-Herodotus' History

Herodotus is widely regarded as the “Father of History” and is credited with coining the term “history” based on the Greek word for “inquiry”. His writing is mostly concerned with the Persian War between the Achaemenid Empire and Greek city-states in the first half of the 5th century BCE. However, Herodotus includes in his Histories descriptions of various real and imaginary places he either claims to have visited or heard about. One such imaginary place is the Arimaspian Country in northern Scythia that is populated by one-eyed people and gryphons, the legendary creatures that are half-eagle and half-lion. The Arimaspi people and the gryphons were said to fight each other. Herodotus’ fantastical descriptions were continued by later historians including Pliny the Elder, and thus imaginary places date back to the very beginning of Western history.