The Sins of the Father (of History): Herodotus and Analysis of the Human Condition Anonymous College

While its title would suggest it serves as a documentation of actual events, Herodotus’s Histories is far more occupied with exploring the intricacies of human thought and emotions through time and varying cultures than providing a survey of facts. Through the entirety of the volumes, Herodotus often points out his uncertainty with the events he is describing, remarking that these are the things he has been told or overheard, but that does not dilute the effects of his tales. Though the occurrences may not be completely accurate, the anecdotes give insight into the values held in high esteem throughout these societies, and also illuminate how people and cultures interacted. For these reasons, Herodotus should not be deemed the Father of History, but rather the Father of Anthropology, for he is more concerned with what the past can teach us about humanity instead of simply teaching us about the past itself.

Herodotus’s prose meanders and often proceeds on long digressions, but as he points out early on, they always serve a purpose in his quest to give insight to the cultures, customs, and interactions he is describing. As he says,

I will cover minor and major human settlements equally, because most of those which were important...