Formal Evidence for the Etymology of Greek nóos Various attempts have been made to etymologize Greek nóos, but none of these has carried wide conviction. The word permits a large number of formal reconstructions, and this helps to explain both the number of attempted etymologies and the uncertainty of all of them. […]
Introduction [In this on-line version, the page-numbers of the printed version are indicated within braces (“{” and “}”). For example, “{69|70}” indicates where p. 69 of the printed version ends and p. 70 begins. These indications will be useful to readers who need to look up references made elsewhere to the printed […]
Acknowledgments Two people have had a particularly large influence on this book. Gregory Nagy, with his insight into Greek epic tradition, inspired my efforts from the start, and Amy Sabatini, with her insight into comparative religions, gave focus to my efforts at an early and opportune moment; to both of these friends […]
Bibliography Alexiou, M. 2002. After Antiquity. Greek Language, Myth, and Metaphor. Ithaca, NY; London. Aly, W. 1969 [1921]. Volksmärchen, Sage und Novelle bei Herodot und seinen Zeitgenossen. 2nd edition. Göttingen. Asheri, D. 2007 [1988]. Erodoto. Le Storie, I: La Lidia e Persia. Testo e commento […]
Conclusions 1. Structure, Semantics, Validity: the Function of Myth in History From the passages analysed, we have seen that the ‘father of history’ remains much indebted to mythical and ritual paradigms. His structures of thought are shaped by the patterns his contemporaries think with: the sacrileges of his historical characters are […]
Rite de Passage—The Tradition of Starting Over 1. On Terminology I classify stories that deal with ‘coming of age’ by the three steps defined by Van Gennep 1909 and Turner 1964: separation from society, a phase of transition / liminality, and aggregation, the reintegration into society with a new status. Herodotus’ […]
Tricksters and Structure in Herodotus 1. Tricksters in Herodotus? Herodotus’ Histories are populated with highly intelligent characters often reaching their goals by means of cunning and deceit. In her influential 1987 study, Carolyn Dewald has identified “savants”, the wise advisers nobody listens to, as well as “tricksters”, who know more than […]
Madness—The Complexity of Morals in the Light of Myth and Cult So far, we have seen how mythical parallels function as a kind of commentary, marking sacrilege as such. Now we will have a look at a group of sacrilegious acts that are connected with madness. They, too, have parallels with mythical […]
Sacrilege: Myth as a Moral Paradigm Transgression against the divine is a central issue of the Histories and also of a large part of Greek literature. In asking what sacrilege means for Herodotus, we encounter a fundamental difficulty: he does not use an unambiguous terminology. Most translations tend to simplify, while in […]
Introduction 1. Herodotus and Myth[1] In the first book of his Histories, Herodotus describes how a Median cowherd receives a child and a message from King Astyages: κελεύει σε Ἀστυάγης τὸ παιδίον τοῦτο λαβόντα θεῖναι ἐς τὸ ἐρημότατον τῶν ὀρέων, ὅκως ἂν τάχιστα διαφθαρείη. καὶ τάδε τοι ἐκέλευσε εἰπεῖν, ἢν […]