Logographers in the Classical World
Definition:
Logographers wrote prose speeches for the courts, mythographies, geographies, reports on non-Greek customs, local stories, including founding legends, and chronological works like kings' lists.
Prior to the time of Herodotus (the Father of History), there had been quasi-historical accounts known as logographies. Mainly Ionian, Logographers wrote about the geography of city-states and combined local legends with family histories going back to mythological ancestors to form what we might call history if that term weren't reserved for writing from the time of Herodotus.
Logographers were distinguished from mythographers by writing in prose.
None of the works of the logographers has survived, although some of what they wrote has survived as quotes. Hecataeus of Miletus is the best known logographer because Herodotus criticizes him, just as Herodotus' successor, Thucydides, criticizes the scholarship of his predecessor, Herodotus.
Source: "logographers" Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World. Ed. John Roberts. Oxford University Press, 2007.
Also Known As: logopoioi
Logographers wrote prose speeches for the courts, mythographies, geographies, reports on non-Greek customs, local stories, including founding legends, and chronological works like kings' lists.
Prior to the time of Herodotus (the Father of History), there had been quasi-historical accounts known as logographies. Mainly Ionian, Logographers wrote about the geography of city-states and combined local legends with family histories going back to mythological ancestors to form what we might call history if that term weren't reserved for writing from the time of Herodotus.
Logographers were distinguished from mythographers by writing in prose.
None of the works of the logographers has survived, although some of what they wrote has survived as quotes. Hecataeus of Miletus is the best known logographer because Herodotus criticizes him, just as Herodotus' successor, Thucydides, criticizes the scholarship of his predecessor, Herodotus.
Source: "logographers" Oxford Dictionary of the Classical World. Ed. John Roberts. Oxford University Press, 2007.
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