52,99 €
Mehr erfahren.
- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Serie: Blackwell Introductions to the Classical World
- Sprache: Englisch
This volume provides an accessible, comprehensive, and up-to-date survey of the ancient Greek genre of historical writing from its origins before Herodotus to the Greek historians of the Roman imperial era, seven centuries later.
- Focuses on the themes of power and human nature, causation, divine justice, leadership, civilization versus barbarism, legacy, and literary reception
- Includes thorough summaries alongside textual analysis that signpost key passages and highlight thematic connections, helping readers navigate their way through the original texts
- Situates historical writing among the forms of epic and lyric poetry, drama, philosophy, and science
- Uses the best current translations and includes a detailed list of further reading that includes important new scholarship
Sie lesen das E-Book in den Legimi-Apps auf:
Seitenzahl: 693
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015
Ähnliche
CONTENTS
Cover
Title page
Preface
Bibliography
Abbreviations
1 Origins and Early Forms of Greek Historiography
Prologue
Choosing and Using History
Oral Culture and Archaic Poetry
Out of Homer or Not?
The Ionian Connection
History Prefigured or Forestalled in Archaic Poetry?
Why No Historical Tragedies?
Falsehood and Fashioning, or Veracity, Verisimilitude, and “Versionification”
Rhetoric and History
The Logographers: From the Silly to the Serious
Conclusions
Bibliography
2 Herodotus and the Limits of Happiness: Beyond Epic, Lyric, and Logography
Life and Times
Composition and Structure
Theme 1: Human Nature and Happiness
Theme 2: Power
Themes, “Top Stories,” and the Logic of
logoi
Conclusions
Bibliography
3 Thucydides on the Ends of Power
Life and Times
Composition, Style, and Structure of the Work
The Nature and Culture of Power
Human Nature, Norms and Exceptions
Themes and Significant Passages
Book 1: The “Archaeology”
Book 2
Book 3
Book 4
Book 5
The Melian Dialogue, 5.84–116
Book 6
Book 7
Book 8
Conclusions
Bibliography
4 Xenophon on Leadership and Moral Authority
Life and Times
The
Anabasis
Hellenica
Conclusions
Bibliography
5 History and Rhetoric in Fourth-Century Historians
History and Representation
Philosophy and History
The Historians
Conclusions
Bibliography
6 Diversity and Innovation in the Hellenistic Era
The Early Historians of Alexander
The Historians of Western Greece
Conclusions
Bibliography
7 Polybius on the Supremacy of a Balanced State
Life and Times
Readership, Structure, and Character of the Work
Themes and Significant Passages
Conclusions
Bibliography
8 Greek Historians in the Roman Era
Greek Literature in a Roman Context
Fabius Pictor
Posidonius
Diodorus Siculus
Greek Historians of the Imperial Period
Dionysius of Halicarnassus
The Empire and the Biographic Turn
Josephus
Appian
Arrian
Dio Cassius
Herodian
Late Ancient Legacy
Conclusions
Bibliography
9 Concluding Observations on Greek Historical Writing
The Evolution of a Genre
Formal Aspects of Ancient Historiography
Power, Metaforces, Historical Philosophies, and Continuities
Human Nature
Supernatural Forces
Causation
Leadership
Civilization and the “Barbarians”
Legacy
Bibliography
Further Reading
Electronic Editions
General Books on the Greek Historians
Chapter 1 Origins and Early Forms
Chapter 2 Herodotus
Chapter 3 Thucydides
Chapter 4 Xenophon
Chapter 5 The Fourth Century
Chapter 6 The Hellenistic Historians
Chapter 7 Polybius
Chapter 8 Greek Historians in the Roman Era
Index Locorum
Index
End User License Agreement
Guide
Cover
Table of Contents
Begin Reading
Pages
iii
iv
vi
vii
viii
ix
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
Blackwell Introductions to the Classical World
This series will provide concise introductions to classical culture in the broadest sense. Written by the most distinguished scholars in the field, these books survey key authors, periods and topics for students and scholars alike.
Published
Greek TragedyNancy Sorkin Rabinowitz
Roman SatireDaniel Hooley
Ancient HistoryCharles W. Hedrick, Jr.
Homer, second editionBarry B. Powell
Classical LiteratureRichard Rutherford
Ancient Rhetoric and OratoryThomas Habinek
Ancient EpicKatherine Callen King
CatullusJulia Haig Gaisser
VirgilR. Alden Smith
OvidKatharina Volk
Roman HistoriographyAndreas Mehl, translated by Hans-Friedrich Mueller
Greek HistoriographyThomas F. Scanlon
Greek Historiography
Thomas F. Scanlon
This edition first published 2015© 2015 Thomas F. Scanlon
Registered OfficeJohn Wiley & Sons, Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK
Editorial Offices350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UKThe Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK
For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services, and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell.
