Herodotus

American  

[huh-rod-uh-tuhs] / həˈrɒd ə təs /

noun

1. 484?–425? b.c., Greek historian.

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Herodotus British  

/ hɪˈrɒdətəs /

noun

1. called the Father of History. ?485–?425 _bc , Greek historian, famous for his History dealing with the causes and events of the wars between the Greeks and the Persians (490–479)

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Herodotus ¹ Cultural  

1. An ancient Greek historian, often called the father of history. His history of the invasion of Greece by the Persian Empire was the first attempt at narrative history and the beginning of all Western historical writing.

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Herodotus ² Cultural  

1. An ancient Greek historian, often called the father of history. His history of the invasion of Greece by the Persian Empire was the first attempt at narrative history and was the beginning of all Western history writing.

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Example Sentences

While Herodotus suggests the workings of fate in the earlier Persian Wars by reporting multiple opinions, Thucydides, likely influenced by Sophist philosophy, stages Athens’s inner conflict during the Peloponnesian War through imaginary dialogues.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 21, 2025

To hear Herodotus tell it, a total solar eclipse in 585 BC ended a five-year war between ancient kingdoms in present-day Turkey.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2024

He was the first to print editions of Aristotle, Thucydides, Herodotus and Sophocles; the first to use italic type; and the first to use the semicolon in its modern sense.

From New York Times • Jan. 17, 2024

The earliest known examples show up in The Histories by Herodotus, written in the 5th century BCE.

From Scientific American • Jun. 15, 2023

“Yeah, him too. But they were talking about Herodotus saying there were giant ants and gryphons guarding gold mines, and how he made this stuff up.”

From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman