Herodotus Analytical Essay

Sometime around the year 425 B.C., the writer and geographer Herodotus published his magnum opus: a long account of the Greco-Persian Wars that he called The Histories. In the introductory lines of Herodotus of Halicarnassus’ this book, he says “The purpose is to prevent the traces of human events from being erased by time, and to prevent the fame of the important and remarkable achievements produced by both Greeks and non-Greeks; among matters covered is, in particular, the cause of the hostilities between Greeks and non-Greeks.” Herodotus makes it clear from the beginning exactly what he intends to do. He certainly did achieve his goal. To support the aforementioned statement, the author has stated several fair, balanced facts and examples in his writing that are going to be discussed in this paper.
Through The Histories, Herodotus makes sure that astonishing deeds performed by both Greeks and barbarians should not become aklea, without fame, and that wonderful erga, or achievements, should not vanish. He writes about Glaucus of Chios, who was the man who single-handedly invented iron-welding ; and that “They (Lydians)

Rather, he leaves the decision of believing the story or not with his listener or reader, although he occasionally gave his opinion about the story’s veracity. He writes, “Personally, I am not entirely convinced by this story about Salmoxis and his underground chamber, but I do not entirely disbelieve it either.” One of the main things impacting Herodotus’ writing was the lack of experience within his writing as he had not witnessed most of these accounts, but acquired the information through interviews of possibly unreliable sources. In Book 7, while talking about Argives, he states that, “ I am obliged to record things I am told, but I am certainly not required to believe them –this remark may be taken to apply as to the whole of my