Herodotus

Born 484 · Died ca 428 a.C.

From Halicarnassus, Muğla Province, Turkey · Nationality: Halicarnassus · Writes nonfiction

Quotes

“Ἡροδότου Ἁλικαρνησσέος ἱστορίης ἀπόδεξις ἥδε, ὡς μήτε τὰ γενόμενα ἐξ ἀνθρώπων τῷ χρόνῳ ἐξίτηλα γένηται, μήτε ἔργα μεγάλα τε καὶ θωμαστά, τὰ μὲν Ἕλλησι τὰ δὲ βαρβάροισι ἀποδεχθέντα, ἀκλεᾶ γένηται, τά τε ἄλλα καὶ δι᾽ ἣν αἰτίην ἐπολέμησαν ἀλλήλοισι.”
The Histories
“I am going to talk at some length about Egypt, because it has very many remarkable features and has produced more monuments which beggar description than anywhere else in the world.”
The Histories, Book 2
“For if one should propose to all men a choice, bidding them select the best customs from all the customs that there are, each race of men, after examining them all, would select those of his own people; thus all think that their own customs are by far the best”
The Histories, Book 3
“The Scythians take kannabis seed, creep in under the felts, and throw it on the red-hot stones. It smolders and sends up such billows of steam-smoke that no Greek vapor bath can surpass it. The Scythians howl with joy in these vapor-baths, which serve them instead of bathing, for they never wash their bodies with water.”
The Histories, Book 4
“Stranger, tell the people of Lacedaemon / That we who lie here obeyed their commands.”
The Histories, Book 7

Books by Herodotus in order

Books by Herodotus in the order they were published, from Herodotus (1494) to The Histories (Second Edition) (2013).

Authors readers of Herodotus often like, from our AI-written notes

ThucydidesWrote a history of the Peloponnesian War with a stricter focus on cause, evidence and political analysis. Readers often compare his method with Herodotus's wider scope.
XenophonWrote the Anabasis, an account of a Greek army's retreat through Persian territory, and the Hellenica, a continuation of Thucydides. Good for readers interested in travel and Persia from a Greek viewpoint.
PolybiusA later Greek historian who wrote about Rome's rise and examined causes and institutions. Useful for readers who want the next stage of ancient historical writing.
CtesiasWrote a history of Persia known mostly through later quotations. Readers interested in how Greeks described the Persian court can compare the two, with caution about the fragmentary sources.
LivyA Roman historian who wrote a long narrative history with speeches and dramatic scenes, and who was read by writers after Herodotus as a model of narrative history.