Herodotus

Herodotus (?485-?425 BCE) - in Greek Ἡρόδοτος, English pronunciation with the stress on the stress on the second syllable, IPA hɪ'rɒdətəs - was born in the Greek city of Halicarnassus in Asia Minor. However, owing to the violent political rivalries in Halicarnassus, he left his native city as a young man and spent much of his life travelling. He gave lectures in many of the cities of mainland Greece, including Athens, which he greatly admired, and also visited Egypt, Gaza, and Babylon (in modern-day Iraq). In the latter part of his life he lived in the Athenian colony of Thurii in southern Italy, and it was there that he died.

Herodotus' masterpiece, the History, is concerned with the Persian Wars (490- 479 BCE), in which the Persians twice - in 490 and 480 - invaded mainland Greece but each time were defeated - at the battle of Marathon in 490, at the sea-battle of Salamis in 480, and, conclusively, at the land-battle of Plataea in 479. These events, however, occupy only the last four of the nine books which comprise the History. The earlier books are concerned with the origins and causes of the conflict between Greece and Persia: they contain, amongst much other material often presented in the form of digressions, a history of the Persian Empire and, in Book 2, a justly famous account of Egypt (which had been conquered by the Persians).

Herodotus is known as the 'Father of History', and he is reasonably regarded as the first historian in the western tradition. He not merely chronicles events but tries to understand both their immediate and their underlying causes. Further, the History is the result of research. Herodotus takes into account the testimony of eyewitnesses, hearsay reports, and written material - at least some of his journeys were undertaken to gather evidence for the History. He attempts to evaluate his sources, to weigh the evidence, and to present the account which is supported by the best evidence. Even so - and no doubt unsurprisingly - he has been criticised by subsequent historians for being insufficiently critical of his sources - a tendency which is in part the result of an endearingly childlike fascination with the curious, the marvellous, and the fantastic.

Herodotus, as a native of Asia Minor, writes in the Ionic dialect, i.e., the same dialect as that of the Homeric epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey; and his literary style and some of his ways of thought show the influence of these poems.