Structure and Meaning in Epic and Historiography
This chapter explores one aspect of historiography's debt to epic, and uses this as a basis for some comparisons and contrasts between Herodotus and Thucydides. It argues that Homer was inevitably and constantly a gigantic presence in the background for both Herodotus and Thucydides, that they...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Book section |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
2012
|
| _version_ | 1797096791213080576 |
|---|---|
| author | Rutherford, R |
| author_facet | Rutherford, R |
| author_sort | Rutherford, R |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | This chapter explores one aspect of historiography's debt to epic, and uses this as a basis for some comparisons and contrasts between Herodotus and Thucydides. It argues that Homer was inevitably and constantly a gigantic presence in the background for both Herodotus and Thucydides, that they measure their own subject matter and themes against those of the Homeric poems, particularly the Iliad, and that whatever influence lost sources may have had, Homer provided the central model for sustained historical narrative. It also shows that some favourite structural techniques used by Homer are also exploited by the historians, in particular scenic sequences, progressive iteration, and ironic reversal. Repetition can also signify escalation of conflict or danger: both epic and history focus on the perils of excess. Finally, the chapter stresses that Thucydides remains the heir of Herodotus, and so of Homer, and that this can be observed with particular clarity in the Sicilian books. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T04:46:35Z |
| format | Book section |
| id | oxford-uuid:d38392ac-5888-4ef1-a81c-50d8b8582ee7 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T04:46:35Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:d38392ac-5888-4ef1-a81c-50d8b8582ee72022-03-27T08:11:39ZStructure and Meaning in Epic and HistoriographyBook sectionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_3248uuid:d38392ac-5888-4ef1-a81c-50d8b8582ee7Symplectic Elements at OxfordOxford University Press2012Rutherford, RThis chapter explores one aspect of historiography's debt to epic, and uses this as a basis for some comparisons and contrasts between Herodotus and Thucydides. It argues that Homer was inevitably and constantly a gigantic presence in the background for both Herodotus and Thucydides, that they measure their own subject matter and themes against those of the Homeric poems, particularly the Iliad, and that whatever influence lost sources may have had, Homer provided the central model for sustained historical narrative. It also shows that some favourite structural techniques used by Homer are also exploited by the historians, in particular scenic sequences, progressive iteration, and ironic reversal. Repetition can also signify escalation of conflict or danger: both epic and history focus on the perils of excess. Finally, the chapter stresses that Thucydides remains the heir of Herodotus, and so of Homer, and that this can be observed with particular clarity in the Sicilian books. |
| spellingShingle | Rutherford, R Structure and Meaning in Epic and Historiography |
| title | Structure and Meaning in Epic and Historiography |
| title_full | Structure and Meaning in Epic and Historiography |
| title_fullStr | Structure and Meaning in Epic and Historiography |
| title_full_unstemmed | Structure and Meaning in Epic and Historiography |
| title_short | Structure and Meaning in Epic and Historiography |
| title_sort | structure and meaning in epic and historiography |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT rutherfordr structureandmeaninginepicandhistoriography |