Herodotus: A true historian

From the brief introduction to the kind of History that Herodotus presented to his intended audience, the athenians, he seems like a genuine historian who is willing to express his personal opinions and make the reading of history an interesting one, rather than trying to be objective, which no one can. He tells stories of hubris, and how being a superpower may lead a nation to crave for more and more power. His story was interesting since his audience were free people, unlike the nations that in his story met defeat as they were led by kings who called themselves King of Kings (Darius) or God King (Xerces) both Persian kings who tried to conquer Greek cities in the past. He also told the story of King Cyrus who spared the King of Lydia as the Lydian King had committed a mistake and had become too extreme in his aspirations. King Cyrus learned from Lydian King's mistakes and spared his life. Herodotus was trying to show what can happen when one lets Hubris govern over decisions and how it is possible to not let Hubris corrupt one's thinking. The athenians themselves enjoyed the History as told by Herodotus and gave him enough money that he wouldn't have to worry about money for the rest of his life. And then they went ahead and ignored his advice.

Learning history is useful because it presents us with an opportunity to observe mistakes made by others and then learn from them. The mistakes that we ourselves make are not helpful, because we are seldom willing to recognize them as mistakes in the first place. So we should cherish and absorb every lesson from history.