ORBIT-OnlineRepository ofBirkbeckInstitutionalTheses Enabling Open Access to Birkbeck’s Research Degree output Ways of seeing : a study of opsis in Herodotus’ His- tories https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/40405/ Version: Full Version Citation: Paintin, Isabel Rose Milena (2019) Ways of seeing : a study of opsis in Herodotus’ Histories. [Thesis] (Unpublished) c 2020 The Author(s) All material available through ORBIT is protected by intellectual property law, including copy- right law. Any use made of the contents should comply with the relevant law. Deposit Guide Contact: email Ways of Seeing: A Study of ὄψις in Herodotus’ Histories Isabel Rose Milena Paintin Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Birkbeck, University of London 1 DECLARATION I declare that the work presented in this thesis is my own. ....................................................................... Isabel Rose Milena Paintin 2 Abstract The thesis provides an in-depth study of ὄψις (opsis) (‘seeing’ or ‘sight’) in Herodotus’ Histories. It explores both the use of opsis by Herodotus as a key source for his ἱστορίη (enquiry) and the rich and complex layers of stories involving opsis in the narrative of the text. A close analysis of autopsy statements (direct and indirect) in Herodotus’ metanarrative demonstrates that these are far more numerous than scholars have hitherto realised and that he was developing a new language of autopsy to signify the use of opsis as an investigative tool. When compared with other methods of enquiry such as ἀκοὴ (hearsay) and γνώμη (opinion / judgement / reasoning), opsis clearly emerges as the most reliable of – and a check on the other – sources of evidence. Herodotus’ narrative allows him to communicate a more nuanced portrayal of opsis. While some characters successfully use opsis to learn about the world or manage to manipulate it for their own ends, many misinterpret visual evidence or are deceived by what they see. Yet stories about opsis also closely parallel some of the key themes of the Histories: the rise and fall of great powers, the risks inherent in breaching boundaries and the dangers of ἔρως (desire). Herodotus uses the narrative together with the metanarrative to educate his audience on how to conduct an investigation based on opsis and shows that a certain skill and intelligence (σύνεσις) is required to succeed. This in turn forms a core part of the strongly didactic nature of the text. In his use of opsis, Herodotus was at least in part responding to contemporary debates on the value of empirical evidence for enquiry, as seen in the work of the Hippocratics and the Presocratic philosophers. However, Herodotus’ innovation was to apply investigative methods based on opsis to historical material and an enquiry into past events. 3 Contents Acknowledgements 7 Texts and Abbreviations 8 Chapter 1: Introduction 9 1.1: Introduction 9 1.2: Scholarship on Herodotus’ Methodology 12 1.3: Scholarship on Herodotus’ Use of Opsis 15 1.4: Justification of a New Study on Opsis 20 1.5: The Importance of Seeing in Greek Culture 21 1.6: Structure of the Thesis 25 Chapter 2: Opsis in the Metanarrative: The Nature and Extent of Herodotus’ Autopsy References 30 2.1: Introduction 30 2.2: The Extent of Herodotus’ Autopsy References 31 2.3: The Credibility of Herodotus’ Autopsy References 52 Chapter 3: Opsis in the Metanarrative: Herodotus’ Uses of Autopsy 69 3.1: Introduction 69 3.2: The Significance of the Methodological Statements 70 3.2.1: Historie and its relationship with akoe 72 3.2.2: Gnome 75 3.2.3: Opsis 76 3.3: Opsis and its Relationship with Other Sources 78 3.3.1: Opsis used to add information 80 3.3.2: Opsis used to confirm information 85 3.3.3: Opsis used to refute or cast doubt on other information 89 3.3.4: Denial of autopsy 92 3.4: The Language of Autopsy 100 4 3.5: The Distribution of Autopsy References in the Text 105 3.6: The Purpose of Autopsy 107 Chapter 4: Opsis in the Narrative: Victims of Opsis 115 4.1: Introduction 115 4.2: Dreams in the Histories 117 4.2.1: Overview 117 4.2.2: Structure of the dream in the Histories and initial comments on its origins 126 4.2.3: Interpretation and fulfilment of dreams in the Histories 128 4.2.4: Purpose and origin of dreams in the Histories 139 4.3: The Role of Opsis in Key Events 148 4.4: The Abuse and Misuse of Opsis 152 Chapter 5: Opsis in the Narrative: Masters of Opsis 169 5.1: Introduction 169 5.2: Visual Deceptions 170 5.3: Successful Propaganda and the Use of Opsis as a Military Tactic 185 5.4: The Power of Denying Opsis to Others 190 5.5: Correct Interpretations of Opsis 191 5.6: The Commemorative Function of Opsis 201 5.7: Narrative and Metanarrative: A Coherent Picture of Opsis? 206 Chapter 6: Opsis in Context 213 6.1: Introduction 213 6.2: Presocratics and Hippocratics: Herodotus’ Contribution 215 6.3: Herodotus’ Innovation: From Medicine and Natural Philosophy to History 230 6.4: Herodotus ‘in Context’? 