The discipline of history and its study can trace its origins to ancient Greece. Ironically, this detailed, research-driven study, and all associated research methods, had their humble beginnings rooted in fanciful stories and tales designed for the enjoyment of the populace, not their education. Gradually, the Greek people became aware of much more than their geographic and political environment, which forced the idea of ​​history and the way of understanding it to evolve. From these beginnings was born the field of factual study that we know today. The foundation of the school of history lies in the humble origins of Homer and his great plays. Written history up to this time had not been cataloged, so we have no idea how history progressed from caveman to the present day. However, in Greece, the Homeric plays were passed down from generation to generation, in the form of oral history, and serve as a starting point for the formation of what we call the study of history. Homer wrote plays to inspire the aristocratic, describing a life. As such, they provided no real historical information, but rather an aristocratic view of social responsibility. The epic was written to inspire, not to inform. In this sense, it could (and has) remained timeless. Homer used his plays to show how the timeless virtues and ideals of heroes taught virtue and civic responsibility to people today. Although lacking much fact or research, Homer broke new ground in the telling of historical events with these plays. The evolution of Greek history came from Hesiod and his Theogony. Hesiod took Homer's legacy and affirmed a collective past for humanity. This moved the thought of history... middle of paper ...... a collective past was sought, the world became bigger, and other cultures were introduced as new elements in history Greek. These cultures had to fit into a Greek framework and their histories were merged with those of the Greeks. The emergence of cultural history now began to bridge the gap between Greek civilization and other civilizations. Next comes the analytical and contemporary school of thought. With this new idea, ancient wars were less important than what had happened more recently and how those events could be described by eyewitness accounts. The need to corroborate facts from eyewitness accounts became necessary and the methodology of historical research developed. Overall, the Greeks gave us a good foundation from which further history could develop. Far from being complete, it was a great beginning to which the Western world owes much gratitude..