Condilo C. Genealogy in the development of ancient historiography: Genealogy and history in Herodotus (2022)

Condilo C. Genealogy in the development of ancient historiography: Genealogy and history in Herodotus // Revista de História. — 2022. — No. 181. — P. 1–48. DOI: 10.11606/issn.2316-9141.rh.2022.180558

Аннотация

In this article, I suggest that genealogy was a rhetorical strategy to build authority in the ancient history writing. In this way, I divide my argument into four parts. Firstly, I present my understanding of genealogy and authority, as these concepts orient my selection and analysis of the evidence. Secondly, I turn to the genealogical evidence, trying to demonstrate its relation with controversial debates and its role as a rhetorical tool. For this, I compare Herodotus’ and Isocrates’ use of genealogy, and suggest that genealogy was a form of tekmerion. Thirdly, I try to substantiate this hypothesis by looking at both Aristotle’s definition of tekmerion and to what extent Herodotus and Isocrates share his understanding of this word. Finally, I present considerations about why genealogy was such a powerful rhetorical resource in discourses of various nature, history included.

Ключевые слова

genealogy, rhetoric, tekmerion, Herodotus, ancient historiography