Herodotus
lived during the fifth century BC, in the city of Halicarnassus (Region
of Turkey). He is best known for his work entitled The History, which is one of the
first historical narratives to discuss the life, customs, history and politics
of the Middle Eastern and Aegean region. Though the highlights of his actual
life remain vague, it is thought that in 457 BC he was exiled from
Halicarnassus for conspiring against Persian rule. After he was exiled, he
traveled to Samos and to other parts of the Mediterranean, including Asia
Minor, Egypt, Turkey, Babylonia and eventually to Athens, Greece. In Athens he
won the esteem of many of the most notable men of Greek history, including
Pericles. His journeys throughout the Aegean eventually led to the southern
pan Hellenic colony of Thurii, Italy. The remainder of his life was spent
writing The History, which was full of first hand accounts of the lands,
traditions and cultures he encountered on his journeys.
Herodotus has been regarded as the father of modern historiography. Historiography is in essence the history of historical writing and thought. The History provided a first hand account of the Scythian, Medes, Persian, Assyrian, and Egyptian cultures. His accounts of such cultures are methodical and well researched (though not without bias), often taken from the accounts of the natives of those cultures. His work also contains a good deal of analogy and stories about the Greek way of life and its varied philosophies.
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