The Best Translation of The Histories
The Histories was written in Ancient Greek. 2 recommended editions, ranked — with Gröblé’s verdict on which to read first.
Tom Holland
Penguin Classics · 2013 · 880 pages
Holland is a working historian who can write, and his Herodotus moves. The digressions about Lydia and Egypt and crocodile-grooming land as gossip instead of homework, which is how Herodotus told them.
Every recommended edition, compared
The Landmark Herodotus turns a sprawling text into a navigable one. Purvis's prose is plain and clear, but the real draw is the maps, timelines, and 22 appendices by working classicists. Close-reader's edition.
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Reading The Histories in translation
The Histories was written in Ancient Greek, so unless you read Ancient Greek, the translator decides the book you actually experience — its register, its pace, how it sounds read aloud. Two editions of the same work can feel like different books.
The ranking above is Gröblé’s: one reader’s verdict on which English gets you closest, not a publisher’s blurb. Start with the top pick; reach for the others when you want a different angle on the original.