Loaves in a Cold Oven: Tyranny and Sterility in Herodotus’ Histories

IF 0.2 3区历史学 0 CLASSICS

CLASSICAL WORLD Pub Date : 2021-05-21 DOI:10.1353/CLW.2021.0012

D. Unruh

引用次数: 0

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Throughout Herodotus’ Histories, tyrants and despotic kings are frequently associated with sterility and failed reproduction. Monarchs are repeatedly shown both engaging in intercourse that cannot produce children, and causing the deaths of what children they do manage to produce. In addition, tyrants are surrounded by symbolic images of sterility–unrisen loaves, rotten teeth, wounded groins, and wasted crops. In associating tyranny and sterility, I argue, Herodotus is drawing on long-standing tropes in Archaic Greek thought. The images of infertility serve to underscore that tyranny is unjust, a misfortune for both subjects and tyrant, and ultimately futile and self-defeating.

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冷烤箱里的面包：希罗多德历史上的专制与无菌

摘要:在希罗多德的《历史》中，暴君和专制国王经常与不育和生育失败联系在一起。帝王蝶反复出现在无法生育后代的性交中，并导致他们成功生育的后代死亡。此外，暴君的周围还充斥着不育的象征形象——未发酵的面包、腐烂的牙齿、受伤的腹股沟和荒废的庄稼。我认为，希罗多德把暴政和贫瘠联系在一起，是在借鉴古希腊思想中存在已久的比喻。不孕不育的图像强调了暴政是不公正的，对臣民和暴君来说都是不幸的，最终是徒劳和自我挫败的。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

CLASSICAL WORLD CLASSICS-

CiteScore

0.30

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Classical World (ISSN 0009-8418) is the quarterly journal of The Classical Association of the Atlantic States, published on a seasonal schedule with Fall (September-November), Winter (December-February), Spring (March-May), and Summer (June-August) issues. Begun in 1907 as The Classical Weekly, this peer-reviewed journal publishes contributions on all aspects of Greek and Roman literature, history, and society.