Herodotus and Hellenistic Culture: Literary Studies in the Reception of the Histories

In a series of literary studies, Priestley explores some of the earliest ancient responses to Herodotus' 'Histories' through the extant written record of the early and middle Hellenistic period. Responses to the Histories were rich and varied, and the range of Hellenistic writers responding in different ways to Herodotus' work is in part a reflection of the 'Histories 'own broad scope. The 'Histories' remained relevant in this later age and continued to speak meaningfully to a broad range of readers longafter Herodotus' death. This book explores a variety of discourses where Herodotus occupies an important place in the intellectual background, and, in particular, it draws attention to writers not usually categorized as historians in order to broaden ourperspectives on Herodotus' cultural importance.

... excellent study ... The book is full of striking observations and insights.

Autorentext

Jessica Priestley is a Leventis Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute of Greece, Rome, and the Classical Tradition, University of Bristol.

Klappentext

Priestley explores some of the earliest ancient responses to Herodotus' Histories from the early and middle Hellenistic period. Through discussions of contemporary discourse relating to the Persian Wars, geography, literary style, and biography, it nuances our understanding of how ancient readers reacted to and appropriated the Histories.

Inhalt

• Acknowledgements

• List of Abbreviations

• Introduction

• 1: Biographical Traditions

• 2: The Great and the Marvellous

• 3: Herodotus and Hellenistic Geographies

• 4: The Persian Wars: new versions and new contexts

• 5: The Prose Homer of History

• Epilogue

• Appendix: Aristarchus' Commentary on Herodotus

• Bibliography

• Index