Mythic past
The stories told in this book are not all contemporary to the writer's life—although many are. Both in his writing of the past and present, though, he writes of the times in a mythic fashion. He talks about prophets and oracles, fulfillment of prophecies in the Histories of earth's various nation states, and he discusses the development of bigger, more epic empires. He writes as if he understands that this season of existence will shape the history of the earth forever. He certainly discusses the rise of the Persians with this tone.
Greek imagery
Life in Greece is depicted, especially the political, economic, and military aspects of the nation's history. For instance, wars are depicted with reference to devices, painted shields, even the intervention of Greek gods are depicted. The story is aware that the Persians are a threat to Greece, and Herodotus writes about Greek culture as a thing to be saved and cherished. Greece is shown to be a dominant world power with a diverse population and a rich cultural history.
Egyptian imagery
There is an insightful commentary on Egyptian imagery offered in the Histories where Herodotus admits that to his Greek sensibilities, Egyptians are freaky. Their temples, their mazes, their alchemy and magic, their bizarre history depicted in bizarre ways—all are astonishing. Even their animals speak of the mystic sublime; to Greeks, crocodiles, hippopotamuses, and cobras are absolutely horrifying monsters beyond their reckoning. Egypt represented exotic ways of life to the Greeks.
The cycle of empires
The Histories cover enough history that the rise and fall of empires is shown. The Greek empire is shown to be less of a holistic empire and more of a scattered collection of towns and cities, although as time goes by, that changes more and more, but even toward the end of the Histories Greece is still depicted in its various shades and colors. The fall of the Greek empire seems unlike to Herodotus, although the Persians are a threatening force. The fall of the Babylonian empire to the Persians is recalled as if to fulfill the empire imagery.
