Beginning of Essay
Herodotus, in his book The History, tells us a good deal about how, in the course of the 5th Century, the Greeks came to define themselves by casting "barbarians" as a negative foil for those traits which they admired in themselves. By “barbarians”, Herodotus ....

Middle of Essay
.... in defense of their cities, their families, their gods, and for their own freedom and dignity. Thus, the theme of The History of Herodotus is the struggle between the East and the West. The East, represented by the Persian Empire, signified tyranny and oppression. The West, represented by the Greek city-states, signified freedom. As Herodotus interprets the Persian Wars we see the beginnings of Western Civilization and the association of that tradition with freedom. The Greeks had always been aware that foreign, barbarian peoples worshipped different gods and had customs different from their own. The rise of ethnographic studies, however, encour ....