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Prior to Thucydides history was no better than a collection of stories and myths. Herodotus who is widely regarded as the Father of History by many still used many stories in his work and there are many fantastical tales in his writings. He did not critically analyze his sources and he appears’ to have simply reproduced what he was told. Thucydides was much more critical, and he appears to have sought out records and eyewitnesses that were contemporaneous with the events that he sought to record. While it is common for modern historians to use reliable sources, the Athenian was the first to use sources in a critical way. Thucydides was determined to be objective and to take a neutral stance in his work, this was despite the fact that he has been an Athenian general. In his work, Thucydides sought to be fair and to give an accurate description of what happened to the best of his ability. In his work, he is scrupulously fair to both sides of the conflict and did not seek to prejudge the events. He frequently shows the brutality and stupidity of the people of Athens and their elected leaders. However, achieving complete objectivity and impartiality is impossible and occasionally Thucydides’ bias can be seen, for example in his damning portrait of Cleon, an Athenian politician who is portrayed as an inept demagogue <ref>Woodhead, Arthur Geoffrey. "Thucydides' portrait of Cleon." Mnemosyne 13, no. Fasc. 4 (1960): 289-317 </ref>. However, Thucydides' commitment to objectivity was crucial in the development of a more scientific approach to histography. Another feature of Thucydides was that he did not invoke the gods or the supernatural in his narrative. Indeed, many have speculated that the Athenian was one of the first known atheists. In his work, all causation is as a result of some human volition <ref>Greenwood, Emily. Thucydides and the Shaping of History. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015), p. 113</ref>. In the history of Thucydides, all explanations are down to human decisions or chance. For example, the bad decisions of the Athenians, such as the attack on Syracuse are a result of its moral decline, especially after the death of Pericles <ref>Thucydides, 3, 17</efref>. In his history of the great war between Sparta and Athens, he seems to suggest that there are laws that govern history such as the quest for self-interest and power. He adopted a systematic approach to the investigation of the historical phenomenon, and this was an innovation. This is something that is the norm in modern histography and much of this can be credited to Thucydides.  [[File: Thucydides Three.jpg|200px|thumb|left|A Greek hoplite from the 5th century BC]] 

There are those who do not believe that the Greek was an objective historian. They point to the many speeches that are included in the work of the Athenian, the best known of which is Pericles’ ‘Funeral Oration’ <ref>Thucydides, 2, 35-45</ref>. Many historians point, to the fact that these speeches could not be accurate records of the actual words of the orators. This has led many to claim that the work of the Athenian is not history in the strict sense, but rather a genre of literature. Many have regarded Thucydides as a great writer who has revealed unparalleled insights into the nature of power and the human condition <ref>Hornblower, Simon, Thucydides (London: Duckworth 1987), p. 112</ref> The historians work have inspired many other literary-minded historians down the ages, especially in his use of speeches and literary techniques, including the Roman, Tacitus.