The Center for Hellenic Studies

Herodotus’s Histories
Curated Books

Mythical Structures in Herodotus’ Histories

Abridged translation of Mythische Erzählstrukturen in Herodots “Historien”, published in 2011 by De Gruyter. Herodotus is often criticised for his mythical representation of historical events. However, this offers an important key to the understanding of the text. Starting with the reconstruction of a contemporary mythical-ritual framework, in her reading of the Histories Katharina Wesselmann uses the associative content of the traditional themes of iniquity, madness, trickery and transition which underpin the Histories. In… Read more

Hellenic Studies Series

The Master of Signs: Signs and the Interpretation of Signs in Herodotus’ Histories

Readers of Herodotus’s histories are familiar with its reports of bizarre portents, riddling oracles, and striking dreams. But Herodotus draws our attention to other types of signs too, beginning with human speech itself as a coded system that can manipulate and be manipulated. Objects, gifts, artifacts, markings, even the human body, are all capable of being invested with meaning in the Histories and Herodotus shows that conventionally and culturally determined… Read more