Classics 154

Classics 154: Greek Historians
(Cross-listed with World Literature [WLIT] 154)

Survey of the Greek creation and development of historical writing, or transformation of myth to history, from early fifth century through the Roman conquest.

The aim of this course is to understand the Greek creation and development of what we call historical writing, the deliberate recording of events within a narrative framework, and to see in what way(s) it is different from what late twentieth-century people call history. The course title is Greek Historians, and under that title we have read many things in other years: always Greek historians, always with an admixture of Latin historians, the continuators of the tradition, and of Greek or Latin biographers, and even political orators, on the grounds that they are primary historical sources of great importance to modern historians. This year the authors are all Greek writing in the Greek tradition. All but two are writers of narrative histories. Aristotle collected constitutions as he collected specimens of other things. Plutarch, a late author, is a biographer of historically important personages.

Students familiar with Homer will find it easy to understand Greek narrative priorities. There was no educated Greek who did not read Homer frequently and thoroughly, to the point of memorization. Greeks of the classical period considered his epics their ancient history (see Thucydides), and often cited Homer as a definitive authority, as some today cite the Bible (see Herodotus). As Homer's world-view informed Greek society, his poetry influenced all subsequent poetic developments and, eventually, the late-born art of writing prose. Herodotus, the "Father of History," was also called the most Homeric of historians, for reasons which we shall explore. His successor Thucydides proclaimed an intention to reject everything that was poetic or sensational and concentrate upon what was useful in history. Some scholars have disparaged Xenophon as the first extant novelist, but unworthy as an historian. While the works of many of his successors are lost, we believe that many of them contained increasingly romantic elements combined with stock elements, e.g., the hardships suffered during the siege of a city. Polybius aimed both to restore science to history and to weave together the strands of local history into a universal fabric.

If epic poetry was the progenitor and history one of the descendants, the quarrel between generations never ceased; some historians leaned to one side and some to another, some railed against other historians' shortcomings, others ignored the competition. But none ever forgot, as many moderns do, that he was writing a work of literature.

Prerequisites
Classics 21/History 21 or Classics 121/History 121 recommended.

Credit Hours
Three.