Ch. 5. Emotion and Greekness in Dionysius of Halicarnassus’ Account of the Exile of Coriolanus

Abstract

Dionysius’ account of Coriolanus’ exile is rarely treated on its own terms, normally being deprecated as inferior to Livy or Plutarch’s version of the same. On the contrary, Dionysius’ account is a powerful illustration of his method in combining Roman source-material with Greek literary heritage. In particular, Dionysius uses epic and technical elements of stage language to draw out the psychological tensions at play in the story. This account, therefore, not only helps us get closer to Dionysius’ vision of Romanness, as Greek-inflected and distinct from Livy’s; it also problematises tough, Roman masculinity, suggesting that Dionysius is a more subtle observer of Rome than is usually imagined. Published in Alexander Meeus, ed., Narrative in Hellenistic Historiography (HISTOS Supplement 8), p. 145-69.