Herodotus

Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus in the Persian Empire (modern-day Bodrum, Turkey). He is known for having written the book The Histories, a detailed record of his "inquiry" (ἱστορία historía, a word that passed into Latin and took on its modern meaning of 'history') on the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars. He is widely considered to have been 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 historiographic narrative.

Life

Very little is known about Herodotus's life. His Histories primarily deals with the lives of others and their actions, and he is rarely mentioned in it. He was born around 484 BC in Halicarnassus, a Greek city in southwest Asia Minor that was then under Persian rule.

Work

Herodotus's Histories is divided into nine books, each named after one of the Muses. The Histories were at some point divided into the nine books that appear in modern editions, by the order of the first letter of the first word (after the preposition) of each book.

Legacy

Herodotus's work has had a lasting impact on the way history is studied. He is often referred to as "The Father of History", a title first conferred by Cicero. His work serves as a record of the ancient traditions, politics, geography, and clashes of various cultures that were known around the Mediterranean and Western Asia at that time.

See also

• History of Greece
• Ancient Greece
• Greco-Persian Wars

External links

• Britannica - Herodotus

Herodotus Resources
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