short note on the ancient Greek historian Herodotus.
Herodotus (484 – 425 BC) was an ancient Greek historian.
He was born in Halicarnassus in the Persian
Empire. He is known for having written the book The Histories. The book contained a detailed record of his
"inquiry" on the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars. He was the first writer to have treated historical subjects
using a method of systematic investigation specifically, by collecting his
materials and then critically arranging them into a historiography narrative.
On account of this, he is often referred to as "The Father of History". The title was first conferred on him by the
first-century BC Roman Orator Cicero.
Herodotus, in his book, wrote about the ancient empires of Babylon,
Egypt, and Persia. He also wrote about the Ancient Greeks. Herodotus probably
told his stories in front of large numbers of people in Greek cities. Some men
at the time did this for pay. He is now most famous for his writings about the
wars between the Persian Empire and the Greek city-states. He told
the story from the Greek side, although the war was mostly finished when he was
still a child.
Herodotus mentioned that he travelled a lot. He went to Italy, Ukraine, Egypt, and Sicily. He may also have travelled to Babylon. He often used stories from people he met to write about other
places and happenings.
Some people
think that Herodotus wrote about things that were not true. This view can be
acceptable that he would have relied on information from various sources. His
work is important because there is very little writing on these subjects before
his works.
Sources
of Histories
In compiling the book Histories, Herodotus depended mainly on his
own observations, the accounts of eyewitnesses on both sides, and, for earlier
events, oral tradition. As the official records were not available to him, he
wrote little account. The archaeologists have accepted Herodotus as a
remarkably accurate reporter of what he saw himself. On depending to others for
information, he was critical enough in analysing and in making due allowances
for the bias of his informants.
Herodotus was uncritical in dealing with military operations. Because he
had no personal experience of warfare and therefore could not always assess
accurately the military plausibility of the stories he heard. At the same time
it is clear that he did not always believe what he was told and sometimes
related stories of doubtful reliability because it was all he had, or because
they were such good stories that he could not resist them. It is also sometimes
said that he did not take enough care over matters of chronology, but it was
very difficult indeed for anyone to work out and present a detailed and
accurate chronological scheme in an age when every little Greek city-state had
its own way of counting years and, often, its own calendar of months and days.
Herodotus wrote, in the Ionic dialect, a fascinating narrative in an
attractively simple and easy-flowing style, and he had a remarkable gift for
telling a story clearly and dramatically, often with a dry ironic sense of
humor; the best of his stories have delighted, and will continue to delight,
generations of readers.
Truly speaking Herodotus was much more than a mere storyteller. He was the first historian who put successfully together a long and involved historical narrative. He never missed a minute detail about the historical events. He himself analysed the matter. He did this with a remarkable degree of detachment. He never showed any of the Greeks' usual bias against the hereditary enemy, Persia, or of their contempt for barbarian peoples. His range of historical interests was much wider. He embraced not only politics and warfare but also economics, geography, and the many strange and wonderful ways of mankind. He was the first great European historian, through skill and honesty, who built up a complex and generally reliable account. The great literary merit of his writing fully justifies the title that has been bestowed on him "Father of History."