SOURCE: "Is Herodotus Malicious?" in Greek Historical Thought: From Homer to the Age of Heraclitus, translated by Arnold J. Toynbee, The Beacon Press, 1950, pp. 229-36.

Plutarch was a Greek biographer and essayist on morals whose works achieved their greatest influence during the Renaissance. Here, he takes strong exception to Herodotus, warning his readers to be wary of the superficial appeal and "charm" of Herodotus' historical writing, which, Plutarch claims, is rife with malicious "slanders " and "grotesquely false ideas. " This essay is believed to have been written between the years 105 and 115.

Many readers of Herodotus are taken in by his plain, unlaboured, flowing style, and still more by his character. If Plato is right in saying that the last refinement of immorality is the false appearance of probity, it is equally true that the consummate achievement of malice is the assumption of such good-nature and simplicity as to defy...