Why is Herodotus called “The Father of History”? - Mark Robinson
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- čas přidán 12. 05. 2024
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2,500 years ago, the writing of history as we know it didn’t exist. The past was recorded as a list of events, with little explanation for their causes beyond accepting things as the will of the gods. Herodotus wanted a deeper understanding, so he took a new approach: looking at events from both sides to understand the reasons for them. Mark Robinson explains how “history” came into being.
Lesson by Mark Robinson, directed by Remus and Kiki
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TED-Ed actually i have an idea and what to send to you as a innovater, where to send you
TED-Ed please explain Diogenes's history, I absolutely love him, and anyone who loves Greek philosophy would too
TED-Ed
Can u do video on how a project works??
I saw many videos those complicated to understand
alias punter 7
TED-thjoom
Herodotus: the world's first blogger--blending history, myths, anecdotes, and hyperbole in one book.
Dude deserves credit just for knowing to separate those things into separate categories. There's people today who don't know to do that.
Very true.
Amazing
Also during the Roman Empire there was a guy called Lucian who wrote a fanfic of the Oddessy called "True History/Story" (the translation differs) criticizing Herodotus's methods. So revenge fics were also a thing
Merritt Animation humans will never change, lol
One of my favourite inaccuracies he made was when he was told about a hippopotamus. Hippopotamus in Greek translates to 'water-horse', so I believe his description was a horse made of water that can't enter land.
Yo I ffen love you and your channel I’m so surprised to see your comment I love history I hope you do too. Keep up the hard work bro I always watch every video. 💯
Hippopotamus means river - horse
It means 'horse-river'...
Much of his accounts of Egypt were told from first hand experience which ifni remember correctly included hippos.
TED Ed really brings out curiosity on deeper understanding of the subject. Now I'm curious on how to catch a crocodile.
Haiqal Indiragiri me too!
When I read how to catch a crocodile from your comment the video said how to catch a crocodile.
Ask florida man
Idk how to catch a crocodile but I read somebody’s blog on how to survive when u r half swallowed by an anaconda
Go to Florida they'll teach you for a price
*Of all men’s miseries the bitterest is this: to know so much and to have control over nothing.*
good comment
Are you talking about politics? XD
But at least we have control over ourselves, isn't it?
Egyptian: I could tell you about the aliens who helped us build the pyramids.
Herodotus: Boring!
Egyptian: Uh, flying snakes?
Herodotus: That's the spice!
oh my god
He wrote about the pyramids with the egyptians and I can assure you that he never wrote down a word about aliens.
Anubis that’s the point
nah, everyone knows that the pyramids were built in honor of bill cipher.
Flying snakes are dragons
Thanks Herodotus for creating my favorite learning subject!
Same!thanks!
You're welcome
well ibn khaldoun made history important. Not herodotus
@@pelezadossantos1309yeah, he also made sociology interesting
@@pelezadossantos1309 2,000 years after Herodotus , Xenophon and *Thucydides,* about 1,500 years after all the Historians of the Hellenistic period like Polybius, Ptolemy Soter and *Diodorus,* and about 1,000 years after all the historians of the Roman era like *Livy, Strabo, Arrian* and so on, not to mention the Byzantine historians and those in the rest of the world up until the Middle Ages and the times of Ibn Khaldoun. Yeah, the works of all those equals nothing compared to Ibn Khaldoun. Thing is, Im not trying to devalue Khaldun, you devalued all the others.
He's also a cool character in Odyssey
lmao that's the main reason im here. he's a real G.
Thanks man
Mario odyssey?
@@purpledevilr7463 asassin’s creed
:)
The animation is superb as always! I especially love the style used in this video, they all look like Smurfs with big beard.
Yes you're right they use very beautiful animation everytime
It’s by Remus and kiki
Animation is bad
The animation is beautiful!♡
Ananya Singh Right 😀
I absolutely loved the scene when Herodotus passes the god :D
ingwer moschus Yes! That was amazing
Zeus reaction though.
The animator is remus and Kiki! I knew I recognized th style. You can find them on yt
You left out the part about how he traveled around Greece with the misthios Kassandra and helped bring down the Cult of Kosmos!
John Hitchcock there’s much to do, and many unknown in the horizon
Lol
Well, Alexios did tell him not to write it down.
