Gorgo: Sparta’s Woman of Autonomy, Authority, and Agency

Claims that Herodotus reveals himself as a proto-biographer, let alone as a proto-feminist, are not yet widely accepted. To advance these claims, I have selected one remarkable woman from one side of the Greco-Persian Wars whose activities are recounted in his Histories. Critically it is to a near contemporary, Heraclitus, to whom we attribute the maxim êthos anthropôi daimôn (ἦθος ἀνθρώπῳ δαίμων) —character is human destiny. It is the truth of this maxim—which implies effective human agency—that makes Herodotus’ creation of historical narrative even possible. Herodotus is often read for his vignettes, which, without advancing the narrative, color-in the character of the individuals he depicts in his Histories. No matter, if these fall short of the cradle to grave accounts given by Plutarch, by hop-scotching through the nine books, we can assemble a partially continuous narrative, and thus through their exploits, gauge their character, permitting us to attribute both credit and moral responsibility. Arguably this implied causation demonstrates that Herodotus’ writings include much that amounts to proto-biography and in several instances—one of which is given here—proto-feminism.

Reconstructing a Middle Dutch Alexander Compilation

This article provides a first description, edition and analysis of Antwerp, University Library, Special Collections, MAG-P 64.19. This fragment is the sole known remnant of a Middle Dutch compilation of stories about Alexander the Great copied by the well-known Ferguut scribe (ca.1350). Our research shows that this compilation comprised Dutch versions of the Voeux du paon and the twelfth-century Fuerre de Gadres, which was previously unknown to have been translated into Dutch. We advance the possibility that the Stuttgart and Brussels fragments of Alexanders geesten and Roman van Cassamus, which were also copied by the Ferguut scribe, belonged to a second copy of this compilation, providing a continuous narrative about the life of Alexander. In this respect, the Dutch compilation resembles contemporary manuscripts of the Roman d'Alexandre in which Alexandre de Paris' vulgate compilation was complemented with various amplifications. The combination of pre-existing Dutch stories into one (semi)coherent narrative is also similar to the famous Lancelot compilation, a collection of Arthurian narratives created in Brabant in approximately the same period. The fragment thus sharpens our understanding of the role of compilations in the dissemination of Middle Dutch chivalric romance.

Alexander of Macedon: An Early Biography

Claims that Herodotus reveals himself as a proto-biographer are not yet widely accepted. To advance this claim, I have selected one man, Alexander I, who finds himself and his kingdom caught in the middle of the Greco-Persian Wars and whose activities are recounted in the Histories. It is to a near contemporary, Heraclitus, to whom we attribute the maxim—character is human destiny. It is the truth of this maxim—which implies effective human agency—that makes Herodotus’ creation of historical narrative possible. He is often read for his off-topic vignettes, which colour-in the character of the individuals depicted without necessarily advancing his narrative. But by hop scotching through five of the nine books of the Histories, we can assemble a largely continuous narrative for this remarkable individual. This narrative permits us to attribute both credit and moral responsibility for his actions. Arguably, this implied causation demonstrates that Herodotus’ writings include much that amounts to proto-biography.

Corona crimes: How pandemic narratives change criminal landscapes

The epidemic psychology of pandemics creates an atmosphere of panic and fear that can expedite new laws and facilitate criminogenic narrative arousal. Using narrative criminology, we discuss crimes that emerged from pandemic narratives in the early phases of the disease in Mexico. We show how pandemic master narratives have unexpected criminogenic effects; can be negotiated to make them criminogenic; and are opposed by more fundamentally criminogenic counter-narratives. We also show how pandemics repurpose justifications for traditional crimes and offer an opportunity for narrative repositioning of “criminals”. Societal crises intensify the continuous narrative negotiation that always underlies the meaning of crime. Pandemics can therefore act as a prism through which social scientists can see how crime is an ongoing narrative accomplishment.

Pictorial Continuous Narratives: Perceptual–Representational Strategies

This qualitative report concerns a larger study on pictorial continuous narrative devised by Alberto Argenton and developed by the authors in his memory, reporting only a synthesis of the main findings obtained through the study of a corpus of 100 artworks on the Genesis story of Adam and Eve. The study was aimed at identifying the perceptual–representational strategies used by artists to visually tell this story in the continuous narrative mode. The pilot study, accomplished by three independent judges (the authors) on the corpus of artworks, adopting phenomenological observation, highlights four strategies used by artists to distinguish and link the episodes or events constituting the story: segmentation of episodes or events, time/space separating cues, vectors of direction and repetition of principal figures. A description of the above categories accompanied by some illustrative examples is given.

A Possible Chiastic Center for Primary History (Genesis-2 Kings)

This article builds on the theory that Genesis-2 Kings is a continuous narrative by suggesting that Deut 6:4ff. is the chiastic center.

Arts, Virtue and Character: Perspectives from Philosophy and Psychology

: In today’s world, the tendency to live constantly connected to a virtual digital space makes it difficult to have an ambiance that fosters paused reflections. Often times, one needs to make a conscious effort to stop and think if one recognises the importance of reflections for making the deliberated choices needed for self-development. For many people, a break from the frenzy of activities is facilitated by arts, such as narratives and music. Interestingly, more than just means of entertainment, the arts can be important catalysts for learning processes. Ancient philosophers affirmed that music is helpful in education to virtue as it tempers the emotions of a child to raise it towards the good. However, such high regards for art and music in character formation is often forgotten today.From the perspective of contemporary narrative philosophy, each action or choice which builds up into the habit is best understood as part of a continuous narrative. One understands the self better when considering it as the protagonist of a narrative moving from a beginning towards an end, guided by chosen goals which are good for the acting subject. Additionally contemporary psychologists acknowledge the role of the arts in character formation. This conceptual paper brings together ideas from psychology and philosophy in order to explore the role of some forms of art in character development. The appreciation of the on-going construction of the plot of one’s life-story guided by the intrinsic goods that promote human flourishing (including aesthetic experiences), may serve as a foundation for understanding the importance of coherence and unity of life for building character.