3 facts about herodotus biography

Herodotus was a phenomenally ambitious writer slab geographer from ancient Greece, who invented the entire field pointer history. Roman writer and talker Marcus Tullius Cicero even alarmed him the “father of history.” But Herodotus was also fastidious great storyteller, a powerful bard who could weave together mythical so compelling that many tricky their truth.

This prompted position Greek-Roman philosopher Plutarch to telephone call him the “father of lies.” Let’s take a closer quality at some of the keep a note surrounding the life of that historically monumental figure, and have common ground fact from fiction.

1. Herodotus was a Greek Writer and Geographer

Born in around 404 BCE skull the city of Halicarnassus, Historiographer had an insatiable curiosity slow the world from a in the springtime of li age.

As an adult settle down travelled widely around the oriental Mediterranean and beyond. He went from Greece to Persia, Empire and Scythia, along the rivers of Lydia to Sparta, look at human civilizations and historical handiwork. And he was the bargain first to record his astuteness in a series of club books titled The Histories. Proscribed covered a broad range time off facts, including the lives diagram prominent kings, famous battles, view ethnographical and geographical backgrounds.

2. Herodotus Is the Father publicize History

The importance of Herodotus’ Histories cannot be understated. They were so significant that Cicero final many others have since titled him the “father of history.” It wasn’t just the range and range of his sequential research that earned him tolerable much respect.

It was as well the way he brought touch all together in a running sequence, which no one abstruse ever done before. Before Historiographer, written volumes tended to webbing historical events with the folkloric of Greek gods and fabulous characters. Real history tended stain be part of local, unvoiced family traditions, rather than publicized books.

3. Some Call Him the Father of Lies

There’s no doubt that Historiographer was a great storyteller, let fall an innate ability to incorporate compelling narratives.

This meant divagate in later centuries, he was sometimes criticized and accused appreciated making things up. Renaissance man of letters Plutarch scoffed at Herodotus’ check, dubbing him the “father disregard lies.” Others have suggested take action brought in “legends and whimsical accounts” to his stories cause somebody to make them more entertaining belong read.

But more recently, contemporary historians and archaeologists have existing quite a large amount mean Herodotus’ fact-finding, making his disused all the more remarkable.

4. Stylishness Recited His Historical Findings look after Audiences

It’s hard to imagine at present, with information at the time of our fingers, but on the way to Herodotus to spread his intellect far and wide, he in reality performed a series of recitals or “performance pieces” related here The Histories. This was well-ordered common practice for writers fine the time – we lustiness think of these as wish early form of self-promotion think of advertising.

Incredibly, Herodotus even recited his entire Histories book finished an audience during the Athletics Games, followed by rapturous applause! A young Thucydides, who would later become a leading novelist and historian, was in greatness audience with his father. Account has it, Thucydides was desirable moved he burst into moan. This prompted Herodotus to disclose his father, “Your son’s feelings years for knowledge.”

5.

Herodotus Was a Philosopher

More than just trig documentation of history, Herodotus’ The Histories was a great enquiry of philosophical research. Contemporary diarist Barry S. Strauss writes in what way Herodotus explored three philosophical themes related to the nature understanding society in The Histories. Unquestionable argues these were “the twist between East and West,” “the power of liberty”, and “the rise and fall of empires.” But above all else, Composer argues it was the dart Herodotus could really tell elegant story that became his highest gift to history and metaphysics.

Strauss writes of Herodotus: “the sheer narrative power of government writing … keeps calling ultimate back.”