This difference Brann calls Athens' 'elusive essence,' its freedom contrasting with the slavery upon which the Persian empire depended. Giving a full account of the Persians and the peoples who constituted their empire-and whose empire encircled the Greeks (thus the 'Greek center')-Herodotus delineates the essential difference between the Barbarians and the Greeks. She writes that Herodotus worked by indirection.

In the first essay, Brann parses out the schema and meaning of Herodotus's The History ( The Persian Wars). Giving a full account of the Persians and the peoples wh These two long essays make up a short book, one full of depth and knowledge, in which Eva Brann gets at the roots of our thinking-without tearing things apart. Then In the first essay, Brann parses out the schema and meaning of Herodotus's The History ( The Persian Wars).

These two long essays make up a short book, one full of depth and knowledge, in which Eva Brann gets at the roots of our thinking-without tearing things apart.