Herodotus was a historian above all others. He wrote history in a story-like manner and described both the good and the bad in his tales. His way of telling history to this day is more popular than giving something such as a graphed line of events. If he did say give a graphed line of events, he would not be the writer we all know him as today.
Herodotus’ way of presenting history is well thought out. He took events and happenings and made it into a sort of story, which is easily digestible by the minds of men. Most people enjoy an epic, one that has thrilling battles and artful deception. Describing both of the good and the bad, showing the duality that man faces in his’ day to day existence. Herodotus was a splendid story teller and the format of his Histories is that of a large story, that is why his work is exceptionally famous. The Assyrian cities were occupied by the Babylonians, who advanced along the Mediterranean shores to punish Egypt; the Medes were content to take the Assyrian treasuries to their homeland. Herodotus' narrative can be reconciled with the cuneiform texts if we assume that his informers were Persians and/or Medes, and not Babylonians. Cyaxares' son Astyages is the next king of the Medes, and his daughter Mandane is married to a Persian named Cambyses, a man he knew to be of good family and quiet habits. The Persians were subject to the Medes. A child is born: Cyrus. After some nightmares that predict the baby's future as lord of all Asia, Astyages decides to kill the child. Herodotus tells the fairy tale-like story of Cyrus' miraculous escape from danger. The boy grows up to become the bravest and most popular young man in Persia. His emphasis is often on stories and anecdotes about what people thought and felt as opposed to what might be called objective facts and information. Herodotus’ way of presenting history is well thought out. He took events and happenings and made it into a sort of story, which is easily digestible by the minds of men. Most people enjoy an epic, one that has thrilling battles and artful deception. Describing both of the good and the bad, showing the duality that man faces in his’ day to day existence.
His way of telling history is by far, a more popular way than just giving a line of events. This way of presenting history is in some places flawed but overall it is an effective way of telling history. Giving a graphed line of events may be more effective with showing you them in an ordered pattern but if Herodotus wrote his Histories this way he would not be the writer we all know him as. The story telling format is a way to catch the reader eye, it is to make interest where there is none, it is a way to take regular information and create epic tales. Herodotus doesn’t just tell you a story he tells you geography, emotion, and interesting characters. The king Croesus of Lydia, a country in the west of modern Turkey was the first to subject the Ionian Greeks (living in Asia)....