The right of Thomas F. Scanlon to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher.
Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.
Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services and neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Scanlon, Thomas Francis, author. Greek historiography / Thomas F. Scanlon. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4051-4522-0 (cloth)1. Greece–Historiography. I. Title. DF211.S33 2015 938.0072–dc23
2015006681
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover image: Roman statue of Clio, 2nd century, Museo Pio-Clementino, Rome. Photo: Marie-Lan Nguyen 2006, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clio_Pio-Clementino_Inv291.jpg
Preface
This books aims to provide an introduction to Greek historical writing across its evolution over about three quarters of a millennium, from about 500 BC to AD 240. The work begins with an overview of the “logographers,” – that is, local “storytellers” prior to Herodotus, such as Hecataeus and others; then it moves to a closer discussion of the major figures of Herodotus and Thucydides, chronicling the major upheavals, internal and external, of city-states in the classical era. Next it surveys the perspectives of exiled authors in the much different times of Xenophon and Polybius and ends with an overview of later figures who wrote in Greek during the Roman era: Fabius Pictor, Posidonius, and Diodorus Siculus in the late republic; Nicolaus of Damascus and Dionysius in the Augustan age; Josephus, Appian, and Arrian in the first and second centuries AD; and finally Dio Cassius and Herodian in the early third century AD. Few modern overviews have included the authors of the Roman era after Polybius, who constitute a rich illustration of the possibilities realized by the genre. Collectively, all these historians and their works raise questions about the definition of historical writing. These questions are addressed as they arise, and more comparatively in a concluding chapter.
In line with the whole series, this approach aims to be accessible to students and to interested general readers with little specialist background, and yet to offer, both to that audience and to more advanced students and scholars, some useful observations on the field. Greater attention is given to writers whose texts are extensively preserved, are available in good translations, and enjoy modern discussions in English; but the important but fragmentarily preserved authors are also discussed (see the bibliography at the end of each chapter and the Further Reading chapter at the end of the book).
The study of Greek historical writing – what is called “historiography” – differs from the direct study of Greek history by focusing on the literary aspects of the historical texts, their narratives and themes, and less on the absolute veracity of their accounts. Historiography treats historical writing as a form of literature, and one that furnished a connected narrative of events within the chosen topic. Along the way, we look at the general structure of the major narratives, their use of prefaces, digressions and speeches, and direct authorial comments. This study moves chronologically through the centuries, seeking to trace lines of continuity and innovation in each author and giving some suggestions as to how each one relates to his predecessors. Each chapter aims to situate the works it presents in their time and culture, specifically through a discussion of the life of the each author, the structure of his work, and its debt to other literary and philosophical phenomena.
The discussion of each major extant work also offers a sequential reading of that narrative. This feature is unlike what one finds in many introductions to historical writing; but it is important here for several reasons. The readings are a guide to the main “story” of the history through the often complex thicket of names and places, a way to trace consecutively the chief themes and interests of an author (one inspiration here is Connor 1984). Along the way we pay special attention to the themes of “human nature” and “power” – concepts that were, admittedly, quite fluid and debatable for the ancients as they are for us today; but these themes appear in virtually every author surveyed, with different meanings and usages. Other major themes such as divine forces, leadership, causation, and the portrayal of the “barbarians” also feature throughout our discussion. Not all are, however, universal across all ancient historians, and we also examine themes that belong to the particular time and social context of each author, for example Greek unity for Herodotus, the dangers of rhetoric for Thucydides, and the relationship between a superpower and its dependents for Polybius.
It is the ancient construction of themes for each narrative that is of special interest here, since each historian’s work is an attempt to make sense of the chaotic events of public life, of individual decisions made with reason or emotion, and of collective judgment and actions dictated by the same human faculties. Historians thereby also hope to be didactic and pragmatically useful. Polybius offered one version of the utility of history in his preface:
The study of History is in the truest sense an education, and a training for political life; and that the most instructive, or rather the only, method of learning to bear with dignity the vicissitudes of fortune is to recall the catastrophes of others.
(Plb. 1.1, translated by Shuckburgh)
This book hopes to communicate the enthusiasm I felt as a young student of Thucydides, entranced as I was by his stark descriptions of power politics, which resonate so disturbingly across the ages. I had already been (and remain) enthralled by Greek and Roman poetry. But the subjective and literary aspects of historical writing, as well as their striking, modern relevance, were a revelation concerning how much supposedly objective reporting today still requires an ever vigilant, critical analysis.
