The Greek Historian Herodotus, Known as “The Father of History”

Herodotus of Halicarnassus, the Father of History. Credit: Monsieurdl/Public Domain

Herodotus, or Ἡρόδοτος, born in Halicarnassus in 484 BC, was one of the most brilliant Greek thinkers of all time, and is known worldwide as “The Father of History.”

He took it upon himself to write down the history of the Greco-Persian Wars and other notable events of the time not as a dry, rote list of occurrences that were all caused by the gods — as had been done up until that time — but in a systematic way, in which eyewitness accounts of those who were present were collated and analyzed, using reason.

It seems beyond obvious today that that is the methodology and the goal — at least — of all historians.

But it took one brilliant man with the foresight to create this mindset and the methodology that was to be used forevermore in the recording of the events of humankind.

Portion of the “Histories” by Herodotus; 2nd century AD papyrus. Credit: Papyrus Room, Oxford University. Public Domain

Historian Barry S. Strauss writes, regarding on the legacy of Herodotus:

“He is simply one of the greatest storytellers who ever wrote. A Greek who lived in the fifth century BC, Herodotus was a pathfinder. He traveled the eastern Mediterranean and beyond to do research into human affairs: from Greece to Persia, from the sands of Egypt to the Scythian steppes, and from the rivers of Lydia to the dry hills of Sparta.

“The Greek for “research” is historia, where our word “history” comes from. His work holds up very well when judged by the yardstick of modern scholarship. But he is more than a historian.

“He is a philosopher with three great themes: the struggle between East and West, the power of liberty, and the rise and fall of empires. Herodotus takes the reader from the rise of the Persian Empire to its crusade against Greek independence, and from the stirrings of Hellenic self-defense to the beginnings of the overreach that would turn Athens into a new empire of its own.

“He goes from the cosmos to the atom, ranging between fate and the gods, on the one hand, and the ability of the individual to make a difference, on the other. And then there is the sheer narrative power of his writing…The old master keeps calling us back.”

Cicero dubbed Herodotus “The Father of History”

Born in the Greek city of Halicarnassus (present-day Bodrum, Turkey), which was then part of the Persian Empire, the great man has been referred to as “The Father of History” since ancient Roman orator Cicero conferred the title on him.

Before the Persian crisis, Greeks recorded history mostly as part of local or family traditions. The Greco-Persian Wars had afforded Herodotus the first genuinely historical inspiration felt by a Greek person. These conflicts showed him that there was a corporate life, higher than that of the city, of which the story might be told.

In the end, he portrayed the drama of the great collision between East and West. By his genius, the spirit of history was born into Greece.

The nine books of the Histories primarily cover the lives of prominent kings and famous battles which decided the fate of the West, such as Marathon, Thermopylae, Artemisium, Salamis, Plataea, and Mycale. Perhaps most interestingly, however, his work takes fascinating departures from the main topics to provide cultural, ethnographical, and geographical background that forms an essential part of the narrative.

While providing readers with a wellspring of additional information, these tales sometimes have caused scoffers to call his also “The Father of Lies,” when not all of his details meshed with later observation.

History as a systematic synthesis of events

But he did what no one else had even thought to do before in the history of the world — to systematically set down the progression of events as he knew them and to try to give reasons for them.

Herodotus has been criticized for his inclusion of “legends and fanciful accounts” in his work. The later historian Thucydides — who reportedly spoke to Herodotus as a youngster — later accused him of making up stories for entertainment.

In response, Herodotus explained that he reported what he “saw and (what was) told to him.” A sizable portion of the Histories has since been confirmed by modern historians and archaeologists.

The volumes are named after the Greek Muses: Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polymnia, Urania, and Calliope.

“So that things done by man not be forgotten in time”

In the first paragraph of the first book (of nine volumes) of The Histories, Herodotus writes: “This is the display of the inquiry of Herodotus of Halicarnassus, so that things done by man not be forgotten in time and that great and marvelous deeds — some displayed by the Hellenes, some by the barbarians — not lose their glory.”

Modern scholars generally turn to Herodotus’ writings for reliable information about his life, supplemented with much later sources, such as the Byzantine Suda, an 11th-century encyclopedia which most likely took its information from traditional accounts.

The Suda notes that Herodotus’ family was an influential one and that he was the son of Lyxes and Dryo, and had a brother named Theodorus; he was also related to Panyassis, an epic poet of that time.