Instructions for Writing History by Lucian
January 31st 2007 07:22
How should a history be written? This is second century satirist Lucian's take on the subject.
Too many people he warns want to be a Thucydides, a Herodotus or a Xenophon. History writing is easy; all it needs is that you translate your thoughts into words.
History's purpose should be establishment of truth and not devotion to beauty. After going through a list of history writer's follies, here are some instructions to histroy writers for writing a good history:
Such an historian would I wish to have under my care: with regard
to language and expression, I would not have it rough and vehement,
consisting of long periods, {58} or complex arguments; but soft,
quiet, smooth, and peaceable. The reflections, short and frequent,
the style clear and perspicuous; for as freedom and truth should be
the principal perfections of the writer's mind, so, with regard to
language, the great point is to make everything plain and
intelligible, not to use remote and far-fetched phrases or
expressions, at the same time avoiding such as are mean and vulgar:
let it be, in short, what the lowest may understand; and, at the
same time, the most learned cannot but approve. The whole may be
adorned with figure and metaphor, provided they are not turgid or
bombast, nor seem stiff and laboured, which, like meat too highly
seasoned, always give disgust.
Wish more historians follow this sage advice.
Too many people he warns want to be a Thucydides, a Herodotus or a Xenophon. History writing is easy; all it needs is that you translate your thoughts into words.
History's purpose should be establishment of truth and not devotion to beauty. After going through a list of history writer's follies, here are some instructions to histroy writers for writing a good history:
Such an historian would I wish to have under my care: with regard
to language and expression, I would not have it rough and vehement,
quiet, smooth, and peaceable. The reflections, short and frequent,
the style clear and perspicuous; for as freedom and truth should be
the principal perfections of the writer's mind, so, with regard to
language, the great point is to make everything plain and
intelligible, not to use remote and far-fetched phrases or
expressions, at the same time avoiding such as are mean and vulgar:
let it be, in short, what the lowest may understand; and, at the
same time, the most learned cannot but approve. The whole may be
adorned with figure and metaphor, provided they are not turgid or
bombast, nor seem stiff and laboured, which, like meat too highly
seasoned, always give disgust.
Wish more historians follow this sage advice.
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