Sincere gratitude is owed to the team at Wiley Blackwell for their encouragement, patience, and hard work, most especially to Sophie Gibson, Haze Humbert, Ben Thatcher, Allison Kostka, and Manuela Tecusan. The original reviewers and the development reviewers for the press gave excellent suggestions. Ingrid de Haas has done superb work as my research assistant. The University of California, Riverside has been very supportive with sabbatical leave and research funds for this project. Input from students in my courses and seminars on historical writing has, over the years, guided me greatly in formulating the needs for this project. As always, Wendy Raschke has been a source of great intellectual and personal support. To her the work is dedicated with gratitude beyond words.
The translator’s name is always indicated immediately after the citation at the end of a quoted passage, for example “Th. 1.21.1, Lattimore.” Passages not marked in this way are my own translations.
Bibliography
Connor, W. R. 1984.
Thucydides
. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Abbreviations
Acus.
Acusilaus
ad l.
ad locum
Androt.
Androtion
Antich.
Antiochus of Syracuse
Apollod.
Apollodorus,
Bibliotheca
(
Library
)
App.
Appian
BC
Bella civilia
(
Civil Wars
)
Praef.
Praefatio
(
Preface
)
A.R.
Apollonius of Rhodus
Arg.
Argonautica
Ar.
Aristophanes
Pax
Pax
(
Peace
)
Arist.
Aristotle
EN
Ethica Nicomachea
(
Nicomachean Ethics
)
Po.
Poetica
(
Poetics
)
Rh.
Rhetorica
(
Rhetoric
)
Arr.
Arrian
An.
Alexandri anabasis
Ath.
Athenaeus of Naucratis,
Deipnosophistae
(
Philosophers at Dinner
)
BNJ
Brill’s New Jacoby
, edited by Ian Worthington (2006–13; also at
http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/brill-s-new-jacoby
).
c.
circa
cf.
confer
Callisth.
Callisthenes of Olynthus
Cic.
Cicero
QFr
Epistulae ad Quintum fratrem
(
Letters to His Brother Quintus
)
Cleidem.
Cleidemus
D.C.
Dio Cassius,
Historia Romana
(
Roman History
)
D.H.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus,
Antiquitates Romanae
(
Roman Antiquities
) (traditionally cited without title)
Comp.
De compositione verborum
(
On Literary Composition
)
Pomp.
Epistula ad Pompeium
(
Letter to Pompei
)
Rh.
Ars rhetorica
(
Rhetoric
)
Th.
De Thucydide
(
On Thucydides
)
DK
Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker
, edited by H. Diels and W. Kranz (6th ed., 1952).
D.S.
Diodorus Siculus,
Bibliotheca historica
(
Historical Library
)
EK
Posidonius: The Fragments
, edited by L. Edelstein and I. G. Kidd (2nd ed., 1988–99).
Ephor.
Ephorus
fl.
floruit
FGrHist
Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker
, edited by F. Jacoby et al. (1923–).
Hdn.
Herodian
Hdt.
Herodotus,
Historiae
(
Histories
)
Hecat.
Hecataeus of Miletus
Hell.Oxy.
Hellenica Oxyrhynchia
Heraclit.
Heraclitus
Hes.
Hesiod
Th.
Theogonia
(
Theogony
)
Hom.
Homer
Il.
Ilias
(
Iliad
)
Od.
Odyssea
(
Odyssey
)
Hor.
Horace
Epist.
Epistulae
(
Letters
)
Isoc.
Isocrates,
Orationes
(
Discourses
)
J.
Josephus
AJ
Antiquitates Judaicae
(
Jewish Antiquities
)
Ao.
Contra Apionem
(
Against Apio
)
BJ
Bellum Judaicum
(
Jewish War
)
Vit.
Vita
(
Life
)
Jer.
Jerome
Chron.
Chronica
(
Chronicle
)
Der Kleine Pauly
Der kleine Pauly: Lexikon der Antike
, edited by K. Ziegler, W. Sontheimer, and H. Gärtner (1979 [1964–75])
KRS
The Presocratic Philosophers
, edited and translated by G. S. Kirk, J. E. Raven, and M. Schofield (2nd rev. ed., 1983).
[Longin.]
Pseudo-Longinus
Subl.
De sublimitate
/
Peri hupsous
(
On the Sublime
)
LSJ
A Greek–English Lexicon
, compiled by H. G. Liddell and R. Scott, revised and augmented by H. S. Jones, with the assistance of R. McKenzie (9th ed., 1968)
Luc.
