History YMMV / TheHistories

* ValuesDissonance: Quite apart from the ''numerous'' ways the ancient cultures' ideas of morality and proper conduct differ from our own, they often differ from one another. In fact, in many ways, Herodotus is an early proponent of the modern anthropological idea of judging cultures by their ''own'' traditions of right and wrong rather than one's own.

** Herodotus notes an old Babylonian custom of betrothal - the prettiest girls were auctioned off to rich men for a lot of cash. The money then went towards subsidizing ugly and crippled girls, so that humble men would get paid for marrying them. There was also a quick and efficient mechanism for divorce, in case a couple did not get along. This was considered by Herodotus to be better than the alternatives - prostitution, crippled girls being unmarried, etc.
** Crowdsourced medical diagnosis, rather than relying solely on some specific profession of people - totally novel to Herodotus, but now we live in the age of Website/{{Wikipedia}}, [=WebMD=], etc.
* MagnificentBastard: In "King Rhampsinitos and the Thief", [[NoNameGiven the Thief]] is a daring rogue who, together with his brother, steals from the royal treasury. Eventually, his brother is caught in a trap and convinces him to give him a MercyKill. King Rhampsinitos hangs the dead body on the wall, but the Thief, implored by his mother, tricks and souses the royal guards and brings the body home for burial. When the king sends his daughter into the city to find the Thief, the latter figures out that scheme. His chief wish now being to outmaneuver the king, he meets with the princess and confesses everything to her – only to escape via yet another prearranged trick when she tries to seize him. Now [[WorthyOpponent impressed]] by such resourcefulness, Rhampsinitos vows to pardon and reward the Thief, so the Thief comes to the palace, tells the king his entire story, and [[StandardHeroReward is given the princess's hand in marriage]]. Cunning and quick-thinking, the Thief is [[KarmaHoudini never brought to justice for his stealing]] and becomes the king's son-in-law by sheer RefugeInAudacity.

** One alleged "lie" was that Herodotus claimed to visit Babylon, but didn't mention its famous Hanging Gardens, one of the UsefulNotes/SevenWondersOfTheWorld, even once. Today, many historians believe that the Gardens never existed, or an exaggeration of a structure that may not be in Babylon but some other city, like Nineveh.
** The Phoenician sailors that claimed to have sailed around Africa, if they existed. Herodotus didn't believe them, but their claim that they had the sun on the right while rounding the southern tip of Africa is accurate per modern geographical knowledge.

* {{Misblamed}}:
** Herodotus often catches heat for reporting fantastical stories as if they were fact, especially by the disciples and/or proponents of {{Creator/Thucydides}}. In fact, Herodotus is often quite skeptical of many such stories for which he cannot find corroborating evidence, and rarely fails to note such in ''The Histories''; he simply believes that it is the historian's role to report his findings regardless of what they might be and then apply critical thinking to them rather than ''only'' to report what he can conclusively call the truth.

** One alleged "lie" was that Herodotus claimed to visit Babylon, but didn't mention its famous Hanging Gardens, one of the UsefulNotes/SevenWondersOfTheWorld, even once. Today, many historians believe that the Gardens were fictional, or an exaggeration of a structure that may not be in Babylon but some other city, like Nineveh.