Hills Like White Elephants
Herodotus and ‘Rhampsinitus and the Thief’ BY: Layla Brown Herodotus, the first Greek historian, has been called by some "the father of history" and by others "the father of lies." Born in 485 B.C to a wealthy family at Halicarnassus, in Asia Minor, he was exiled to Samos soon after his birth because of his family’s opposition to the Persian domination of Ionia. During his youth, he traveled widely, studying the manners, customs, and religions of the people he encountered. His histories are made up of tales told to him by people from Egypt, Syria, Babylon, Colchis, Paeonian and Macedonia. He was criticized by several ancient writers for creating stories and passing them off as the truth. ...
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priests, claiming it a true story. Herodotus, himself, didn’t actually believe this particular story but he felt it was his duty to report what he was told. Now, for those of you who didn’t read it, I’ll quickly give a brief synopsis of the story. A dying father tells his two sons how to break into the king’s vault, which he, himself, built. The father then dies, leaving the family with no way to support themselves. So the two sons begin their thieving. They manage to escape with the treasure three times before the king sets up a trap, in which one of the brothers gets caught. At his captured brother’s urging, the other brother cuts his sibling’s head off, taking it with his, so the family’s identity would not be known. The next day, the king was bewildered at the sight of a headless thief. He then ordered his sentries to hang the body on the outer wall and arrest anybody seen mourning the headless corpse. The two thieves’ mother, so absolutely distraught over the death of her ...
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him get away. The thief, seeing through the king’s trap, wanted to surpass the king in resourcefulness. He then cuts the arm off a freshly dead man and takes it with him underneath his cloak. He then meets with the king’s daughter and confesses to the thieving and the murder of his brother. The daughter then reaches to grab him but the thief slips away, leaving her with a dead man’s arm. The king is so astounded at the wit and daring of the thief that he sent word to every city of immunity and a promise of a great reward if the thief comes forward. The thief trusts the king’s word and goes to the palace. Rhampsinitus, the king, admires the thief so greatly that he gives him his daughter ...
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Hills Like White Elephants. (2006, May 25). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Hills-Like-White-Elephants/46503
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"Hills Like White Elephants." Essayworld.com. May 25, 2006. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Hills-Like-White-Elephants/46503.
"Hills Like White Elephants." Essayworld.com. May 25, 2006. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Hills-Like-White-Elephants/46503.
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