Lucian
Macr.
Macrobii
(
Long Lives
)
Marcellin.
Marcellinus
Vit. Thuc.
Vita Thucydidis
(
Life of Thucydides
)
Der Neue Pauly
Der Neue Pauly: Enzyklopaedie der Antike
, edited by H. Cancik and H. Schneider (1996–)
New Pauly
Brill’s New Pauly: Encyclopedia of the Ancient World
, edited by H. Cancik and H. Schneider (2002–)
Nic.Dam.
Nicolaus of Damascus
OCD
The Oxford Classical Dictionary
, edited by S. Hornblower and A. Spawforth (3rd ed., 1996).
Paus.
Pausanias,
Graeciae descriptio
(
Description of Greece
)
Philist.
Philistus of Syracuse
Philoch.
Philochorus
Pl.
Plato
Lg.
Leges
(
Laws
)
R.
Respublica
(
Republic
)
Plb.
Polybius,
Historiae
(
Histories
)
Plu.
Plutarch
Alex.
Alexander
Dio
Vita Dionis
(
Life of Dion
)
Glor. Ath.
De gloria Athenensium
(
On the Athenians’ Fame
)
Mal. Herod.
De malignitate Herodoti
(
On the Malice of Herodotus
)
Posidon.
Posidonius
s.v.
sub verbo
Sall.
Sallust
Hist.
Historiae
(
Histories
)
sc.
scilicet
Sen.
Seneca the Younger
Ep.
Epistulae
(
Letters
)
Str.
Strabo
Syll.
Sylloge inscriptionum Graecarum
, edited by W. Dittenberger (3rd ed., 1915–24)
Tac.
Tacitus
Hist.
Historiae
(
Histories
)
Th.
Thucydides,
Historiae
(
Histories
)
Theopomp.
Theopompus
V.
Vergil
A.
Aeneis
(
Aeneid
)
X.
Xenophon
An.
Anabasis
Hell.
Hellenica
Mem.
Memorabilia
1Origins and Early Forms of Greek Historiography
Prologue
Two famous passages from Thucydides’ History, written between the late 430s and the early 390s BC, set out several themes common to the ancient Greek historians.
In the light of the evidence I have cited, however, no one would go wrong in supposing that the early events I have related happened much in that way, if one would not believe that the past was more like what the poets have sung, embellishing with their exaggerations, or the prose chroniclers have composed, in versions more seductive to the ear than true, being unexamined and many because of the lapse of time incredibly winning the status of patriotic legend, but if one would regard my discoveries from the clearest possible evidence as adequate for what concerns antiquity.
(Th. 1.21.1, Lattimore, adapted)
For [Athens] alone of existing cities surpasses her reputation when put to the test … Through great proofs, and by exhibiting power in no way unwitnessed, we will be admired by this and future generations, thus requiring no Homer to sing our praises nor any other whose verses will charm for the moment and whose claims the factual truth will destroy, since we have compelled every sea and land to become open to our daring and populated every region with lasting monuments of our acts of harm and good.
(Th. 2.41.3–4, Lattimore)
The first quotation, a conclusion to Thucydides’ introductory summary of earlier history, evidences direct competition with earlier poetic and prose versions of the Greek past and asserts the superiority of his narrative to those of poets and prose “story writers” (logographoi) (Marincola 1997: Chapter 5, on the topos). It contrasts both poetic exaggeration or adornment and the persuasive power of popular prose stories with Thucydides’ principles of clear evidence (). The second passage, from Pericles’ funeral oration, illustrates the monumental product of history through the example of Athens itself. From it we see that fame attested by proofs () and preserved through memory is of paramount importance to Greek culture, that truth witnessed or supported by evidence is superior to poetic fiction, and that demonstrations of power ensure memory in posterity. Power is a central theme: its acquisition and loss and the human attraction to it and admiration for it. How will future generations receive the message of dynamic achievements in the absence of poetic commemoration? Implicitly Pericles’ own speech and the historian’s account, together, ensure that the monuments – literally, “memorials” () – will not be forgotten. (“We are irresistibly reminded of 1.22.1 with its dismissal of what the poets have sung about; also surely of 1.22.4 with its contrast between Thucydides’ own permanent but superficially unpleasing work … and prize competitions designed for the immediate moment”: Hornblower 1997 ad l.; see also Gomme 1956 ad l. and Lattimore 1998.)
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
Lesen Sie weiter in der vollständigen Ausgabe!
