Herodotus is known as "the father of history". He wrote The Histories, which is about the history Greek world and the ethnography and culture of the region. It isn't exactly accurate, but he attempts to tell a somewhat fact based story, rather than relying on the oral tradition like Homer. He includes myths and uses casual relationships to explain history, so he still has somewhat of a narrative format. But he did research, talked to eyewitnesses, consulted records, etc- things that are familiar to a modern historian. History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides was relatively contemporary to The Histories which focuses more on political history and tends to shun the cultural history.