Thucydides and Herodotus

drtvats0n

I can never decide whether my favorite book is Herodotus or Thucydides. When I get bored of one I read the other, but in fact I am never 'bored' I just feel like experiencing the bracing contrast offered by the other writer.

Herodotus is fanciful, impressed by folk tales, enjoys a good yarn and passes them on, doesn't get his head in a twist over 'objectivity.' Thucydides, on the other hand, is a hard-nosed academic type (he would have been a great professor.)

lycadia

And I mean geeky in the sense of wonderfully elite and highly intellegent.
Being a history minor (former history major, but I didn't want to teach, so I switched to Psychology.), I lean slightly toward Thucydides, though both are wonderful. Nothing beats contemporary sources, eh?

igor123d

I have read works by the two authors and I cannot decide whom I admire more. I would probably lean towards Thucydides as I loved the Peloponnesian War, however I also have great respect for Herodotus. This really is a tough choice, but thankfully it doesn't have to be made as you can read both of them and enjoy their great talents.