@@mike140298 You mean Kassandra?
You mean Alexios
if I've learned anything from this video, it's that I need to acquire many Himalayan Marmots
Then you'd have literal gold diggers on your hands
I learned that gnome is reason, which is a terrifying realization
Chase B. I second this 🥵
Well I’m doomed
*If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree.*
True indeed
INCREDIBLE!
love it!
that's true
k
*SPARTANS*
WHAT IS YOUR PROFESSION!
*AAUUU*
*AAUUU*
*AAUUU*
theokchannel You see my friend i brought more soldiers than you
theokchannel oh come on.
Let us rest. Greeks enjoy life and peace.
Probably too much.
The only cause, worth dying are women.
@Toaster-800 I understood that reference, old man
just leaving my answer here for when this is top comment
Honestly, if you want to speak about history with modern standards, the father of history was Thucydides. He was the first to understand that history was meant to belong to humanity forever and so, he had to be impartial, acccurate and scientific. Unlike Herodotus, he did not believe that what happened to humans was the result of the god's love or wrath. He just layed down the cold, hard facts. He spent most of his life searching, trying to hear both sides of the story, visiting the places where the famous battles had happened. This last point can be proven if you think that even though he was alive at the end of the Peloponnesian War, he wrote only the events until 411 BC (the war ended in 404 BC); he did that because he wanted to research more throughoutly the events. Also, in his history, Thucydides tried to exhibit the reasons behind the war, he described the policy of the main cities (Athens and Sparta). In Addition, he gave us the accounts of Pericles' "Funeral Oration" one of the most influentian pieces of writing in History. All in all, his work was far superior to that of Herodotus and so he should be called "The Father of History".
P.S I am Greek and I have studied the original writings of Thucydides in Ancient Greek and I have to say that he was also incredible at using the language he had in his hands.
abc I'm glad he's not called the father of history, Herodotus is the father of history. Deal with it. :)
Efharisto!!
john ko marvel And you don't know the fist thing about history. No Legends or Myths. Herodotus' work was full of those. Plus, as the video mentioned, that title wss given to Herodotus by just one Roman writer. It doesn't mean that it is true.
abc I see what you mean, but please consider what you're debating here. You're basically just arguing that Cicero (not just any Roman writer by the way, nor was he merely a writer), a man who lived and died over 2000 years ago, was wrong in his statement that Herodotus is the father of history, because that doesn't match your definition of history, or rather historiography, to be more precise. Keep in mind that the approach to historiography has changed a lot since the days of Cicero, let alone since the days of Herodotus. You can't hold either of them to the standards of your generation. And consider what it was that Cicero was trying to say. I believe he said that because Herodotus was clearly the first to write historiography, not because he was the best or the most accurate, which he clearly wasn't. And don't forget we're dealing with Cicero here, who was more literate than you and I combined and who never spoke the first thing that came to his mind. He probably knew exactly what he was talking about and exactly what he wanted to say.
Lastly, if you were to ask me for my opinion on the whole Thucydides deal, I'd say that Herodotus set the standard for Thucydides, while Thucydides set the standard for everyone else. I believe that's a pretty fair way to look at things. Wouldn't you agree?
Give credit where credit is due. Herodotus gave us grand narrative storytelling, or narrative-descriptive history genre. Thucydides gave us analytical or "scientific" approach. Herodotus gave us lots of details about the Ancient world, particularly both Greek and non-Greek cultures, which Thucydides struck out for obvious reasons. Thucydides showed historians how to focus on analyzing and discerning on the topic--the conflict between Spartans and Athenians then, no more or less. Herodotus was a good narrator, that's why he did lots of public reading, which most probably the young Thucydides was one of the listeners. Herodotus mentioned also he's aware some of the data he gathered could be either true or fiction. At least, he's honest with his stuffs, to be either proven or debunked by future generations (no histories are permanent, they are rewritten from time to time). Thucydides, a primary source himself, chose to leave out "unnecessary" data (what's relevant to one historian is not to another, relativism) while writing his magnum opus. His bias against Spartans was obvious there, but his cold, laser-eyed analysis and his impartiality won praises to historians and students of history who prefer analysis over narrative-descriptive approach. These same people brand Herodotus as "Father of Lies". Thus, both Herodotus and Thucydides were products of the times. They gave us something to either emulate or criticize upon. Every historian has strengths and weaknesses in writing and studying the past and histories. Both of these Greek historians are no exception.
