Syllogos - Herodotus Journal

The Truth of Messages from Beyond

Daniel Crosby — 2026-01-23

Current scholarship on the topic of ‘failed prophecy’, both in social psychology and Classics, seeks to explain how groups continue to believe in prophetic truth even after ‘failures’. In this paper, I critically examine the current research to show that this etic (outsider) approach collapses a meaningful distinction between prophetic signs and their interpretations. Going in a different direction, I use evidence for the continuity of belief in prophetic truth from Herodotus’ Histories and studies on new religious and millennial movements to develop an emic (insider’s) understanding of what prophecy and prophetic truth are among believers. In so doing, I demonstrate a consonance in thinking about prophecy between ancient and modern groups of believers and distinguish three types of prophetic truth in which such groups may come to believe: fulfilled truth, expectational truth and conditional truth. I conclude by arguing that it is only ever a specific expectation, framed by a particular (usually literal and conventional) interpretation of a prophecy – not the prophecy itself – that may be understood as proven false. This clearer delineation of prophetic sign and prophetic meaning have benefits for interpreting Herodotus’ Histories and for understanding those who believe in prophecy today.

Imprint

Jan Haywood — 2026-01-23

Reproduction, Expansionism and the Nature–God Tension in Herodotus

Nazım Serbest — 2026-01-23

Focusing on Herodotus’ portrayal of snake invasions and Persian expansionism, this essay examines the divergent forms of agency and causation through which the natural and the divine act on the observable world in the Histories. The historian’s usage of physis at 3.109.1 shows that the divine counters the natural dispositions of mortals who attempt to maximize their territorial growth. This counteraction has implications for power relations and provides a new way to conceptualize the relationship between ethnographic and historical sections in the work. The snake invasions and the dynamics of Persian expansion, as Herodotus envisions them across the Histories, prompt images of density and spatial expansion, evoking the tension between the natural and the divine orders over reproduction in 3.108–9.

Editorial

Jan Haywood — 2026-01-23

Herodotus on the Limits of Knowledge and Authority

Mauro Bonazzi — 2026-01-23

One of three responses to KINGSLEY, K. Scarlett. 2024. Herodotus and the Presocratics: Inquiry and Intellectual Culture in the Fifth Century BCE. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. £85.00. 9781009338547.

Herodotus and the Sophists

Michele Corradi — 2026-01-23

How to Understand nomos and physis in Herodotus?

Paul Demont — 2026-01-23

Herodotus and the Lexicon of the Banquet

Francesca Gazzano — 2026-01-23

One of two responses to WUNDERL, Manuela. 2023. Das Symposion bei Herodot. Classica Monacensia, Münchener Studien zur Klassischen Philologie, Band 60. Tübingen: Narr Francke Attempto Verlag. €108.00. 9783381101115.

The Sympotic Question in the Histories

Luciana Romeri — 2026-01-23

The Role of Women in Herodotus

Massimo Giuseppetti — 2026-01-23

One of two responses to ZACCARINI, M. 2024. Erodoto e le donne: la presenza femminile nelle Storie. Rome: Carocci. €22.00. 9788829027453.

It’s a Woman’s World

Rosaria Munson — 2026-01-23

One of two responses to ZACCARINI, M. 2024. Erodoto e le donne: la presenza femminile nelle Storie. Rome: Carocci. €22.00. 9788829027453.