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Herodotus Facts & Worksheets

Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus in the Persian Empire (modern-day Bodrum, Turkey).

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Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus in the Persian Empire (modern-day Bodrum, Turkey). He was often referred to as “The Father of History”, a title first placed on him by Cicero, the 1st-century BC Roman orator. Being one of the most widely traveled people of his time, Herodotus wrote about the ancient empires of Babylon, Egypt, and Persia, and about the Ancient Greeks.

See the fact file below for more information on the Herodotus or alternatively, you can download our 20-page Herodotus worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

EARLY LIFE

  • Little of his personal life is known beyond what can be gathered from his writings.
  • Herodotus was born around 485 BC in Halicarnassus, a Greek colony in Asia Minor.
  • According to Suda, he came from a wealthy and influential family, and he was the son of Lyxes and Dryo and the brother of Theodorus. He was also related to Panyassis – an epic poet of the time.
  • In the midst of the 6th century BC, Halicarnassus became a satrapy, or province, of the Persian Empire and was ruled by a tyrant named Lygdamis.
  • Herodotus’ family denied the rule of Lygdamis and was sent into exile on the island of Samos.
  • When he was a young man, Herodotus returned briefly to Halicarnassus to take part in the overthrow of the tyrant, but he did not remain there.

ORIGINS OF ‘THE HISTORIES’ OF HERODOTUS

  • Instead of living in one place, Herodotus spent his life traveling from one Persian territory to another.
  • He passed the Mediterranean Sea going to Egypt and traveled through Palestine to Syria and Babylon.
  • He went to Macedonia and visited all of the islands of the Greek Archipelago, which includes Rhodes, Cyprus, Delos, Paros, Thasos, Samothrace, Crete, Samos, Cythera, and Aegina.
  • He sailed in the Hellespont to the Black Sea and kept going until he hit the Danube River.
  • While he traveled, Herodotus accumulated what he called “autopsies”, or “personal inquiries”. He listened to myths and legends, recorded oral histories, and made notes of the different places and things that he encountered.
  • It is likely that he initially went on his travels as a trader, as his writings display his great interest in the products and methods of transport of the countries he describes. Few Greeks of his time could have afforded to make such long journeys purely for pleasure.
  • When Herodotus stopped traveling, he went back to Athens. There, he became something of a celebrity.
  • He performed readings in public places and collected fees from officials for his appearances. In 445 BC., the people of Athens voted to award him a prize of 10 talents – almost $200,000 in today’s money – to honor him for his contributions to the city’s intellectual life.
  • After a time, however, Herodotus transferred to the Athenian colony of Thurii in Italy, which remained his residence for the rest of his life. The date of his death is unknown. The latest events in his writings took place in 430 BC, and it is commonly assumed that he died not long afterward.

‘THE HISTORIES’ BY HERODOTUS

  • Herodotus spent his whole life working on just one project that he called “The Histories” (it is from Herodotus’ work that we take the current meaning of the word “history”). This was a detailed record of his “inquiry” on the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars.
  • It is possible that he originally conceived his subject as being limited to an account of the origins and execution of the Persian attack on Greece or the Greco-Persian Wars (499–479 BC).
  • However, in the end, it expanded to embrace the entire history of the relations between the Greek world and Persia and the other kingdoms of Asia.
  • Most of the knowledge we have about the Battle of Marathon came from Herodotus. “The Histories” also included observations and stories, both factual and fictional, from Herodotus’ travels.
  • After Herodotus’ death, Alexandrian scholars divided “The Histories” into nine books.
  • The first five books explore the past to try to explain the rise and fall of the Persian Empire. They describe the geography of all of the states that the Persians conquered and tell about their people and customs.
  • The following four books describe the story of the war itself, from the invasions of Greece by Persian emperors Darius and Xerxes to the Greek triumphs at Salamis, Plataea, and Mycale in 480 and 479 BC.
  • The narrative style of Herodotus is much like that of a storyteller and did not leave much room for analysis. He treats every piece of his narrative, from the main themes to the digressions and from the facts to the fictions, with equal importance.
  • He shows how Persian hubris defeated by a great empire, but he also puts a great deal of stock in gossipy tales of personal shortcomings and moral lessons.
  • Written in the Ionic dialect of classical Greek in 430 BC, “The Histories” of Herodotus serves as a document of the ancient traditions, politics, geography, and clashes of different cultures that were known in Greece, Western Asia, and Northern Africa at that period.

THE LEGACY OF ‘THE HISTORIES’

  • Rival historian Thucydides, who relied only on “factual” evidence to give a less subjective account of “what had been done”, often criticized Herodotus for injecting “fables” into his narrative just to make it more delightful and pleasant to read.
  • There are people who call Thucydides “the first historian” and Herodotus “the first liar”.
  • No matter how one judges his recordings, “The Histories” of Herodotus is considered the founding work of history in Western literature.

Herodotus Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about Herodotus across 20 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Herodotus worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about Herodotus who was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus in the Persian Empire (modern-day Bodrum, Turkey). He was often referred to as “The Father of History”, a title first placed on him by Cicero, the 1st-century BC Roman orator. Being one of the most widely traveled people of his time, Herodotus wrote about the ancient empires of Babylon, Egypt, and Persia, and about the Ancient Greeks.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Herodotus Facts
  • Quick Facts
  • Brief Bio
  • Key Impacts
  • Visited Places
  • The Father of History
  • Thucydides vs Herodotus
  • Interesting Facts!
  • Acrostics
  • Turkey Spots

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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