The narrative art of Herodotus' Histories has always been greatly admired, but it has never received an in-depth and systematic analysis. This commentary lays bare the role of the narrator and his effective handling of time, focalization, and speech in all the famous and much-loved episodes, from Croesus, via the Ionian Revolt, to the climax of Xerxes' expedition against Greece. In paying close attention to the various ways in which Herodotus structures his story, it offers crucial help to get a grip on the at first sight bewildering structure of this long text. The detailed analysis of Herodotus' narration shows how his masterful adoption and expansion of the epic toolbox endowed the new genre of historiography with the same authority as its illustrious predecessor. The commentary is suitable for all readers of Herodotus' Greek text: students, teachers, and scholars.
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The commentary provides an in-depth analysis of Herodotus' narrative art as displayed in the key episodes of his Histories.
Preface; List of abbreviations; Introduction; Commentary; Part I.
Opening:
1. Introduction of Croesus;
2. Candaules and Gyges;
3. Arion and the
dolphin;
4. Croesus and solon;
5. Croesus, Atys and Adrastus;
6. Croesus and
the oracles;
7. The capture of Croesus;
8. Cyrus' youth and accession to the
throne;
9. Cyrus' death; Part II:
10. Helen in Egypt;
11. Rhampsinitus and
the thief; Part III:
12. The madness of Cambyses;
13. Polycrates and his
ring;
14. Periander and his son Lycophron;
15. The death of Cambyses;
16.
Darius' accession to the throne;
17. Darius and Democedes; Part IV.
18. The
Ionians at the Ister; Part V:
19. Darius' summons of Histiaeus;
20. The start
of the Ionian revolt;
21. Aristagoras in Sparta;
22. Aristagoras in Athens;
23. Socles on Cypselus and Periander;
24. The burning of Sardis;
25. The
death of Aristagoras; Part VI.
26. The death of Histiaeus and the end of the
Ionian revolt;
27. Mardonius' failed expedition against Greece;
28. Marathon;
29. Alcmeon, Megacles; Part VII:
30. Xerxes' decision to attack Greece;
31.
Xerxes' conversation with Artabanus at Abydus;
32. Xerxes' conversation with
Demaratus at Doriscus;
33. Herodotus' encomium of Athens;
34. (Fourth)
Persian catalogue;
35. Thermopylae; Part VIII:
36. Artemisium;
37. Salamis;
Part IX.
38. Plataea;
39. Concluding episodes; Appendix: Summary of the
histories; Bibliography; Indexes.
IRENE J. F. de Jong is Professor Emeritus of Greek at the University of Amsterdam. She has published extensively on Homer, Herodotus, and Euripides, and is the editor of a multi-volume history of ancient Greek narrative. Her publications include A Narratological Commentary on the Odyssey (Cambridge, 2001), Homer: Iliad Book XXII (Cambridge, 2012), and Narratology and Classics: A Practical Guide (2014). She is a member of the Royal Dutch Academy, the Norwegian Academy, the Academia Europaea, and the British Academy.
