The Hellenistic Poets as Historians.

This article explores the ways in which Hellenistic poets handled lived events of the human past, and it argues that they functioned as in some sense what we would recognize as historians. They used four main devices to do so, which are examined in turn: Hellenistic historical epics (a genre whose v...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scripta Classica Israelica Vol. 37; pp. 45 - 68
Main Author: Hornblower, Simon
Format: Article
Published: Israeli Society for the Promotion of Classical Studies 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      vid: 37
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      pub: Israeli Society for the Promotion of Classical Studies
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        atl: The Hellenistic Poets as Historians.
      aug:
        au: Hornblower, Simon
        affil: Islington, London
      su:
        Poets
        Historians
        Diomedes (Greek mythology)
        Colonization
        Historiography
      sug:
        subj:
          Poets
          Historians
          Diomedes (Greek mythology)
          Colonization
          Historiography
      keyword:
        'Ezekiel'
        aitia
        Alexandra
        Apollonios
        Hannibal
        Hellenistic
        historians
        historical epics
        Lykophron
        poetry
        Polybius
        prophecy
        Sibylline Oracles
      ab: This article explores the ways in which Hellenistic poets handled lived events of the human past, and it argues that they functioned as in some sense what we would recognize as historians. They used four main devices to do so, which are examined in turn: Hellenistic historical epics (a genre whose very existence has been challenged); tragic messenger speeches ('Ezekiel'; Lykophron's Alexandra); aitia (Kallimachos); prophecy i.e. pseudo-prophecy or prophecy after the event (Ezekiel again; the Third Sibylline Oracle; Lykophron again. Apollonios usually refuses to make use of prophecy in this way). It is argued that Lykophron, who is here dated to the 190s BCE, shows awareness of the then recent trauma of the Hannibalic War. Finally, the poets are tested against ancient and modern definitions of 'historyc' and 'historian'.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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