GR 534 Greek Historical Writing
Examines themes and key concepts in Greek historical writing from Herodotus (d. c. 425 BC) to Niketas Choniates (d. 1216). Explores the transformation and preservation of major themes, problems, and modes of expression from ancient into medieval Greek historiography. Authors include Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Polybius, Diodorus Siculus, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Plutarch, Eusebius, Procopius, Theophanes, Leo the Deacon, Michael Psellos, Nikephoros Bryennios, Anna Komnene, and Niketas Choniates. Topics include religion and the divine; fortuna/tyche and fate vs. free will; heroism; gender; rhetoric; and 'truthiness' and historical factuality.