Herodotus

Herodotus was an ancient Greek writer who lived around the 5th century BC. He was born in the city of Halicarnassus, which is in modern-day Turkey. At that time, the area was part of the Greek-speaking world. Herodotus spent much of his life traveling. He visited many regions around the Mediterranean Sea, the Middle East, and North Africa. He listened to stories, observed customs, and recorded what people told him.

Herodotus is best known for his long written work called The Histories. This book describes the events that led to the Greco-Persian Wars. These wars were fought between Greek city-states and the Persian Empire in the early 5th century BC. Herodotus wrote about major events such as the Battle of Marathon and the Battle of Thermopylae. He also explained how different rulers, including King Xerxes I of Persia, made decisions during the wars.

The word history comes from a Greek word meaning "inquiry" or "investigation". Herodotus used this idea in his writing. He did not only list events. He tried to explain why things happened. He collected information from many sources, such as local stories and eyewitness accounts. An eyewitness is a person who sees an event happen. Sometimes Herodotus reported different versions of the same story and did not always choose one as correct.

Herodotus also wrote about geography, customs, and daily life. He described rivers such as the Nile, lands such as Egypt and Scythia, and peoples with different languages and traditions. He explained how people dressed, what they ate, and how their societies were organized. These descriptions make his work important for learning about ancient cultures, not only wars.

Some parts of Herodotus’s writing include myths or stories that cannot be proven. For this reason, later writers sometimes criticized him. Even so, his work preserved many details that would otherwise be lost. He clearly separated what he personally saw from what he heard from others. This method influenced later historians.

Herodotus spent his later years in the Greek city of Thurii in southern Italy. He likely died around 425 BC. His writing continued to be copied and read in ancient Greece, the Roman world, and later in Europe. Because he was one of the first people to write long, organized accounts of past events, he is often called the "father of history".