Considerations on the Concept of Happiness in Aristotle and in Book I of Herodotus’ Histories

Abstract

This paper aims to conduct a comparative study between the notion of Eudaimonia (happiness) as it appears in Aristotle’s Magna Moralia (1.2–1.4) and Nicomachean Ethics (1099b8–1100a10), and in Book I of Herodotus’ Histories, specifically in the episode of the visit of the Greek sage Solon to the Lydian king Croesus (Hdt. 1.29–1.33). We argue that, although Aristotle recognizes a lower epistemic status for history compared to philosophy and poetry as an instrument of reflection on human reality, his considerations on happiness — one of the central topics of his moral philosophy — display significant points of contact with what Herodotus advances in his work. Thus, we intend to highlight that Greek historiography was not only concerned with describing and explaining particular events of the past, but also with using these narratives to develop reflections on the condition and destiny of humankind in general terms, in a manner comparable to that of poetry and philosophy.