ABSTRACT
Herodotus was the first to attempt that validates his claim to be the Father of History. If Hecataeus accompanied Cambyses into Egypt, or went there only a few years later as a friend of influential Persians, he certainly had a better chance of meeting them than Herodotus had. What has been said regarding the claim of Herodotus to have consulted the priests probably holds equally for Hecataeus, with this difference, however, that his interest in general chronology supplies a sufficient motive for the fiction, which cannot be alleged in defense of Herodotus. Herodotus in other passages also reveals no reluctance to repeat without manifesting incredulity tales, such as that of the birth and youth of Cyrus, which would do credit to the most popular oriental raconteur. Aristotle, for example, mentions Herodotus seven times, and refers to him, without naming him, several times more.
