Introduction: How Homeric was Herodotus? Ancient and Modern Readers

The chapter discusses the evidence for Herodotus’ recitations, the relationship with Homeric rhapsodes in the fifth century BCE, and the place of the Histories between orality and literacy. It also includes considerations on Herodotus’ explicit references to Homer, the Homeric poems, and the traditions pertaining to the Trojan War. An overview on Herodotean scholarship follows, with particular emphasis on intertextuality, which is in turn followed by some examples of Homeric intertexts in the Histories. A summary of the book’s contents rounds off this introduction.