On the Malice of Herodotus

[3] The tone of the essay is so waspish that many scholars (Grote was one[4]) doubted that the text was the product of the famously mild-tempered philosopher.

[7] However, most modern scholars regard the work as genuine, since Plutarch demonstrated similarly strident criticisms, for example, in his attacks on Colotes.

He criticizes Herodotus in terms similar to those which Plato levied against Homer: his stories, though charming and well-told, are insufficiently edifying.

For the proud Boeotian Plutarch, Herodotus's hostile portrayal of Thebes's role in the Persian Wars justified a harsh critique.

As Plutarch himself put it: Since he principally exerts his malice against the Boeotians and Corinthians, though without sparing any other, I think myself obliged to defend our ancestors and the truth against this part of his writings