Herodotus
Spartans at
Thermopylae
Herodotus
(484?-425BC), Greek historian, known as the father of history, born in
Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey). He is believed to have been exiled from
Halicarnassus about 457BC for conspiring against Persian rule. He probably
went directly to Sámos, from which he traveled throughout Asia Minor,
Babylonia, Egypt, and Greece. The direction and extent of his travels are not
precisely known, but they provided him with valuable firsthand knowledge of
virtually the entire ancient Middle East. About 447BC he went to Athens, then
the center and focus of culture in the Greek world, where he won the
admiration of the most illustrious men of Greece, including the great Athenian
statesman Pericles. In 443BC Herodotus settled in the Panhellenic colony of
Thurii in southern Italy. He devoted the remainder of his life to the
completion of his great work, entitled History, the Greek word for
"inquiry."
The History has been divided by later
authors into nine parts. The earlier books deal with the customs, legends,
history, and traditions of the peoples of the ancient world, including the
Lydians, Scythians, Medes, Persians, Assyrians, and Egyptians. The last three
books describe the armed conflicts between Greece and Persia in the early 5th
century BC. In the History the development of civilization moves
inexorably toward a great confrontation between Persia and Greece, which are
presented as the centers, respectively, of Eastern and Western culture.
Herodotus's information was derived in part from the work of predecessors, but
it was widely supplemented with knowledge that he had gained from his own
extensive travels. Although he was sometimes inaccurate, he was generally
careful to separate plausible reports from implausible ones.
The History may be the first known
creative work to be written in prose. Both ancient and modern critics have
paid tribute to its grandeur of design and to its frank, lucid, and
delightfully anecdotal style. Herodotus demonstrates a wide knowledge of Greek
literature and contemporary rational thought. The universe, he believed, is
ruled by Fate and Chance, and nothing is stable in human affairs. Moral choice
is still important, however, since the gods punish the arrogant. This attempt
to draw moral lessons from the study of great events formed the basis of the
Greek and Roman historiographical tradition, of which Herodotus is rightly
regarded as the founder.