Herodotus is often criticised for his mythical representation of historical events. However, this offers an important key to the understanding of the text. Starting with the reconstruction of a contemporary mythical-ritual framework, in her reading of the Histories Katharina Wesselmann uses the associative content of the traditional themes of iniquity, madness, trickery and transition which underpin the Histories . In this way Herodotus no longer appears as the father of history writing, as Cicero called him, but rather as the heir to a tradition of storytelling.