Greek Historiography (Herodotus)

Introduction to the ancient historiography, introduction to Herodotus and his work: life and historical work• political, social background, debts to previous literature, relation with contemporary intellectual trends, the author's attitude towards religion and myth, method, language, style. The passages included in the syllabus are studied, discussed and analyzed in a way that the ideas of the text come to the fore.

Objectives

The course aims to familiarize the students with the language of the Herodotean History, the Ionic dialect, so that they will be able to understand the Greek text from the original as well as that the dual nature of Herodotus is brought to the fore: as a historian with an emphasis on his method, as an author with a focus not only on the reception of the earlier and the contemporary literature, but also on his narrative technique. The objectives of the course also include the detection of a proto-rhetoric with rhetoric samples recalling epideictic rhetoric (Hippocratic, sophists).

Prerequisites

None.

Syllabus