History
An English word for the study and record of past events, derived from the Greek historia meaning inquiry or investigation, first used by Herodotus in the fifth century BCE
The Meaning of History
The word "history" derives from the Greek historia, meaning inquiry, investigation, or learning through research. Herodotus of Halicarnassus, writing in the fifth century BCE, opens his Histories with the declaration that he is presenting "the results of his inquiry" (histories apodexis) so that the great deeds of Greeks and barbarians should not be forgotten. This work, investigating the causes and events of the Persian Wars, earned Herodotus the title "Father of History" from Cicero. Herodotus's method combined eyewitness testimony, oral tradition, personal travel, and critical comparison of sources — an approach that, while imperfect by modern standards, established the principle that the past could be investigated systematically rather than simply remembered through myth and legend. His younger contemporary Thucydides refined the approach in his History of the Peloponnesian War, applying stricter standards of evidence and explicitly rejecting the marvellous in favour of political and military analysis. The word entered English through Latin and French and now designates both past events themselves and the academic discipline that studies them. Every history department in the world practises a discipline that traces its name and method to fifth-century Greece.
Parents
None recorded
Symbols
Fun Fact
Herodotus invented both the concept and the word for history — before him, cultures preserved the past through myth and legend rather than systematic investigation
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Thucydides
💭 conceptHistory, politics, war
Athenian historian who stripped myth from history in his account of the Peloponnesian War
Golden Age
💭 conceptLanguage and history
A proverbial expression for a past period of peace, prosperity, and happiness, derived from Hesiod's account of the first and best age of humanity under the rule of Kronos
Herodotus
💭 conceptHistory, ethnography, Persia
Father of History whose Histories records mythological traditions alongside the Persian Wars narrative
Diodorus Siculus
💭 conceptHistory, universal chronicle
Sicilian historian who compiled a universal history preserving many otherwise lost mythological traditions
Palaephatus
💭 conceptRationalism, myth interpretation
Ancient rationaliser who explained myths as misunderstood historical events in On Unbelievable Tales
Bibliotheca
💭 conceptLiterature
An alternative title for the mythological handbook attributed to Apollodorus, cataloguing the full scope of Greek myth
Academy
💭 conceptEducation, scholarship, institutional learning
A place of learning or scholarly institution, from Akademos, in whose sacred grove Plato founded his school.
Library of Apollodorus
💭 conceptLiterature
A comprehensive ancient handbook cataloguing Greek myths, genealogies, and heroic narratives
Academy
💭 conceptLanguage and education
An English word for an institution of learning, derived from the Akademeia, the grove outside Athens where Plato established his school of philosophy in 387 BCE
Philosophy
💭 conceptLanguage and thought
An English word for the study of fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, and ethics, derived from the Greek philosophia meaning love of wisdom
Xenophon
💭 conceptHistory, philosophy, horsemanship
Athenian soldier-writer whose works preserve mythological allusions within practical and philosophical contexts
Anamnesis
💭 conceptPlato's theory that learning is remembering
Plato's doctrine that the soul possesses innate knowledge from before birth, and that learning is really recollection.