Herodotus to some is often referred to as “the father of history” (19) or “a father of lies” (19). In his book “Histories” he describes many historical events, but specifically he describes the decision of government in Persia and Greece in book 3 and the battle of Thermopylae in book 4.
Herodotus discusses in book three the three major government structures that the Greeks choose form Oligarchy, Monarchy and Democracy. A downfall with monarchy is that, “The typical vices of a monarch are envy and pride; envy, because it is a natural human weakness, and pride because excessive wealth and power lead to all delusion that he is something more than a man” (20). In Herodotus’ opinion putting one man in charge is dangerous due to the power that a man desires. Oligarchy on the other hand is, “a number of men are competing for distinction in the public service cannot but lead to violent personal feuds; each of them wants to get to the top, and to see his own proposal carried; so they quarrel” (20). Oligarchy
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His writings were mainly meant for entertainment purposes, which are written in the third person narrative. This allows him to input his own ideas into his writing, however there is only one instance in both books that he contrasts one version of the story with another: “There is another account that says that Leonidas himself dismissed a part of his force, to spare their lives, but thought it unbecoming for the Spartans under his command to desert the post which they had originally come to guard. I myself am inclined to think that he dismissed them when he realized that they had no heart for the fight and were unable to take their share of the danger; at the same time honour forbade that he himself should go” (24). Herodotus does not typically critically analyze his sources. This brings to question the validity of his works in terms of bias and