Dimitrie I. Ghica began translating – in late 19th century – from Greek into Romanian Herodotus’ The Histories, in four volumes. It was a tremendous effort carried out by the person who in 1880 was awarded by the Romanian Academy for having translated the 4th book of the work in question. Decades later, his name seems to have been forgotten; a couple of press articles managed to point out, though, aspects of his biography . Posterity does seem to have forgotten about him too soon. In the following lines, my endeavour is to reconstruct – even partially – the biography of a person with an important diplomatic and literary activity.
Herodotus
Herodotus’ Renaissance return to Western-European culture
Herodotus can be counted among the most important ancient historians. Indeed, his Histories represent the main source for the Graeco–Persian wars. However, the reception of his work has undergone many changes since the time it was written. The following study deals with Herodotus’ reception in the time of the Renaissance. The author tries to answer and explain two basic questions that are narrowly connected with his name. The first problem relates to his veracity. The study addresses the question of how he was accepted by humanists — was he considered a faithful historian or a less trustworthy storyteller? The second problem relates to him as a pagan author being accepted by Christians. The author focuses on the mechanism which enabled this unusual combination.