Lampas - Volume 52, Issue 1, 2019

Summary This paper offers a narratological close reading of one of Herodotus’ most celebrated stories. Special attention is paid to the recurrent Herodotean themes and story-patterns which shape it and thus can help to interpret it. For once the advice of a warner is heeded, but the return of the ring shows that Polycrates’ fate is already sealed and cannot be averted anymore. His great good fortune has brought Polycrates th Read More

Summary The present article is a response to the essay by Irene de Jong in this issue of Lampas. Its main contention is that De Jong misrepresents the motives at work in Herodotus’ representation of Croesus, Xerxes and, especially, the return of Polycrates’ ring. Focusing entirely on the divine aspect of causation (the ‘jealousy of the gods’), De Jong leaves out of consideration altogether the second part of what Lesky called dop Read More

Summary Soclees of Corinth has just foiled the Spartan move to crush the infant Athenian democracy, and the exiled tyrant Hippias tells the Corinthians that one day they will yearn for the Peisistratids, when they find pain at the hands of the Athenians (5.93.1). Soclees had told how the infant Cypselus escaped death at the hands of those sent to kill him: is the implication that Corinth should have strangled the infant Athe Read More

Summary The passage about Cambyses’ murder of his sister who is also his wife (Histories 3.32.2) is used by way of example to discuss the possibilities and problems of a narratological commentary on the Histories. Particular attention is paid to the – often neglected – question of how to deal with the tension between the linearity of the text (which means that narratees may only hear about things at a later moment) and t Read More

Summary The story of Philemon and Baucis (Metamorphoses 8.626-724) is remarkable, as humans are rewarded for their behaviour rather than punished, as is usually the case in Ovid’s epic world. An important question is therefore how we as readers should interpret this atypical story. In order to answer this question I will first analyze the story as a theoxeny. Next, I explore the narratological embedding of this story. The s Read More

[Biglietto lasciato prima di non andar via Se non dovessi tornare, sappiate che non sono mai partito. Il mio viaggiare è stato tutto un restare qua, dove non fui mai. Een briefje alvorens niet weg te gaan Mocht ik niet terugkomen, Weet dan dat ik nooit vertrokken ben. Mijn gereis Was uitsluitend hier Blijven, waar ik nooit ben geweest.1 (Giorgio Caproni. 1975. Il franco cacciatore), Summary Ovid’s exile to Tomi has appealed to the Read More

Summary In the upper grades of Dutch secondary schools pupils who take Greek or Latin are required to read, translate and interpret authentic texts in the original language. As the phase of language acquisition is not completed at this stage, pupils still need to practice the recognition and interpretation of linguistic elements. In addition, they need assignments that invite them to reflect on the use and meaning of specific lin Read More