In his paper „De malignitate Herodoti“, the greek philosopher and biograph Plutarch of Chaironeia in Boeotia (around 45-125 A.D.) critizeses the presentation of Herodotus of Halicarnassus (490/480-around 430/420 B.C.) in a fundamental and very detailled way. Thereby, the author of the histories is branded as a malicious liar and an intentional prevaricator of historical data. He almost reviews book by book of Herodotus in  the form of an historical commentary and debates individual passages from the histories. Based on a quotation, Plutarch‘s purpose is to meticulously refute Herodotus. He not just transmits numerous messages concerning the representations of Herodotus, which are quite of historic interest, but he also points out in his heteronomic text, how a proper historiograph shoul work.

In my dissertation project, I will extensively analyze this hitherto little remarked text in a monographicall way. Furthermore, I will classify it regarding the context of criticism of ancient historiographs and other historiographs. Another classification regarding the authorities of the genre and the objectives and common values of the Second Sophistic of the High Imperial Period will be carried out.