'Vengeance'

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingEntry for encyclopedia/dictionary

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.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationHerodotus Encyclopedia
EditorsChristopher Baron
PublisherWiley-Blackwell
Pages1518–22
Number of pages5
ISBN (Electronic)9781119113522
ISBN (Print)9781118689646
Publication statusPublished - 30 Mar 2021

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