Gray V. Reading the Rise of Pisistratus: Herodotus 1.56-68 (1997)

Gray V. Reading the Rise of Pisistratus: Herodotus 1.56-68 // Histos. — 1997. — Vol. 1. — P. 128–153. DOI: 10.29173/histos150

Аннотация

Especially Sophocles and Herodotus were passionately interested in the manifold aspects of ‘power’, which they interpreted through myth and history, using these in their full topical potential to analyze questions of great importance to their audiences. This paper analyzes Herodotus’ story of Pisistratus’ rise to tyranny over the Athenians in these terms. The story is mythic history in the sense that it is largely made up of conventional narrative episodes, sometimes with supernatural elements. Yet the contexts of power in which Herodotus sets it determine its shape, and the contextual reading of the story reveals allusions to contemporary debates and realities. This contextual analysis seems more productive than attempts to explain the story in isolation as the product of Athenian propaganda in a narrow sense.