A generation or so after Hecataeus, Xanthus, a Hellenized Lydian from Sardis, wrote his Lydiaca (History of Lydia). At some time before the Peloponnesian war, there was a writer from Athens called Pherecydes, who dealt with (mostly local) genealogy myths.

In Herodotus' own time there was a marked increase in literary activity by writers interested in juxtaposing discourse and myth. They had two ways of dealing with myth: allegory and rationalism.

Allegorical interpretations began with Theagenes from Rhegion, and continued with Stesimbrotus from Thasus. The latter wrote about Homer; a Book of Rites (probably dealing with Orphic ritual); and a study On Themistocles, Thucydides, and Pericles (containing fierce criticism of Athenian policies). Anaximander the Younger from Miletus wrote an Account of Heroes (involving allegorical interpretations) and an Explanation of Pythagorean Symbols (recording pithy sayings of the Pythagorean brotherhood).

Followers of the rationalist road were Herodorus from Heraclea in Pontus, best known for his History of Heracles, his Argonautica, and his Pelopeia; Simonides from Cos, who wrote a Genealogies and his Findings; and the chief representative of the rationalist line, Hellanicus from Mytilene.

The little information we have about Hellanicus tells us that he wrote twenty-three works, and that for the first time ever they are a compilation of material from books and not from personal travel experience. It was the creation of a literature, genuinely bound up with written texts.
Hellanicus was trying to tame myth and describe events via genealogy. The calculation he used was that there were three generations to a century, and this was the view that was in the end to prevail. His genealogies apart, he devoted writings to foreign peoples (Cypriaca; Lydiaca; Persica; Scythica), and works referring to peoples of Hellenic areas (Aeolica; Lesbiaca; Argolica; Boeotica; Thessalica). These books contained descriptions of manners, customs, and historical events (with myths in these).
To this series belongs Hellanicus' Atthis (History of Attica), a work in two books. In it, he created single-handed a special tradition of literature from Attica. The authors of such works were known as Atthidographoi. Writing in the 4th and 3rd century B.C., they were chroniclers of Athenian history. The main sources for the Atthis will have been surviving laws, archon lists, and oral tradition. An important step towards scientific historiography was taken by Hellanicus when he compiled his 'Winners at the Carnea' and his 'Female priests of Hera' - two works where he tried to create a stable chronological framework.

| introduction | arts | literature | education | religion |	Classical period
Note: Click on the icons for enlargements and explanations. Underlined links lead to related texts; those not underlined ones are an explanatory glossary.