more photos (1)

Herodotus’s Followers (617)

Herodotus

Born

Halicarnassus, Caria, Greece

Website

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herodotus

Genre

History, Nonfiction

Influences

Aesop ...more

edit data

Herodotus (greek: Ηρόδοτος) was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria (modern-day Bodrum, Turkey) and lived in the fifth century BCE (c. 484–425 BCE). He has been called "The Father of History", as well as "The Father of Lies." He was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent, and arrange them in a well-constructed and vivid narrative. The Histories—his masterpiece and the only work he is known to have produced—is a record of his "inquiry" (or ἱστορία historía, a word that passed into Latin and acquired its modern meaning of "history"), being an investigation of the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars and including a wealth of geographical and ethnogra Herodotus (greek: Ηρόδοτος) was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria (modern-day Bodrum, Turkey) and lived in the fifth century BCE (c. 484–425 BCE). He has been called "The Father of History", as well as "The Father of Lies." He was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent, and arrange them in a well-constructed and vivid narrative. The Histories—his masterpiece and the only work he is known to have produced—is a record of his "inquiry" (or ἱστορία historía, a word that passed into Latin and acquired its modern meaning of "history"), being an investigation of the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars and including a wealth of geographical and ethnographical information. Although some of his stories were fanciful and others inaccurate, he claimed he was reporting only what had been told to him. Little is known of his personal history.

It was not until the time of Herodotus that gods began to have less influence upon history that was written, yet it was still implied because of the largely accepted view of the Greeks and the expectations that they may have had of how The Histories would be written. History was becoming more of a “knowledge” rather than an amusement. Because of Herodotus wanting people to accept what he had to write, he implemented stories that may have not directly correlated to gods, but rather implemented the idea that miracles or supernatural events took place. As was the story of Arion and the dolphin. While on a boat the men found out that Arion, who was a musician, was worth lots of money and decided to have him killed. The crew gave him two options, that either he jump ship or they kill him on the spot. Arion flung himself into the water and a dolphin carried him to shore.

Herodotus was more concerned with putting pleasure before knowledge, unless he did not believe that the gods had a dramatic influence on history and was rather just trying to please his audience. Like the story of the king having his servant look upon his naked wife, and when spotting him hiding, asked him to kill her husband.[78] This, like many stories of Herodotus, are told in great detail, and for the simplicity of dramatic effect. This refers back to the way bards used to tell their poems or stories to their audience. Herodotus was accused by many because of such detailed accounts, and even called a liar by some. In his writing we can already see that there was no direct association with gods. ...more

Combine Editions
Herodotus’s books

Average rating: 3.99 · 53,805 ratings · 1,844 reviews · 540 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Histories 3.99 avg rating — 49,189 ratings — published -450 — 921 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The history of Herodotus — Volume 1 by Herodotus, George Campbell Macaulay (Translator) 4.12 avg rating — 634 ratings — published -450 — 141 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	An Account of Egypt 3.79 avg rating — 478 ratings — published -450 — 135 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Herodotus: The Persian Wars, Books I-II by Herodotus, A. D. Godley 4.27 avg rating — 316 ratings — published -430 — 17 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The history of Herodotus — Volume 2 by Herodotus, George Campbell Macaulay (Translator) 4.11 avg rating — 310 ratings — published -440 — 104 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Madness of Cambyses by Herodotus, Tom Holland (Translator) 3.20 avg rating — 365 ratings — published -400 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Snakes with Wings and Gold-digging Ants by Herodotus, Aubrey de Sélincourt (Translator), John M. Marincola (Revised by) 3.44 avg rating — 206 ratings — published 2007 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Xerxes Invades Greece by Herodotus, Aubrey de Sélincourt (Translator), John M. Marincola (Revised by) 3.63 avg rating — 128 ratings — published -440 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Herodotus 7-9 3.80 avg rating — 100 ratings — published -430 — 25 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	L'enquête, Livres I à IV 4.28 avg rating — 85 ratings — published -440 — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Herodotus…

Series by Herodotus

Historiae (2 books)
by

Herodotus,

George Campbell Macaulay (Translator)

4.12 avg rating — 944 ratings

Ιστορίαι (9 books)
by

Herodotus

3.98 avg rating — 812 ratings

Historien (7 books)
by

Herodotus

3.95 avg rating — 740 ratings

Loeb Herodotus (4 books)
by

Herodotus,

A.D. Godley (Translator)

4.29 avg rating — 462 ratings

Quotes by Herodotus (?)

“Of all men’s miseries the bitterest is this: to know so much and to have control over nothing.”
― Herodotus, The Histories

tags: power-helplessness

321 likes

“He asked, 'Croesus, who told you to attack my land and meet me as an enemy instead of a friend?'

The King replied, 'It was caused by your good fate and my bad fate. It was the fault of the Greek gods, who with their arrogance, encouraged me to march onto your lands. Nobody is mad enough to choose war whilst there is peace. During times of peace, the sons bury their fathers, but in war it is the fathers who send their sons to the grave.”
― Herodotus, The Histories

tags: inspirational, war

225 likes

“It is better by noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half of the evils we anticipate than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what might happen.”
― Herodotus, The Histories

tags: courage, cowardice

132 likes

See all Herodotus's quotes »

Polls

2nd Quarter 2018 (April-June) Long Read Poll

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, 1849, 882 pages

63 votes, 15.7%

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, 1847, 867 pages

63 votes, 15.7%

The Arabian Nights, 800, 1049 pages

43 votes, 10.7%

Roots: The Saga of an American Family by Alex Haley, 1976, 729 pages

35 votes, 8.7%

The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, 1008, 1182 pages

29 votes, 7.2%

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell, 1866, 679 pages

28 votes, 7.0%

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough, 1977, 692 pages

23 votes, 5.7%

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, 1996, 1088 pages

22 votes, 5.5%

The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio, 1353, 909 pages

21 votes, 5.2%

Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family by Thomas Mann, 1901, 731 pages

20 votes, 5.0%

The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing, 1962, 640 pages

15 votes, 3.7%

An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser, 1925, 859 pages

11 votes, 2.7%

The Histories by Herodotus, 400 BCE, 716 pages

9 votes, 2.2%

Daniel Deronda by George Eliot, 1865, 796 pages

6 votes, 1.5%

The Golden Bough by James George Frazer, 1890, 880 pages

5 votes, 1.2%

The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman, 1982, 936 pages

5 votes, 1.2%

Five Smooth Stones by Ann Fairbairn, 1966, 933 pages

3 votes, 0.7%

401 total votes

17 comments

More...

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
The Book Challenge: Inna's 200 in 2010	67	752	Apr 09, 2010 05:52AM
Book Buying Addic...: Titles A-Z Game	684	772	Apr 21, 2010 07:20PM
The Sword and Laser: S&C: Wolfe Inspirations	3	37	Mar 02, 2011 08:17PM
Classics and the ...: The Tea Shop 2	893	366	Feb 18, 2013 03:09PM
You'll love this ...: Classics that are really easy to get into	13	111	Mar 02, 2013 01:22PM
The History Book ...: ARCHIVE ONE: PLEASE INTRODUCE YOURSELF ~	6570	4305	May 08, 2013 03:33PM

More…

Is this you? Let us know. If not, help out and invite Herodotus to Goodreads.

Herodotus’s Followers (617)

Herodotus

Combine EditionsHerodotus’s books

Series by Herodotus

Polls

Topics Mentioning This Author

Combine Editions
Herodotus’s books