Ch. 1. Homer and the Question Why

Authors

  • Christopher Pelling

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29173/histos29

Keywords:

Homer, historiography, causation, explanation, intertextuality.

Abstract

Historiography’s debt to Homer is immense, especially in exploring matters of cause and effect. The epics trace things back to beginnings, even if those are only ‘hinges’ in a still longer story; they use speech-exchanges not merely to characterise individuals but also to explore features of their society; the interaction of human and divine is complex, but the narrative focus characteristically rests more on the human level; allusiveness to narratives of earlier and later events also carries explanatory value. Epic and historiography alike also cast light on why readers find such aesthetic pleasure in stories of suffering, brutality, and death. Published in C. Constantakopoulou and M. Fragoulaki, ed., Shaping Memory in Ancient Greece (HISTOS Supplement 11), p. 1-35.

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Published

2020-01-01

How to Cite

Pelling, Christopher. 2020. “Ch. 1. Homer and the Question Why”. Histos, January, 1-35. https://doi.org/10.29173/histos29.

Issue

2020: HISTOS Supplement 11: Shaping Memory in Ancient Greece: Poetry, Historiography, and Epigraphy, edited by C. Constantakopoulou and M. Fragoulaki (2020)

Section

Articles

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