Evolution of Historiography in Greek Civilization

Evolution of Historiography in Greek Civilization

Introduction

Greek history is always an important source for the historians to look for the beginning of the historiography or writing of the history. This emphasizes the need for understanding the source from where and how this historiography evolved in Greek civilization. Greek history has very rich resources in literature, theology, myths and historical description that it is always an attraction for the scholars. All these are the major sources to trace the evolution of historiography in Greek civilization. Works from the Greek writers are the major source for providing the complete detail about the historical background of the ancient Greece. There were various prose writers, epic writers, geographers and other historians who contributed in developing and expanding the history of ancient Greek. In the beginning, when there was no concept of writing history, even then, the chronicles, reports of journeys, mythical accounts and different other literary sources were constructing and generating a source for the Greek history.

It does not evolved as a field, but eventually the written historical accounts by various ancient Greek scholars and writers contributed in the evolution of writing history. Ancient Greek history is not only rich in historiography, but also in historiographers who provides the grounds in the evolution of historiography. There are various famous Greek historians such as Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, and Callisthenes. Among these famous Greek historians, Herodotus is known as the 'father of history'.One of these major accounts in the history of Greek is written by Herodotus who serves as the major contributor and founder in the historiography. He started his education in the Greek literature and his interest in it led to the collection of gathering all the material. His travels to the different countries enrich his knowledge and information in the historical account which required proper maintenance of all the record.

Thesis Statement

Herodotus is known as father of history and he has major contribution in the evolution of historiography in Greek civilization.

Discussion

Herodotus was born in Asia Minor in 484 B.C in a respectable family. His education and knowledge about the Greek literature enabled him to collect and account all the information he gathered from these materials in a complete and proper chronological order. His interest in literature and the information he gathered from all the collected works of different ancient writers, geographers, and other resources are the allow him to expand his knowledge and familiarity with the various events of the ancient Greek. He also travelled different place in the ancient Greece which increased his knowledge and information about the Greek literature which assist him in exploring the historical accounts. One of the most important aspects of the writings of Herodotus is that, it provides complete and detailed information about the all the places and people that he encountered with. His historical account also provides geographical descriptions and maps of the places to provide complete detail. Some major sources which assist Herodotus in becoming a historian are consist of ...