Herodotus

Rosaria Vignolo Munson (Swarthmore College)

Ed. by Vaios Liapis, Open University of Cyprus
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.1: Greek Writing and Culture: Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Imperial, -800--100.
Vol. editors: Jonathan Burgess (University of Toronto), Anca Dan (École Practique de Hautes Études PSL), Martine Diepenbroek (University of Johannesburg), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Victoria Fendel (University of Oxford), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Vaios Liapis (Open University of Cyprus), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Mali Skotheim (Ashoka University), Laura Swift (The Open University), Guendalina Daniela Maria Taietti (University of Liverpool)

Dates

Born c. -484
Died c. -425
Activity c. -450-c. -425

Places

Born in Ancient Greece
Active in Ancient Greece

Activities

Primary

Historian / Chronicler

Resources

Herodotus' Works

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1. Life and times

The opening words of Herodotus' Histories announce that he is a Greek of the periphery. In the manuscript tradition he is Herodotus of Halicarnassus (modern Bodrum, in today's Turkey), a Dorian city with a strong Carian element. But in an equally authentic variant of the same passage quoted by Aristotle (Rhetoric 3.9), the author identifies himself instead as Herodotus of Thurii: this was the pan-Hellenic colony in southern Italy sponsored by Athens in 444 BCE, which he joined as a settler. Born on the eastern fringe of the Greek world, Herodotus became a citizen in a brand new community in the extreme West. By then he had traveled extensively—to Egypt, the Black Sea area, Babylon and all over Greece.

The opening words of Herodotus'

Histories

announce that he is a…

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3286 words

Citation: Munson, Rosaria Vignolo. "Herodotus". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 August 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2109, accessed 21 November 2024.]

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