244 Chapter 7: Conclusion 250 5 7.1: Metanarrative – Chapters 2 and 3 250 7.2: Narrative – Chapters 4 and 5 253 7.3: Opsis in Context – Chapter 6 256 7.4: New Ways of Seeing the Past 257 Bibliography 260 Appendix A 294 Appendix B 308 Appendix C 313 6 Acknowledgements The seeds of my interest in Herodotus’ use of opsis were sown during my undergraduate studies at Oxford University and were nurtured during many enlightening discussions on the historian and his methods with tutors and fellow students. In particular, I am hugely indebted to the inspiring teaching of my Greek History tutors, Dr Oswyn Murray and Dr Lisa Kallet, who each provided a stimulating critical forum in which to explore some of my early ideas on the subject. I am enormously grateful to my supervisor, Dr Christy Constantakopoulou of Birkbeck, University of London, for her innumerable research suggestions, wise guidance and extensive time spent reviewing several drafts of the text; without her constant encouragement, support and faith in both me and the project, this thesis would not have been completed. Sincere thanks also go to my examiners at the PhD upgrade viva, Professor Catharine Edwards and Dr Serafina Cuomo, who provided constructive criticism of early drafts of Chapters 2 and 6 and suggested additional angles to explore. I dedicate this thesis to the memory of my late mother, Elaine Paintin, who first encouraged me to embark on this research; to her I owe by far the greatest debt. 7 Texts and Abbreviations Herodotus is cited from the Oxford Classical Texts edition of N. G. Wilson (2015). Translations are taken from R. Waterfield’s World’s Classics (Oxford, 1998) with some adaptations. J. E. Powell’s Lexicon to Herodotus (Cambridge, 1938) assisted in navigating the text for opsis references and vocabulary. Citations in the form 1.1.1 refer to the Histories unless otherwise stated. The Hippocratic texts are largely cited from the Loeb Classical Library edition of W. H. S. Jones (1923-31) with translations taken from Chadwick and Mann’s Penguin (London, 1978) with slight adaptations, while translations of the Presocratic texts follow either R. Waterfield’s World’s Classics (Oxford, 2000) or J. Barnes’ Penguin (London, 2001). Translations of other Greek texts are taken from the Penguins with adaptations. Transliterations of Greek words (in particular, opsis) are often (though not consistently) used. For references to secondary literature the Harvard system of author and date is used. Abbreviations of journal titles follow the conventions of L’Année Philologique while other abbreviations are as below: DK Diels, H., rev. Kranz, W. (6th edn, 1951-2), Die Fragmente der Vorsokratiker (Berlin) FrGrHist Jacoby, F. et al. (1923-), Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker (Berlin and Leiden) Fornara Fornara, C. (1983), Translated Documents of Greece and Rome: Archaic Times to the End of the Peloponnesian War (Cambridge) ML Meiggs, R. and Lewis, D. (revised edn, 1988), A Selection of Greek Historical Inscriptions to the End of the Fifth Century BC (Oxford) 8 Chapter 1 Introduction ‘The instant I looked at the fresco with a seeing eye, I mean with all faculties cooperating, I felt that it must be by Antonello’. Bernard Berenson, Three Essays on Method (1927) 881 1.1: Introduction Bernard Berenson, the great art historian, succinctly highlights how a close visual inspection of an artwork combined with the accumulated knowledge and experience of an artist’s work is the key to the methodology of connoisseurship, i.e., to determining the attribution of that work. In this thesis, I argue that a similar process, namely the use of ὄψις (opsis) (‘seeing’ or ‘sight’) to examine material things as interpreted through or moderated by knowledge and experience of the world is a crucial aspect of Herodotus’ methodology as an investigator in the Histories, an aspect which has hitherto been given insufficient prominence by scholars. Herodotus opens his great work by describing it as Ἡροδότου Ἁλικαρνησσέος ἱστορίης ἀπόδεξις ἥδε (‘the exposition of the enquiry carried out by Herodotus of Halicarnassus’). The Greek word ἱστορίη (historie) is the origin of our word ‘history’, but had a far broader meaning of ‘enquiry’ (into customs, places, peoples, events, wonders) in Herodotus’ day. Scholars have debated at length the precise meaning of the word as used in Greek literature, and Herodotus in particular, a question I will return to in detail in Chapter 3. However, it is interesting to note that the word historie is etymologically related to the Indo-European root wid- / weid- / woid- meaning to ‘see’ or ‘know’ as indeed are the Greek verbs for seeing (ἰδεῖν) and knowing (attaining of knowledge through sight) (εἰδέναι).2 Therefore at the heart of Herodotus’ ‘enquiry’ is the idea of seeing and knowledge attained through looking at the world, which arguably suggests that eyewitness testimony plays a crucial role in historical investigation.