Baragwanath, Emily, and Mathieu de Bakker, ed. Myth, Truth, and Narrative in Herodotus. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

From the Publisher:

“Herodotus, the ‘Father of History’, is infamously known for having employed elements more akin to mythological tales than to unvarnished ‘truth’ in translating his historical research into narrative form. While these narratives provide valuable source material, he could not have surmised the hostile reception his work would receive in later generations. This mythical aspect of the Histories led many successors, most notoriously Plutarch, to blame Herodotus for spinning far-fetched lies, and to set him apart as an untrustworthy historian. Echoes of the same criticism resounded in twentieth-century scholarship, which found it difficult to reconcile Herodotus’ ambition to write historical stories ‘as they really happened’ with the choices he made in shaping their form.”

Online:
Oxford University Press