UCIAN AND HISTORIOGRAPHY  

 

 

GREEK 985                                                           William A. Johnson

 

The multifarious writings of Lucian of Samosata make up one of the more fascinating survivals from antiquity. Keen, witty, satirical, even cynical, Lucian is a unique source for many aspects of imperial society and culture, but his writings are more difficult to interpret than is usually allowed. In this course, we will focus on the relation between Lucian's literature and historical writing: both the way in which Lucian views the writing of Greek history (taking as primary witness his Quomodo historia conscribenda sit, claimed as the "only monograph on the theory of historiography" to survive from antiquity) and the ways in which modern historians, rightly and wrongly, use Lucian'sworks as evidence for social and political history.

 

An Evolving Bibliography

 

Preliminary Schedule of Events

 

  1. Introduction and overview [1/7]

 

I. Lucian and the Historiographical Tradition

  1. Lucian and the Historiographical Tradition i. Herodotus, Lucian, and imperial biography [1/14]
  2. Lucian and the Historiographical Tradition ii. Thucydides and his followers: how Lucian reads the program of "scientific" history [1/21]
  3. Lucian and the Historiographical Tradition iii. Polybius and Lucian: what are they arguing against [1/28]
  4. Lucian and the Historiographical Tradition iv. Lucian and contemporary historians [2/4]

 

II. Lucian and modern Historiography: Lucian as literature, Lucian as historical source

  1. Lucian and modern Historiography i. Lucian's persona [2/11]
  2. Lucian and modern Historiography ii. Lucian's audience [2/18]
  3. Lucian and modern Historiography iii. Lucian and literature: some problems of genre [2/25]
  4. Lucian and modern Historiography iv. Lucian and literature: the function of literature within the society [3/4]

 

Student papers

  1. Conference: Lucian and Historiography (20-minute oral papers) [3/11]

 

Written papers are due on Tuesday, March 18.

 

Course requirements: weekly translations; frequent oral reports, of varying scope; conference presentation; substantial research paper (aim at 20 pages).