did hecateus influence the writing of history.?

Question

Herodotus learnt geography and the act of travelling from Hecateus.This helped Herodotus to come out with his result on the history of the egyptians and also on the wars.Hence if Herodotus in the 19th century was named the "Father of history" what then will we call Hecateus?And will we say that Hecateus contributed to coming of history?

Answer 1

Hecataeus' book doesn't exist any more. We know very little about it or about him. We just guess he was one of the Logographers, who wrote short accounts of foreign lands and their histories - but it was Herodotus who hit on the idea of combining these in a long narrative of the rise of Persia and its war with Greece. There was no Herodotus before Herodotus.

Answer 2

Why fall into the easy trap of describing Hecateus in terms of a later writer? Hecateus is an interesting figure in his own right.

He introduced a skepticism to historical writings that was unknown up to then. His writings cast doubt on the almost-flippant statements that writers used claiming divine ancestry.

I don't know why the 19th century historians labeled Herodotus as "Father of history" when Hecateus is just as entitled to that label.

Answer 3

if he lived then he had an influence, for you cannot live without affecting history. LF