ca. 560–480 BC;
early Greek geographer and historiographer.
Works
Apart from his critique of the map of the world by Anaximander, two further works are known through fragments: Periḗgēsis gēs (‘World Survey’, or ‘Journey Round the World’) and Genealogíai (‘Genealogies’). Hecataeus’ rationalism, and his empirical approach, exerted a crucial influence on the history of geography and historiography. Even though there are a considerable number of fragments (ca. 350), they are mostly very short.