Published around 425 BC, the Histories is the foundational work in the historical tradition. Essentially, it is the first attempt to systematically break down the past into sequences of interactions between cause and effect. "History" is etymologically descended from the Greek word historie or "inquiry." Indeed, Herodotus is the first person to delve into past inquiry to help understand and contextualize the present. Just as importantly, his work attempts to break through the subjective fog of historical evidence and textual artifacts and approximate its "real" sequence of events. 

This lofty goal intersects with the literary context of the time, crossing paths with Homeric epics, Sophist thought, and lyric poetry. Major works of the Greek literary canon find their way into Herodotus’s retelling of events, and these conventional ways of telling stories and communicating information litter the Histories. Indeed, Herodotus narrates the story as a storyteller might, borrowing epic and Homeric traditions by directly integrating contrived dialogue and approximated speeches into the course of events and peppering the work with comical, uncorroborated stories for entertainment value alone. Often, Herodotus’s insight into the events he retells is marred by inaccuracies, fiction, gossip, and mythologization. The validity of his claims has been questioned time and again by scholars across many fields and areas of study, and his willingness to include himself and his opinions in discussions of historical fact lends him little credence. 

Even still, his narrative features enough proven facts, accurate assessments, and unexpected insight into the era to be accepted by historians and scholars. He writes with the open-minded eye of one who has traveled and encountered much, and his worldly, impartial gaze enriches both the retelling and the historical value of the text itself. Despite its less-than-historiographical methods, the Histories is an unparalleled work, for it was a prototypical effort in true history writing. Moreover, Herodotus’s “inquiries” was a novel means of seeking and providing accurate sources and empirically-proven evidence to validate his claims. His effort inspired the historical methodology to come and wrought an important change in the genre.

Modern translations split his Histories into nine books that are further separated into two thematic arcs. The first section details the origins of the Persian Empire and foreshadows its downfall. The second section follows the events the work orbits: the Greco-Persian War and the events of 499-479 BCE. This narrative bifurcation is accompanied by Herodotus’s lack of allegiance to any one time or place, indicated by the frequent digressions into the history and culture of the broader region across time and space. In short, the Histories analyzes the war through an extended gaze that looks beyond the two decades of direct conflict to instead uncover the roots of discord sown across empires, across rulers, and across time. These digressions allow the story that the Histories revolves around to unfold through their broader context, buoyed by a fleshed-out lineage of cause and effect. 

This comprehensive narrative, though long and seemingly meandering, evolves naturally into a discussion of the Greco-Persian War and provides a legible backdrop for less informed readers to better understand the causes that led to the war. It is in this respect that Herodotus’s work is a triumph, as it acts as a flawed introduction to the tactics and styles that would later evolve into modern styles and methods of historiography.