Herodotus
3 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Herodotus. All 3 are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a Greek historian. He is called the father of history. He was born at Halicarnassus, 484 B. C. While a young man he traveled extensively in Egypt, Palestine, and Asia Minor , going as far eastward as Babylon and Susa. He became involved in the factional politics of his native city, and withdrew to Athens and afterward to Thurii, Italy, a Greek colony. Here he wrote his immortal History of the World in nine volumes. His general purpose is to narrate the conflict between the Greek and the Persian civilizations. He begins with the mythical history of the two races, describes the kingdom of Croesus, king of Lydia, the rise of the Persian monarchy, the Egyptian campaigns of Cambyses, and relates in detail the events of the Persian War. The writing of Herodotus is notable for excellence of language and breadth of view. He aims to show that the war between the Greeks and the Persians did not come about by accident; that it was not the result of proximity or of ambition; but that it was an irrepressible and unavoidable conflict between two different races, representing two types of civilization. Herodotus did not confine himself to the narration of military events. He thought it worth while to describe the wheat of Mesopotamia and training of the Persian youth to ride, to use the bow, and to tell the truth. The overflow of the Nile and the use of the papyrus plant attracted his attention. See Thucydides
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a Greek historian, surnamed "the Father of History"; born in Halicarnassus, Asia Minor, probably about 484 B. C. Disgusted with the government of Lygdamis, the grandson of Artemisia, who was tyrant of his native city, he retired for a time to the island of Samos, whence he acquired the Ionic dialect, in which he afterward composed his history. To collect the necessary materials for his great work, he entered in early manhood on a course of patient and observant travel, visiting almost every part of Greece and its dependencies, and many other countries. On his return from his travels, he took a prominent part in delivering his country from the tyranny of Lygdamis. But the expulsion of the tyrant did not bring tranquillity to Halicarnassus, and Herodotus, having himself become an object of dislike, again quitted his native city, and settled at Thurii, in the S. of Italy, B. C. 443. Here he wrote the work which has immortalized his name. His history consists of nine books, which bear the names of the nine Muses. He died in Thurii, Italy, probably about 424 b. c.
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
A celebrated Greek historian and the father of history. Born at Halicarnassus , в. c. 484. He ranks among historians as Homer does among the poets and Demosthenes among the orators. His great work is a history of the wars of the Persians against the Greeks, from the age of Cyrus to the battle of Mycale in the reign of Xerxes ; besides which it gives an account of many celebrated nations. A life of Homer is attributed to his pen, though by some the authorship is doubted. The excellences of his style consist in its antique and epic coloring, its transparent clearness, and the lively flow of the narrative. Heruli or Eruli. A powerful German race, who are said to have come originally from Scandinavia, attacked the Roman empire on its decline. Under the command of Odoacer, who is said to have been an Herulian, they destroyed the Western empire, A. D. 476.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The biographical outline in Aiton's 1910 entry and Collier's 1921 one is still roughly what is taught, though modern scholars treat the birth date of 484 B.C. as an ancient guess rather than a record, and note that the division into nine books named for the Muses was made by later Alexandrian editors, not by Herodotus himself. The Life of Homer that 1000 Classical Characters (1900) says is 'attributed to his pen' is now firmly rejected as a much later composition. The largest shift is in reputation: where Herodotus long carried a second nickname, 'the Father of Lies', twentieth-century archaeology and Near Eastern texts have confirmed a surprising amount of what he reported about Egypt, Scythia and the Persian empire, and he is read today as a careful, if credulous, reporter of what he was told rather than a fabulist. His attention to Mesopotamian wheat, the Nile flood and Persian schooling, which Aiton's treats as a charming aside, is now often the reason historians and anthropologists read him at all.
Written for this edition, 2026.