Ch. 2. Thucydides Homericus and the Episode of Mycalessus (Thuc. 7.29–30): Myth and History, Space and Collective Memory

Authors

  • Maria Fragoulaki

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29173/histos30

Keywords:

Thucydides, Homer, intertextuality, audience, Thracians, Euripus, Aulis, Sicilian Expedition

Abstract

Mycalessus, a city in Boeotia which Thucydides describes as ‘not big’, becomes the stage of one of the most atrocious episodes in the History of the Peloponnesian War. The question, ‘Why does Thucydides pay so much attention to this local incident?’ has been dealt with in the bibliography, together with that of the position and role of the episode in the narrative of the Sicilian expedition. This chapter suggests that the mentions of Mycalessus in the Homeric Catalogue of Ships and the Homeric Hymn to Apollo must be viewed as significant intertexts for Thucydides’ interaction with epic material, and for the shaping of his historical narrative as a document of panhellenic memory. Published in C. Constantakopoulou and M. Fragoulaki, ed., Shaping Memory in Ancient Greece (HISTOS Supplement 11), p. 37-86.

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Published

2020-01-01

How to Cite

Fragoulaki, Maria. 2020. “Ch. 2. Thucydides Homericus and the Episode of Mycalessus (Thuc. 7.29–30): Myth and History, Space and Collective Memory”. Histos, January, 37-86. https://doi.org/10.29173/histos30.

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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