As historical and literary classics, both Zuo Zhuan and Herodotus' Histories attach great importance to the roles of ethics in social history. In these two works, the ethical predicament encountered by certain characters are keenly observed and carefully portrayed.Some predicaments are imposed by extermal factors, and others are brought about by the conflicts of the characters'intermal ethical values. The characters'choices when facing these predicament and their consequences reveal the similarities and differences between Chinese and Western ethical values, which have exerted a far-reaching effect on later generations, not only providing enlightenment and lessons for modern people, but also offering useful refeence for contemporary literature and literary criticism.