19 Facts About Herodotus

Herodotus wrote the Histories, a detailed account of the Greco-Persian Wars among other subjects such as the rise of the Achaemenid Dynasty of Cyrus, and was the earliest known writer to apply the scientific method to historical events.

Herodotus has been described as "The Father of History", a title conferred on him by the ancient Roman orator Cicero, and the "Father of Lies" by others.

Herodotus's work deviates from the main topics to provide a cultural, ethnographical, geographical, and historiographical background that forms an essential part of the narrative and provides readers with a wellspring of additional information.

Herodotus was criticized in his times for his inclusion of "legends and fanciful accounts" in his work.

The contemporaneous historian Thucydides who covered the infamous Peloponnesian War in his History of the Peloponnesian War would separately accuse Herodotus of making up stories for entertainment.

Herodotus retorted that he reported what he could see and what he was told.

Current scholars generally turn to Herodotus's own writing for reliable information about his life, supplemented with archaic yet much later sources, such as the Byzantine Suda, a 10th-century encyclopedia which possibly took its information from traditional accounts.

Herodotus wrote his Histories in the Ionian dialect, in spite of being born in a Dorian settlement.

Panyassis, the epic poet related to Herodotus, is reported to have taken part in a failed uprising.

The Suda states that Herodotus later returned home to lead the revolt that eventually overthrew the despot.

Herodotus probably traveled to Tyre next and then down the Euphrates to Babylon.

Herodotus would have made his researches known to the larger world through oral recitations to a public crowd.

Herodotus announced the purpose and scope of his work at the beginning of his Histories:.

Herodotus's record of the achievements of others was an achievement in itself, though the extent of it has been debated.

Herodotus's work is the earliest Greek prose to have survived intact.

Herodotus the son of Sphynx lies; in Ionic history without peer; a Dorian born, who fled from slander's brand and made in Thuria his new native land.

Thucydides, who had been trained in rhetoric, became the model for subsequent prose-writers as an author who seeks to appear firmly in control of his material, whereas with his frequent digressions Herodotus appeared to minimize his authorial control.

The interplay of civilizations was more relevant to Greeks living in Anatolia, such as Herodotus himself, for whom life within a foreign civilization was a recent memory.

Several English translations of Herodotus's Histories are available in multiple editions, including:.