Letras Classicas 8.pmd

In offering a brief sketch of some aspects of Herodotus’ use of lyric poetry I shall restrict myself to melic poetry. I shall start with explicit allusions, and then turn to some passages for which Herodotus’ source must have been lyric poetry, and indeed rather grand lyric poetry, though he conceals this. We learn something about his principles and methodology, but also about the diffusion of such poetry in Herodotus’ day, a valuable complement to the picture we get from Aristophanes.