And, really, Thucydides's "original writings" in Classical Greek still existed? In whole? Or just fragments? External criticism. Cheers.
volimNestea I must agree that Cicero is more literate than us and he knew what he was talking about and what point he wanted to make. Maybe, it is my thing as a big history nerd (and not much of a mythology fan) to be most interested in what happened rather than hearing interesting stories. On the whole, I agree with your reply except from the part where Herodotus set the standard, because he didn't. As the video mention, Herodotus story was made to be heard by the people of his time and most probably, not by us. To my mind, Thucidedes, set the standaerd for writing history with more modern characteristics and he wzs not influenced by Herodotus.
plain but stunning animation and a very interesting lesson! thank you, ted-ed!
His work is phenomenal , he's the reason we got better view of history , without him , history might remain a mystery to us . His style change the world
A big liar in some cases.
@@steliosdok5942 Was he actually lying? The entire thing is really an essay not on individual facts, but on the validity of historical causality as a theory. Rather than a narrative like "due to the Apple of Discord, the Gods decided that the Greeks and Trojans must have a war", you instead got "due to the Persians being concerned over Greek rebellions in Anatolia, they sought to eliminate what they saw as the ultimate source of such disorder and invaded Greece proper". All of the fantastical parts of his essay are trying to compare and contrast the West (Greece) and the East (Persia, Egypt, India). Their laws, their system of government, their beliefs, their wildlife. It is an extremely ambitious text.
This video makes the mistake of saying that Herodotus believed what he wrote down. This isn’t true. He simply just wrote down what people told him in his travels (such as the Great Pyramid of Giza being built in 20 years).
Stephen Darrenkamp Also this video did some other mistake. Gnome, which it's root comes from the ancient verb γιγνώσκω, doesn't mean reason. It means thought, crisis, consideration, will, decision, goal and suggestion.
@@theodorefalelakis7133 Reason, the noun, is a synonym of thought or consideration.
@tommy aronson That's how fiction is made.
@tommy aronson why. Does not it worth a mention?
@tommy aronson You can write down things for many reasons. You can find it interesting , keep it for later research or just maybe because someone might now something you don't know it's true , but it is . Moron.
This was very informative and well delivered, I also like the animation very much! Thanks!
One of the best Ted ed videos I've ever seen!very nice quiet pleasant video the telling story from day to night,the last scene of morning where Persians and Greeks shaking their coffe e cups and the father of history was so much beautiful in the video.
Your history videos are always fantastic! Keep on :)
In school we had our teacher each give us a Greek philosopher and I got this guy! We had to give a speech about them as if you were that person and I said just about all this information! Happy to know that this guy’s name around the informational side of you tube
One of the reasons why I love AC Odyssey. It's a chance to explore ancient greece with Herodotus
I love the animations. It is perfect. Thank you TED Ed
Thanks for the reminder. I read Herodotus many years ago in my "Great Historians" class as an undergrad.
“There’s much to do, and many unknowns across the horizon....”
This was very interesting..... thanks for the information.
Gnome (Γνώμη) Gno-mi is opinion not Reason.
Reason is Αιτία E-tia
Reason ειναι λογική
I enjoy your videos and learning new stuff, please do more
I'm currently reading the Histories (Barnes & Noble version) and it's a really fun read so far!
Can you tell me a surreal history from it, just so I can get a "preview" of what this ancient history textbook has to offer?
I am from Greece and they teach the kids the history writen by that guy
giorgos xoyrdakis so... i guess you're not affraid of crocodyles
Reve Naant nope
TED-Ed your videos are so good ! its so nice i watch i ton of them
This is my favorite animation style by far. I also really like this video!
Did anyone else geek out when we met Herodotus in AC: Odyssey?
AC Odyssey is so accurate!
Herodotus was not the first historian or even Greek historian - that title goes to Hecataeus of Miletus (550 BCE - 476 BCE). He was also a geographer and improved on the map of Anaximander (610 BCE - 546 BCE) who also lived in Miletus, the first writer to mention the Greco-Persian Wars and the first writer to mention the Celtic and Illyrian peoples. He did trust Homer (8th century BCE) as a genuine historical source though.
