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Article: Herodotus of Halicarnassus
- Article from:
- Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography
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Herodotus of Halicarnassus
(
b
. Halicarnassus, Caria, Asia Minor, fifth century b.c.;
d
. Thurii, near the site of Sybaris, southern Italy, 430
–
420 b.c.)
history
.
The word
“
history
”
(
ι
σ
τ
ο
ρ
ί
η
), which is the actual title of Herodotus
’
book, means simply
“
inquiry.
”
We have it on Plato
’
s authority (
Phaedo
96a8) that the typical work of pre-Socratic natural philosophers was called
“
Inquiry About Nature
”
(
π
ε
ρ
ì
ϕ
ύ
σ
ε
ω
ς
ί
σ
τ
ο
ρ
ί
α
), and this is confirmed by its use by Heraclitus in discussing ...