gaining knowledge and recognizes its centrality to historical research, in his narrative he often ques- tions its reliability by having his characters develop inaccurate, grossly distorted pictures of reality through visual perceptions. On numerous occasions in the His- tories, the characters are deceived by what they themselves see or what others show them. Aiming at resolving this tension, the present article explores the ways in which Herodotus thematizes and describes vision in his work. It argues that when Herodotus records failed attempts on the part of his characters to interpret visual evidence correctly, he generally locates the cause of the problem in the inadequacy not of sight itself but of its subject, the observer, and their intellectual and emotional dispositions. Keywords: Herodotus, sight, vision, autopsy, knowledge. In the hierarchy of epistemological factors held by the ancient Greek historians, sight ranks more highly than hearing. Autopsy is regarded as the safest method of verifying the truth,1 with the examination of eyewitnesses playing a supporting and supplementary role, or serving as a last resort, since no historian can have first-hand knowledge of all the events that they present, even if they are con- cerned with writing contemporary history.2 Contrasting the faith that historians 1 On autopsy see the valuable discussion of Schepens 1980. 2 For an illustration of this point see Polybius’ remark at 12.4c.3–4: ‘For since many events occur at the same time in different places, and one man cannot be in several places at one time, nor is it possible for a single man to have seen with his own eyes (οὐδ᾽ αὐτόπτην γενέσθαι) every place in the world and all the peculiar features of different places, the only thing left for an historian is to inquire from as many people as possible, to believe those worthy of belief and to be an adequate *Corresponding author: Nikos Miltsios, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, E-Mail: nikos.miltsios@gmail.com Brought to you by | Washington University in St. Louis Authenticated Download Date | 12/24/16 6:30 PM