I love starting my day with a good history lesson.😊
This is amazing...Great Stuff team TedEd
If this had come out about two weeks earlier it would have been so helpful for my honors world history test.
dogs forever cats forever
If Herodotus is the father of history then his dad would have been the grandfather of history.
Right?
Ankur Roy Herodotus's children would be history's siblings.
Randy Daumar His brother was history's uncle.
yeah and children from second wife were step brothers of history
And history become a teacher. So it is named History class
Ankur Roy and then his wife would’ve heard his son tell her what Herodotus looked up on the internet.
Marmots in the Himalayas do what now? I must know more.
Probably still looking for Allan 😂
They don't do much
one of the most easy, interesting ancient books that you can read! it is really enjoyable as it doesnt just gives the facts of the war bit there are whole chapters about the way of life of difrent peoples according to what he heard ofcourse!
This is my favourite animation style of Ted Ed
Wonderful animation. Keep it up.
I love ted Ed it’s amazing!!!❤️
I really love the animation in these presentations.
Giant gold-digging ants and flying snakes would make awesome bad guys for a Mario game, or some interesting Pokemon. I'm talking to you Nintendo!
LagiNaLangAko23 , you make a good point, Dunsparce is a flying snake Pokémon. What I was talking about though was a giant flying snake monster type Pokémon, like the one in the video. Thanks for the reminder, though.
Flying Wigglers..
Rayquaza is a flying snake
Yes
Thank you a lot Herododtus! and TED Ed.!
The background music was so relaxing ❤
Always thankyou for making this awesome & helpful vedio :D
I absolutely love this style of animation
Much like Herodotus' confusion with Marmots, the story of flying snakes in Egypt could be accounts of African Darters, as Darters are sometime called Snake-birds. Hearing of Snake-birds: "Flying snakes you say?!" "No no no, birds that resemble snakes"... "Wow, flying snakes, that's both amazing and terrifying!" 🤦🏻♂️ "God's damn you Herodotus..."
i really loved this ted ed, super funny and heartwarming
Very interesting! I enjoyed the vid!
My fathers side of my family is from Bodrum, Turkey, which is modern day Halicarnassus or Halikarnas in Turkish. I was raised in New Zealand, which is a very new country and has very limited history. It makes me brim with pride knowing that my ancestors have a rich and long spanning history that I am able to learn about today because of great men like Herodotus.
A rich History on which you have turned your back by adopting the desert religion
In that rich history, there's the Armenian, Assyrian and Pontic Greek genocides which you conveniently ignore
I'm agnostic dude and lover of history. This is based during the pre Ottoman empire. What makes you assume I'm a genocide denialist? The history of Anatolia goes back thousands of years and many different peoples and empires have occupied its lands. Also my family heritage goes back to Crete during the Ottoman times as well. You can take your ignorance elsewhere. I have no shame in being proud of the rich history of where a part of my family comes from.
TedEd Classic, this guy's voice is amazing!
Your voice is great and so is the narration style.
the music is chilling ❤
There’s much to do and many unknowns in our horizons
Lmao
I really likes this video as a History Major. I would like to see more such videos.
such a beautiful vid, thank you very much
Xerxes: "The very NAME of Sparta will be wiped from the annals of history!!"
Herodotus (A Persian): "Ooooh That's goin in the book!"
Did you not see the video ?
Although he lived in the Persian empire he was greek
Greek NO persian lol
He is a Persian with a Greek ancestor I suspect
@@johnantwn5299 I'm a Persian and I confirm that he is indeed a Greek. Sometimes stuff get mixed up but dw about it. Ppl make mistakes, what matters is that we are all humans.❤
Wrist watch is so ancient ! 3:33 😅😂
people have watching their wrists for millinea
Ted Ed
Can u do video on how a project works??
I saw many videos those complicated to understand..
Okay, a Marmut that accidentally digging gold sound like a good myth
I love history so much & respect Herodotus so much. If I ever get enough money, I want to buy a bust of Herodotus.
And then Herodotus appeared in assassin's Creed Odyssey. Great! Time to revisit history!
How do you make such awesome presentations?
There's so much to learn, and many unknowns in our horizon.
Herodotus OFTEN stated that he did not know if X was true, but it's what others had said.
