Editing Herodotus (section)

===Childhood===
Herodotus was, according to his own statement at the beginning of his work, a native of [[Halicarnassus]] in [[Anatolia]],<ref>{{Cite web |date=1873 |editor-last=Smith |editor-first=William |title=A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Hero'dotus |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0104:entry=herodotus-bio-1 |access-date=5 August 2023 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu |publisher=John Murray |place=London}}</ref> and it is generally accepted that he was born there around 485&nbsp;BC. The ''[[Suda]]'' says his family was influential, that he was the son of Lyxes and Dryo and the brother of Theodorus, and that he was also related to [[Panyassis]] – an epic poet of the time.<ref name=Rawlinson-1859-Hist-Herod-v1/>{{rp|at=Introduction}}<ref name=Burn-1972-Herod-Hists/>{{rp|at=Introduction}} It is likely that Herodotus was at least partially Hellenized [[Carians|Carian]] in origin, given that Lyxes and Panyassis are Carian names.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Cartledge |first1=Paul |title=The Greeks : a portrait of self and others |date=2002 |publisher=Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press |page=52}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Waters |first=K.H. |year=1985 |title=Herodotos the Historian: His problems, methods and originality |place=Tulsa |publisher = University of Oklahoma Press |isbn=978-0-8061-1928-1}}</ref> Halicarnassus was then within the [[Persian Empire]], making Herodotus a Persian subject,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dandamaev |first1=M.A. |author-link1=Muhammad Dandamayev |title=A Political History of the Achaemenid Empire |year=1989 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-09172-6 |page=153 |quote=The 'Father of History', Herodotus, was born at Halicarnassus, and before his emigration to mainland Greece was a subject of the Persian empire.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Kia |first1=Mehrdad |title=The Persian Empire: A historical encyclopedia |year=2016 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-61069-391-2 |page=161 |quote=At the time of Herodotus' birth southwestern Asia Minor, including Halicarnassus, was under Persian Achaemenid rule.}}</ref> 

[[File:herodotusstatue.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|Romanticized statue of Herodotus in his hometown of [[Halicarnassus]], modern [[Bodrum]], Turkey]]

Herodotus wrote his ''Histories'' in the [[Ionic Greek|Ionian dialect]], in spite of being born in a [[Dorians|Dorian]] settlement. According to the ''[[Suda]]'', Herodotus learned the Ionian dialect as a boy living on the island of Samos, to which he had fled with his family from the oppressions of Lygdamis, tyrant of Halicarnassus and grandson of Artemisia. [[Panyassis]], the epic poet related to Herodotus, is reported to have taken part in a failed uprising.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Histories of Herodotus |url=https://ia804708.us.archive.org/30/items/historiesofherod00herorich/historiesofherod00herorich_djvu.txt }}{{Dead link|date=May 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

The ''Suda'' also states that Herodotus later returned home to lead the revolt that eventually overthrew the [[Despotism|despot]]. Due to recent discoveries of inscriptions at Halicarnassus dated to about Herodotus's time, it is now known that Ionic Greek was used in Halicarnassus in some official documents, so there is no need to assume (like the ''Suda'') that he must have learned the dialect elsewhere.<ref name=Burn-1972-Herod-Hists/>{{rp|page=11}} The ''Suda'' is the only source placing Herodotus as the heroic liberator of his birthplace, casting doubt upon the veracity of that romantic account.<ref name=Rawlinson-1859-Hist-Herod-v1/>{{rp|page=11}}