num_pages: 653
description: Herodotus' Histories is the first great prose work in European literature. Its main theme is the heroic and successive struggle of a small and divided Greege against the mighty empire of Persia - with its underlying conflict between the absolutism of the East and the free institutions of the West. Herodotus has been called the Father of Lies as well as the Father of History; but it was a feature of his method, when evidence was lacking, to record popular belief and the result is one of the most entertaining books in the world.
language: English
title: The Histories
titlecomplete: The Histories
characters: Psamtik I, Kleombrotos, Massagetai, Mardonius, Kandaules, Labda, Candaules of Lydia, Hydarnes II, Mardonlos, Amasis II, Artabazos I of Phrygia, Hermotimos, Thales of Miletus, Leonidas, Artemisia I of Caria, Gyges of Lydia, Tomyris (Massagetean Queen), Gorgos, Apollo (Greek god), Histiaios, Bagaios, Leotychidas, Eurybiades, Pausanias of Sparta, Cambyses I, Croesus, Themistocles, Cyrus the Great, Leutychides, Aphrodite (Greek Goddess), Adrastos, Hekataios, Megabazus, Xerxes I of Persia, Maeandrius, Harpagos, Solon (of Athens), Artyphius, Artaphrenes, Kepheus, Psamtik III, Necos, Ister, Kypselos
genres: Greece, Mythology, Historical, Philosophy, Ancient History, Literature, Classics, Nonfiction, History, Ancient
ratings_count: 50374
places: Sparta, Babylon, Ecbatana, Cappadocia, Sardis (now: Sart), Delphi, Halys River, Egypt, Marathon, Salamis, Corynth, Athens, Cytherea, Lydia, Ascalon (now: Ashkelon)
publisher: Penguin Classics