Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Herodotus Encyclopedia |
Editors | Christopher Baron |
Publisher | Wiley-Blackwell |
Pages | 1518–22 |
Number of pages | 5 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9781119113522 |
ISBN (Print) | 9781118689646 |
Publication status | Published - 30 Mar 2021 |
Abstract / Description of output
Vengeance is a pervasive phenomenon in Herodotus’ Histories, as a form of human motivation, as a narrative principle, and as a factor in historical causation. But there is no single Greek concept or term that unambiguously isolates the modern English concept of vengeance as such. In particular, the Herodotean terminology spans a wide range of uses, from the individual to the cosmic level, from insult to injustice, and from non-moral to moral. Debates about the legitimacy of retaliation (as a response to unprovoked aggression) loom large in accounts of inter-state conflict, while human retribution exists against the background of wider patterns of divine and cosmic sanctions.