Unit:
Department of PhilologyLibrary of the School of Philosophy
Author:
Nastos Vasileios Athanasios
Dissertation committee:
Κάρλα Γραμματική, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Φιλολογίας, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Κράλλη Ιωάννα, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια, Ιστορίας, Ιόνιο Πανεπιστήμιο
Καρβούνη Αικατερίνα, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια, Φιλολογίας, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Παπαθωμάς Αμφιλόχιος, Καθηγητής, Φιλολογίας, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Μπενέτος Διονύσιος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Φιλολογίας, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Μακρυγιάννη Ευγενία, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια, Φιλολογίας, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Ανεζίρη Σοφία, Αναπληρώτρια Καθηγήτρια, Ιστορίας και Αρχαιολογίας, Ε.Κ.Π.Α.
Original Title:
Συμβάσεις, Προσωπικότητα και Τυχαίο: μια προσέγγιση των Ιστοριών του Πολύβιου
Translated title:
Conventions, Personality and Fortune: an approach to Polybius' Histories
Summary:
Polybius’ Histories are the main historiographical source for a crucial era for the transformation of the world map. This era was characterized by the decline of powerful states in the Greek world and the progressive emergence of Rome. In this dissertation Histories are regarded as a narrative in which three guidelines are dominant: conventions, personality, fortune and the ways in which this operates. These guidelines constitute the frame and the main causal factors that trigger the plot. They also contribute to the differentiation of the evolution of the plot in each chapter and each narrative-space. In the introduction of this dissertation there is a presentation of the social, political and intellectual context of the era in which Polybius wrote his Histories and a brief biography of his. Both the era and his life deeply affected his view of the societies and the mission of History and led him to point out the importance of conventions, personality and means of fortune as history unfolds. In the introduction I define the meaning of these notions. The main body of the dissertation consists of two chapters that follow the structure of the sub-systems of the Histories (western, Greek and oriental sub-systems), on which I argue that Polybius based his narration. The ending point of the dissertation is the 18th book of Histories and the defeat of Macedonian troops led by Philip V in the battle of Cynos Cephalae. This is both a methodological and practical ending point. I don’t include the oriental sub-system in this dissertation, due to the differentiation of the conventions and of the main personalities which influence fortune and its operations. At the same time, the oriental sub-system is preserved in an extremely fragmented form and its symploke with the other sub-systems shows up after the 18th book, which is a clear narrative limit of Histories. In the first chapter I examine the events of the western sub-system. This chapter consists of five subchapters. The first concerns the First Punic War that constitutes the initial conditions of the Second Punic War that is the start of the main narrative of the Histories. The other four subchapters present the Polybean narrative of the Second Punic War till the 15th book and the battle of Zama. In the second chapter I investigate the events in the complex and fragmented among multiple states Greek sub-system. This chapter also consists of four subchapters. The first is about the First Illyrian War and the Cleomenic War that constitute the initial conditions of the main narrative of this sub-system. In the other three I examine the narrative concerning the Social War, the Second Illyrian War, the treaty of Naupactus, the First and the Second Macedonian War till the 18th book and the battle of Cynos Cephalae. In each chapter and subchapter I analyze the different frame of conventions which influence the ways in which the personalities act and -subsequently- the plot. In this dissertation I focus on the role of the main leaders of the Histories, in the way Polybius narrated their actions. Their dominance in each narrative space is both semantic and linguistic. For the linguistic appearance of the personalities I used the applications of “voyant-tools”. At the same time, I try to show and interpret the influence of fortune as a power that causes fluctuations and ruptures (ramifications) and contributes as an attractor. I also analyze metaphors of the narrative and how they contribute in the semantic interface of different narrative spots. At the end of each chapter there are brief conclusions and tables that present the main narrative points in which means of fortune appears and the text is enriched with metaphors and other tropes. At the end of the dissertation I note down some more general reflections brought about during my research, concerning history and historical narrative along with the special value of Polybius’ Histories. Finally, there is an appendix with the word-clouds depicting the terms according to their textual frequency in each narrative space, presenting the linguistic dominance of the main personalities in the narrative.
Main subject category:
Language – Literature
Keywords:
Historiography, Hellenistic Period, HIstory, Polybius
Number of references:
283
