The master of signs : signs and the interpretation of signs in Herodotus' Histories / by Alexander Hollmann.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hollmann, Alexander.

Series:

Hellenic studies ; 48.

Hellenic studies ; 48

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Herodotus. History.

Herodotus.

Symbolism in literature.

Physical Description:

288 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Washington, DC : Center for Hellenic Studies ; Cambridge, Mass. : Distributed by Harvard University Press, 2010.

Summary:

Readers of Herodotus' Histories are familiar with its reports of bizarre portents, riddling oracles, and striking dreams. But Herodotus draws our attention to other types of signs too, beginning with human speech itself as a coded system that can manipulate and be manipulated. Objects, gifts, artifacts, markings, even the human body, are all capable of being invested with meaning in the Histories and Herodotus shows that conventionally and culturally determined actions, gestures, and ritual all need decoding. This book represents an unprecedented examination of signs and their interpreters, as well as the terminology Herodotus uses to describe sign transmission, reception, and decoding. Through his control and involvement in this process he emerges a veritable "master of signs". Book jacket.

Contents:

Part 1 The Vocabulary of Signs, Their Transmission, Reception, and Interpretation

1.1 The Sign 9

1.2 Transmission of Signs 20

1.3 The Reception, Decoding, and Interpretation of Signs 31

Part 2 Sign Systems

2.1 Portents and Their Interpretation in Herodotus 51

2.2 Dreams and Their Interpretation in Herodotus 75

2.3 Oracles and Their Interpretation in Herodotus 94

2.4 Other Types of Mantikê 118

2.5 The Ainos 132

2.6 Names and Naming 143

2.7 Action, Ritual, and Gesture as Signs 163

2.8 Objects as Signs 176

Part 3 The Use and Abuse of Signs

3.1 The Manipulation of Signs in Herodotus' Histories 211

3.2 Conclusion 245.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

9780674055889

0674055888

OCLC:

587209830