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Herodotus
The Father of History
Herodotus was a Greek historian who lived in the 5th century BC. This paper will examine why Herodotus wrote the “Histories”, how he gathered his information, the time periods he was writing about, and the life of Herodotus, particularly as it shapes his historical writings. The variety of influences that Herodotus considered important to the reporting of history will be considered; and finally, this paper will answer why Herodotus should be called ‘the father of history’. ... However before Herodotus, no one had ever tried to put down a coherent story, with a beginning, middle, an end, and with an explanation of why things happened the way they did. ... Herodotus deserves his ancient title of ‘father of history’. ... When Herodotus began work, the genre of history writing as such did not exist, and for the original audience of the fifth century B. ... ’ (Herodotus 1). Herodotus was the first historian to apply critical evaluation to his material. ... Herodotus gave it an added meaning, that of enquiry about events in time. ...
Herodotus is almost totally silent about himself; the only thing he tells his audience about himself is his name and origin in Book 1 of “Histories”, saying, “These are the researches of Herodotus of Halicarnassus”. The dates of his birth and death date are uncertain as well, though Herodotus is believed to be born a little before the Persian Wars, therefore around 484 B. ... Scholars also believe that Herodotus does not mention anything past 430 B. ... Herodotus was the son of Lyxes and Dryo. ...
Herodotus seems to have begun as an expert on foreign cultures, a traveling sophist who lectured on the marvels of the world.
Approximate Word count = 1387
Approximate Pages = 5.5
(250 words per page double spaced)
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