The Experience of Time in Herodotus’ Histories

Abstract

The present analysis argues that a crucial strand of the temporality of Herodotus’ Histories lies at the intersection between timeliness (καιρός) and responsibility-cause (αἴτιος-αἰτίη). In the multi-layered temporal texture of Herodotus’ composition, chronology (χρόνος) is not a driving force. In turn, the Homeric-style glory (κλέος) is restricted to Sparta. What seems to instil the Histories with its distinctive aetiological temporality lies in the tipping points, when the future hangs in the balance. While for the characters each critical instant appears as a καιρός, from the historian’s vantage point every καιρός is informed by notions associated with αἴτιος-αἰτίη. In the fate-ridden horizon of Herodotus’ account, the locus thus shifts from fate to people’s role in causing fate’s plan to be effected. This study also suggests that their mastery of καιρός lifts the Athenians to the summit of Greek excellence, a rung previously unattainable for anything other than Homeric (and Spartan) κλέος.