Comparison Between Herodotus and Thucydides

Herodotus and Thucydides were two Greek historians that shaped the way writing is today. Herodotus, known as the "Father of History" was also commonly called "the father of lies" due to his knack of interjecting opinion in the absence of facts. Thucydides, on the other hand is known throughout history as a "reliable" source and has been praised for his accounts of the Peloponnesian War because of his ability to retell history from an unbiased perspective. Although, the each chose different ways to tell their stories the two historians are primarily responsible for what is known of Ancient Greece.

In the History of Herodotus, one will find that he began the accounts of his "histories" with mythology in the beginning of Greece and from there writes about the Persian War. This in fact raises a skeptical eyebrow because Herodotus did not actually see the building of Greece. Herodotus', work although entertaining, does not have any substantiated facts to support his accounts. In fact, Herodotus himself tells his reader that his account are not accurate when he writes "if, I say, we are to form a conjecture from any of these, we must pronounce that the Pelasgi spoke a barbarous language. If this were really so, and the entire Pelasgic race spoke the same tongue, the Athenians, who were certainly Pelasgi, must have changed their language at the same time that they passed into the Hellenic body; for it is a certain fact that the people of Creston speak a language unlike any of their neighbours, and the same is true of the Placianians, while the language spoken by these two people is the same; which shows that they both retain the idiom which they brought with them into the countries where they are now settled."

This statements is telling in the fact that Herodotus openly speaks of conjectures he made in his accounts of history. Herodotus openly admits that he does not do his due diligence to trace the origin of the Pelasgic race instead he utilizes one fact to leap to an opinion of how the language derived. He further his 'claims' when he writes, "The Pelasgi, on the other hand, were, as I think, a barbarian race which never greatly multiplied. Herodotus is quick to offer his thoughts and opinions as accountable history. Here again Herodotus is delivering an opinion in lieu of facts. This is evident from his use of the words "I think", which is a true indication that the stated accounts are not documented historical fact.

In contrast to the assumptions of Herodotus, Thucydides was careful to do proper research. He writes, "Of the events of the war I have not ventured to speak from any chance information, nor according to any notion of my own; I have described nothing but what I either saw myself, or learned from others of whom I made the most careful and particular inquiry." Not only does