Vasiliki Zali | University of Liverpool (original) (raw)

Books by Vasiliki Zali

The papers of this volume explore suspense in ancient Greek literature. The reader is provided wi... more The papers of this volume explore suspense in ancient Greek literature. The reader is provided with meticulous analyses of the narrative techniques that triggered the expectations of ancient audiences about the development of a story. For the first time in modern scholarship, suspenseful discourse is examined in a plethora of ancient literary genres (epic, drama, historiography, oratory, novel, and works of literary criticism).

The use of suspense in ancient literature attracts increasing attention in modern scholarship, but hitherto there has been no comprehensive work analysing the techniques of suspense through the various genres of the Classical literary canon. This volume aspires to fill such a gap, exploring the phenomenon of suspense in the earliest narrative writings of the western world, the literature of the ancient Greeks. The individual chapters focus on a wide range of poetic and prose genres (epic, drama, historiography, oratory, novel, and works of literary criticism) and examine the means by which ancient authors elicited emotions of tense expectation and fearful anticipation for the outcome of the story, the development of the plot, or the characters' fate. A variety of theoretical tools, from narratology and performance studies to psychological and cognitive approaches, are exploited to study the operation of suspense in the works under discussion. Suspenseful effects are analysed in a double perspective, both in terms of the artifices employed by authors and with regard to the responses and experiences of the audience. The volume will be useful to classical scholars, narratologists, and literary historians and theorists.

The table of contents and a short summary of the chapters of the volume are uploaded here.

Herodotus enjoyed wide popularity among Byzantine historians. Within a Christian society, his com... more Herodotus enjoyed wide popularity among Byzantine
historians. Within a Christian society, his complicated religious outlook and his moral viewpoint were of interest to the historians while at the same time presenting difficulties for their perception of historical causation. This article traces the responses of three early and middle Byzantine historians to Herodotus’ religious views. I focus in particular on the significance which three concepts central to Herodotus’ religious and historical thought—fate, divine phthonos, and the wheel of fortune—hold in selected passages from Procopius’ Wars, Michael Psellus’ Chronographia and Nicetas Choniates’ History. I argue that these three concepts are not merely employed as literary devices but can help elucidate the theological and historical views of the Byzantine
historians.

In 'The Shape of Herodotean Rhetoric', Vasiliki Zali offers a fresh assessment of Herodotus’ rhet... more In 'The Shape of Herodotean Rhetoric', Vasiliki Zali offers a fresh assessment of Herodotus’ rhetorical awareness. Redressing the usual view that considers Thucydides as a significant jump from earlier authors in the rhetorical tradition, Zali attempts to find a place for Herodotus. The volume explores the direct and indirect speeches in Herodotus’ fifth to ninth books, focusing in particular on the ways in which they highlight two major narrative themes: the fragility of Greek unity and the problematic Greco-Persian polarity. Through discussion of case studies and Herodotus’ literary background, Zali brings Herodotus’ sophisticated rhetorical system to life, examines the ways in which this system affects Herodotus’ authority, and demonstrates that Herodotus occupies a crucial place in the development of rhetoric.

Papers by Vasiliki Zali

North, J. and Mack, P. (eds.) The Afterlife of Herodotus and Thucydides (BICS Supplement), 2019

The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 2018

Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies, 2013

Giving Themistocles’ speech at this important moment in brief oratio obliqua allowed Herodotus to... more Giving Themistocles’ speech at this important moment in brief oratio obliqua allowed Herodotus to speed his narrative, press his readers toward imagining the whole, and develop a complex characterization of Themistocles.

The Classical Review, 2012

The Classical Review vol. 62 no. 1 © The Classical Association 2012; all rights reserved passage ... more The Classical Review vol. 62 no. 1 © The Classical Association 2012; all rights reserved passage in Thucydides undercuts the attribution of ‘collective pleonexia’ to Pericles (p. 174, on 2.13.4–7). F. rightly mentions Pericles’ imperialist cruelty (2.39.2–3) and opens up the topic of Periclean thinking on agriculture, though there is more to say (1.141.5 does not demean farmers, but does say that they do not generate the surpluses, περιουsίαι, needed in a war). This book requires attentive reading: in many cases, readers will have to decide for themselves whether individual interpretations are convincing. But taken as a whole, it raises important issues and argues them with originality, knowledge of the scholarship and an admirable sense of Thucydides’ language.

Brill’s Companion to the Reception of Herodotus in Antiquity and Beyond

The Classical Review, 2015

Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies, Jun 18, 2013

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

The papers of this volume explore suspense in ancient Greek literature. The reader is provided wi... more The papers of this volume explore suspense in ancient Greek literature. The reader is provided with meticulous analyses of the narrative techniques that triggered the expectations of ancient audiences about the development of a story. For the first time in modern scholarship, suspenseful discourse is examined in a plethora of ancient literary genres (epic, drama, historiography, oratory, novel, and works of literary criticism).