Why does the narrator call Darius "Derius"?
Thoukidides was a professional historian, more accurate and reasonable than Herodotus.Make a video about him
yes but he was after Ηρόδοτο so he isnt the father of history
nek yo Do you mean Thucydides?
nek yo They didn't say he should be the father of history, they said why he is considered so.
Herodotus was V1.0
Thucydides was V2.0
Herodotus was V1.0
Thucydides was V2.0
Sima Qian was V.2.5
Fantastic! One of the better animated 👍
The video really has context with history. It's really worth it
How have I never heard of him?! Herodotus' life and importance should be taught at middle school. He's influenced my life and the lives of everyone else on the planet and I only found out about him 5 minutes ago lol
Didn’t you have history class in school?!
@@Arte.mi. Yeah of course I did. There's a lot of stuff in history and not everything's covered by every curriculum. We all have gaps in our knowledge.
I freaking love Herodotus. The Histories are a great read!!!
Don't trust him on everything. A lot of lies....
Awesome video 😊
I knew him from the novel "The English Patient" written by Michael Ondaatje.
"He then used Gnome, or reason"
Ooh hooh heh hah hah, ooh hih heh hah hah.
Hey y'ol chum, i'm gnot a gnelf
I'm gnot a gnobling, i'm a gnome, and you've been gnomed!
Gnome = opinion
Ηρόδοτος
Ώπα....
Spyros Gkanas Γεια!
Καλησπέρα! :D Βλέπω πως σ'αρέσει ο Ηρόδοτος...
Spyros Gkanas Ναι :)
Ήσουν και γρήγορη! Από τους πρώτους Έλληνες που είδα να σχολιάζουν!
To all humans who contributed a great efforts to make this world grow more I from bottom of my heart salutes you. !!!!
You explained it so well
There is another Greek historian who lived in the same era as Herodotus, called Thucydides. This guy was more strict than Herodotus in cutting out tales and fables
Herodotus had been telling tales before it became a mainstream in the whole world among politicians
Karen Mkrtchyan lmao!
Karen Mkrtchyan
Leaders have been lying since well before his time
Such a beautiful lesson
Love the animations.
Omg 😱😱😱 i am literally in my gobal studies class learning about herodotus super creepy coincidence
This Herodotus is as wise as my mustache
Love the information
*Loved* this video.
7000Greeks + 300 Spartans not 300 Spartans as commonly believed
Yes but at the end only the 300 spartans died alongside with 700 thespians.
That's not Herodotus's fault already. Blame Frank Miller and Zack Snyder's 300 take.
PetrosB4: true although Greek bronze and steel made quick work of Persian cloth shields and armor. Not to mention that while the Spartans are famous for their epic one liners and heroism, the accounts might be better taken as stories than factually accurate history.
I felt like this video made a lot of those sorts of errors and skewed representations
Turmunhk Ganba actually the other greeks escaped and only the spartans actually fought but ok
Trumpicus: "Herodotus is SOOOO fake news! My spear is WAY bigger than Xerxes's spear. Believe me."
My spear is Huuge
The Ultimate Reductionist Ted ed should have pinned this
Trumpicus: "I am going to build the greatest spartan army to keep those persians immigrants out of Athens, and make them pay for the army with /drachmae/
Vanguard δραχμή
@@euleer.-.9385 Sorry, I don't speak Greek, at least, not THAT good yet, I started a couple of weeks ago with Duolingo
The art and animations was really nice
I think, to avoiding inaccuracies, I have to study other sciences like paleontology while I'm studying history. Understanding the true past is understanding the whole word.
I'm the student in the middle at 0:42 during class discussions.
Reymund Alagos .
When you are Greek and all the outsiders spell the words false
Insert surprised pikachu meme here
Just say barbarians, we know you want to say it.
2:34 lol
amazing animation, thanks a lot.
1:51 there wasn't just 300 Spartans. There were also 1000 Thespians (from Thespiae a ancient city in Viotia)
50 views and 61 likes. God i like this pattern
i bet there’s gonna be a this is sparta joke
Eunicorn Uh,yeah
It's always nice to see my creative little cockroaches kiki and remus's work
Hey 👋🏿 Ted do the history of Jazz Music too Blues Music that led up too Rap music on words that rhymes & story telling behind it.