To C.A.S.and to the memory of R.L.S. and C.E.S. Acknowledgments When The Power of Thetis was first published, I noted that for a short book, it boasted a long list of people to thank. Although that study, recast in the pages that follow, has not gotten longer, over the intervening years the list of friends and colleagues who have contributed to my thinking on its subject—and… Read more
Introduction to this Volume [In this on-line version, the page-numbers of the printed version are indicated within braces (“{” and “}”). For example, “{69|70}” indicates where p. 69 of the printed version ends and p. 70 begins. These indications will be useful to readers who need to look up references made elsewhere to the printed version of this book.] The Power of Thetis and the several essays included here… Read more
Conclusion The aim of this book has been to offer a systematic and comprehensive presentation of the function of space in the Iliad. To this end, and following Nünning’s theoretical model, four different aspects of space were studied, of which the first two (simple story space and embedded story space) pertain to the classical division between narrator text and character text proper, while the other two (similes… Read more
Appendix 1. Space in the Similes of the Iliad: The Visual Units In this appendix I offer a presentation, with very brief comments, of the organization and function of the system of visual units in the similes of each Iliadic book (with the exception of Iliad II, V, XI, and XVI, which were analyzed in detail in part 3). Iliad III Visual unit 1 … Read more
Appendix 2: Space in Similes Attested in Character Text In part 3, I studied the function of space in Iliadic similes attested in narrator text. I have excluded from the main body of this book all similes found in character text, after carefully considering a number of factors, which I will now present and elucidate. Since my topic is space, I will then briefly focus on the… Read more
Bibliography Aceti, C., D. Leuzzi, and L. Pagani. 2008. Eroi nell’Iliade: personaggi e strutture narrative. Rome. Addison, C. 1993. “From Literal to Figurative: An Introduction to the Study of the Simile.” College English 55:402–419. ———. 2001. “‘So Stretched Out Huge in Length’: Reading the Extended Simile.” Style 35:498–516. Adkins, A. W. H. 1960. Merit… Read more
Acknowledgments This book started life as a Ph.D. dissertation, the writing of which I completed largely while seated on a couch with an implacably immobile cat on my lap. These lengthy periods of enforced motionlessness greatly helped concentrate my mind on the text of Herodotus, and I have dedicated this book to her manes in gratitude for her good humor and company during those years. A… Read more
Introduction This work is an investigation of signs, their interpretation, and the use to which they are put in the Histories of Herodotus. The collocation ‘signs’ and ‘Herodotus’ is most likely to suggest the bizarre portents, riddling oracles, and striking dreams which make an impression on every reader of the Histories. Yet there are other types of signs and sign systems at play in the work to… Read more
Part 1. The Vocabulary of Signs, Their Transmission, Reception, and Interpretation 1.1 The Sign Herodotus has few words to convey the general concept of a sign. [1] These do not occur as frequently as verbal forms based on some of the same stems. Thus there are only nine instances of the noun σημήιον (‘sign, device on shield’), for example, but some… Read more
Part 2. Sign Systems 2.1 Portents and Their Interpretation in Herodotus 2.1.1 Definition Portents are aberrations and departures from the norm which by reason of their unusual nature and unexpected appearance are interpreted as signs declarative or prescriptive of some present or future action. We shall elaborate on the elements of this definition a little later, but let us look first at the vocabulary which… Read more