The use of suspense in ancient literature attracts increasing attention in modern scholarship, but hitherto there has been no comprehensive work analysing the techniques of suspense through the various genres of the Classical literary canon. This volume aspires to fill such a gap, exploring the phenomenon of suspense in the earliest narrative writings of the western world, the literature of the ancient Greeks. The individual chapters focus on a wide range of poetic and prose genres (epic, drama, historiography, oratory, novel, and works of literary criticism) and examine the means by which ancient authors elicited emotions of tense expectation and fearful anticipation for the outcome of the story, the development of the plot, or the characters' fate. A variety of theoretical tools, from narratology and performance studies to psychological and cognitive approaches, are exploited to study the operation of suspense in the works under discussion. Suspenseful effects are analysed in a double perspective, both in terms of the artifices employed by authors and with regard to the responses and experiences of the audience. The volume will be useful to classical scholars, narratologists, and literary historians and theorists.

The table of contents and a short summary of the chapters of the volume are uploaded here.

Herodotus enjoyed wide popularity among Byzantine historians. Within a Christian society, his com... more Herodotus enjoyed wide popularity among Byzantine
historians. Within a Christian society, his complicated religious outlook and his moral viewpoint were of interest to the historians while at the same time presenting difficulties for their perception of historical causation. This article traces the responses of three early and middle Byzantine historians to Herodotus’ religious views. I focus in particular on the significance which three concepts central to Herodotus’ religious and historical thought—fate, divine phthonos, and the wheel of fortune—hold in selected passages from Procopius’ Wars, Michael Psellus’ Chronographia and Nicetas Choniates’ History. I argue that these three concepts are not merely employed as literary devices but can help elucidate the theological and historical views of the Byzantine
historians.

In 'The Shape of Herodotean Rhetoric', Vasiliki Zali offers a fresh assessment of Herodotus’ rhet... more In 'The Shape of Herodotean Rhetoric', Vasiliki Zali offers a fresh assessment of Herodotus’ rhetorical awareness. Redressing the usual view that considers Thucydides as a significant jump from earlier authors in the rhetorical tradition, Zali attempts to find a place for Herodotus. The volume explores the direct and indirect speeches in Herodotus’ fifth to ninth books, focusing in particular on the ways in which they highlight two major narrative themes: the fragility of Greek unity and the problematic Greco-Persian polarity. Through discussion of case studies and Herodotus’ literary background, Zali brings Herodotus’ sophisticated rhetorical system to life, examines the ways in which this system affects Herodotus’ authority, and demonstrates that Herodotus occupies a crucial place in the development of rhetoric.

North, J. and Mack, P. (eds.) The Afterlife of Herodotus and Thucydides (BICS Supplement), 2019

The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 2018

Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies, 2013

Giving Themistocles’ speech at this important moment in brief oratio obliqua allowed Herodotus to... more Giving Themistocles’ speech at this important moment in brief oratio obliqua allowed Herodotus to speed his narrative, press his readers toward imagining the whole, and develop a complex characterization of Themistocles.

The Classical Review, 2012

The Classical Review vol. 62 no. 1 © The Classical Association 2012; all rights reserved passage ... more The Classical Review vol. 62 no. 1 © The Classical Association 2012; all rights reserved passage in Thucydides undercuts the attribution of ‘collective pleonexia’ to Pericles (p. 174, on 2.13.4–7). F. rightly mentions Pericles’ imperialist cruelty (2.39.2–3) and opens up the topic of Periclean thinking on agriculture, though there is more to say (1.141.5 does not demean farmers, but does say that they do not generate the surpluses, περιουsίαι, needed in a war). This book requires attentive reading: in many cases, readers will have to decide for themselves whether individual interpretations are convincing. But taken as a whole, it raises important issues and argues them with originality, knowledge of the scholarship and an admirable sense of Thucydides’ language.

Brill’s Companion to the Reception of Herodotus in Antiquity and Beyond

The Classical Review, 2015

Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies, Jun 18, 2013

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

Brill Academic Publishers

"http://www.brill.com/products/series/brills-companions-classical-reception#related-files Volume... more "http://www.brill.com/products/series/brills-companions-classical-reception#related-files
Volumes in the series deal with subjects pertaining to the broad field of Classical reception including, but not limited to reception of art, literature, architecture, history, religion, political thought, and intellectual thought (including volumes on influential Classical scholars) in later centuries and in various scholarly disciplines. The Series will show a systematic coverage of subjects. Written by the foremost specialists in the respective fields, they aim to provide full-balanced accounts at an advanced level, as well as synthesis of debate and the state of scholarship.""