The Singing Historian: The Ancient Greek Herodotus

Herodotus, the ‘father of history,’ was a traveling storyteller.

The title “Father of History” usually goes to the Greek writer Herodotus. Public Domain

Some may know Herodotus of Halicarnassus as “the world’s first historian.” Fewer realize that the man credited with inventing history was a traveling bard and a gifted one. 

Although he didn’t always stick to the facts, Herodotus (484 B.C.–425 B.C.) devoted his life to studying the past with care, reminding countless generations after him that history matters.

Herodotus of Halicarnassus  

Halicarnassus, now called Bodrum, is in modern-day Turkey. When Herodotus was born, the Persian Empire controlled the Greek-speaking city. Herodotus’s family was wealthy and influential, certainly more than the average Halicarnassian. He was related to the revered epic poet Panyassis, who in 454 B.C. led an uprising against Halicarnassus’s despot.