Legein ta legomena. Herodotus' Stories as Natural Narrative (Studies in Classical Literature and Culture)

In the aftermath of the Persian Wars, not only new geopolitical borders were established in the Hellenic world, but there also emerged an intracultural line between the worlds of oral and increasing textual modes of communication. This book seeks to prove that these cultural changes are mirrored in a verbal work of art in the texts of Herodotus. The analysis of his texts, by applying the natural narratology theory, shows a specific and extraordinary mediacy between both approaches to communication. On the one hand, his «Histories» present a general account of the recent Greek history in a rationalizing and personal narrative of the historian who codifies it in a textual framework. On the other hand, they seem to consist of a conglomerate of numerous oral stories, which may assume a conversational narration structure. Cover Table of Contents Abbreviations Note on texts and translations Chapter I: Introduction Chapter II: Ancient antecedents of narratological theories Chapter III: Natural narratology in the context of modern narratological theories Chapter IV: Antique writings and natural narrative Chapter V: Poetics of Herodotus’ writings: Logios and his story Chapter VI: Style of Herodotus’ stories in the light of natural narrative Chapter VII: Significance of Herodotus’ stories in the light of natural narrative Chapter VIII: Summary Bibliography General index of names Index of passages cited The book analyses Herodotus' "Histories" by applying the natural narratology theory. The study presents his work not only as a general account of Greek history in a rationalizing, personal narrative of the historian who codifies it in a textual framework, but also as a conglomerate of numerous oral stories with a conversational narration structure.