Knowing Herodotus: The Historian and his Histories in Post-War Anglophone Literature



Quine, Lucy
(2021) Knowing Herodotus: The Historian and his Histories in Post-War Anglophone Literature. Doctor of Philosophy thesis, University of Liverpool.

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Abstract

The evolution of Classical reception studies in recent decades has encouraged a corresponding growth of interest in assessing instances of Herodotean reception from antiquity to the present era. This thesis joins the conversation by exploring how Herodotus’ Histories has been utilized in post-war anglophone literature. Concentrating on examples of Herodotean reception in travel literature and the novel, I examine the ways in which Herodotus has inspired authors to engage with the Histories. The featured travel writers regard the text as a guide to travel, with Herodotus characterised as the perfect companion to escort a traveller on their journey. For the novelists Herodotus’ account becomes a means through which to explore the malleability of historical texts, with the Histories symbolising the flaws of Western narrative history and its tendency to neglect marginalised voices. By identifying the contexts from which these case studies emerged this thesis seeks to extract what motivations lie behind the authors’ interaction with the Histories and examine the ways in which Herodotus’ work has been utilized to correspond with ideas and audiences of the modern era.

Item Type: Thesis (Doctor of Philosophy)
Divisions: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Histories, Languages and Cultures
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 18 Nov 2021 11:25
Last Modified: 18 Jan 2023 21:25
DOI: 10.17638/03141505
Supervisors:
  • Harrison, Thomas
  • Hobden, Fiona
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3141505