Hellenic historiography (or Greek historiography) involves efforts made by
Greeks to track and record
historical events. By the 5th century BC, it became an integral part of
ancient Greek literature and held a prestigious place in later
Roman historiography and
Byzantine literature.
Overview
The historical period of
ancient Greece
Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...
is exclusive in world history as the first period attested directly in proper
historiography, while earlier ancient history or
proto-history is known by much more circumstantial evidence, such as
annals,
chronicles,
king lists, and pragmatic
epigraphy.
Herodotus is widely known as the "father of history," his ''
Histories'' being eponymous of the entire field. Written between the 450s and 420s BC, the scope of Herodotus' work reaches about a century in the past, discussing 6th century BC historical figures such as
Darius I of Persia,
Cambyses II, and
Psamtik III and alludes to some 8th century BC ones such as
Candaules.
Herodotus was succeeded by authors such as
Thucydides
Thucydides ( ; ; BC) was an Classical Athens, Athenian historian and general. His ''History of the Peloponnesian War'' recounts Peloponnesian War, the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been d ...
,
Xenophon,
Demosthenes,
Plato
Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...
, and
Aristotle
Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...
. Most of these authors were either
Athenians or pro-Athenians, which explains why far more is known about the history and politics of
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
than of most other contemporary cities. Their scope is further limited by a focus on political, military and diplomatic history, generally ignoring economic and social history.
However, while works approaching modern ethnography arose primarily amongst the
Romans, some Greeks did include ancillary material describing the customs and rituals of different peoples,
Herodotus himself being a prime example in his descriptions of the
Egyptians
Egyptians (, ; , ; ) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian identity is closely tied to Geography of Egypt, geography. The population is concentrated in the Nile Valley, a small strip of cultivable land stretchi ...
,
Scythians
The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian noma ...
, and others.
See also
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Chinese historiography
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List of Graeco-Roman geographers
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List of Greek historiographers
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List of historians
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Modern Greek literature
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Roman historiography
References
Further reading
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{{Historiography