Group Read **Herodotus** Book 5

May 1st and time for the next discussion thread to be opened. After the trials of Book 4 I hope that this one will be easier to follow.

Yeah, really. I find the storytelling fascination, but the geography is a bit much sometimes. Still, considering when he lived, it's quite astounding.

Finished Book 5 -- early in the month, for a change. And past the halfway mark!

I did find this one easier to follow, even though his shifts back in forth in time and picking up threads that he started as early as Book 1, along with me flipping back and forth to maps and lists of rulers and notes, made it pretty slow reading.

I feel more comfortable with (that is, know a little bit more about) Sparta and Athens than Persia and Asia Minor, and have great hopes for the rest of the books. According to the outline, it will be mostly straight forward reporting of the attacks on Greece, events occuring just before Herodotus' birth and during his lifetime. Now, if only I can remember what I've read so far when I get back to it!

It is nice that there is more action in this chapter. I did enjoy the lengthy descriptions of customs and geography of different regions, but the earlier chapters took a lot longer for me to read.

Finished Book 5.

Life got in the way but I've completed this section. Great chapter - more history and less geography. Also I'm seeing names that I recognise from other books. So hopefully from now on I won't feel quite so lost.