Why does Herodotus write history?

Question

Why does he write history and what is the big problem he directs his attention towards?

Answer 1

The Greeks fathered many things and Herodotus is generally considered the father of history. And although he is not beyond fable, he understood the difference between myth and fable on the one hand and more veracious history on thse other. But although he is not the "scientific" historian Thucydides, who wrote the great history of the war between the Athenians and Spartans, was, he is much more of a historian than his predecessors. Herodotus gives his work vast scope, going back to Persia and Egypt and earlier times. The great center of his work is the war between the Greeks and the Persians, who fielded vaster forces, and the triumph of the Greeks in it. He gave the Greeks a new sense of identity through his history. All in all, his vast history is a fascinating blend of fable, myth, and history proper. For instance, his account of the Egyptians is derived from first-hand conversation with the priests of Egypt. He tells the story of heroic Greece against a vast backdrop of more ancient peoples, all of whom he, like other Greeks, considered "barbarians" of various degrees.