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
Part II. Home is the Hero: Embedded Story Space The traditional narratological division between narrator and character text entered the field of classics via a monograph on Homer. [1] I. J. F. de Jong’s systematic analysis of Iliadic narrative has shown, once and for all, the importance of adopting the basic distinction between διήγησις (narrator text) and μίμησις (character text), which is… Read more
Chapter 3. Greece The most frequently mentioned place-names of mainland Greece include Phthia, Argos, Pylos, Thebes, Sparta, Ithaka, Mycenae, and the islands of Lesbos, Lemnos, Skyros, and Crete. [1] Given that each of these toponyms is closely associated either with a single Iliadic hero or with a specific phase of this hero’s mythical saga, I have decided to examine them separately. From… Read more
Chapter 4. The Troad and Lycia Since the Trojans are fighting in their own country, it is hardly surprising that places in Asia Minor are less often narratively exploited than specific areas of mainland Greece. A few places in the wider Troad, though, are thematized, as they are either tied to the fate of specific heroes or belong to the central core of the epic’s plot. Apart… Read more
