Narrative patterns in the lives of ancient Greek poets

• Grant number: 23/04940-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: February 02, 2024
• End date: February 01, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature - Classical Literatures
• Principal Investigator: Adriane da Silva Duarte
• Grantee: Camila de Moura Silva
• Supervisor: Koen de Temmerman
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Ghent University (UGent), Belgium
• Associated to the scholarship: 21/02513-1 - Narrative patterns in the lives of Greek poets from the Archaic to the Hellenistic period, BP.DR

Abstract

This project aims to map, identify, conceptualize, and study the narrative patterns present in the Lives of Greek poets according to certain formal premises. In the initial stages of the doctoral research of which this project is an outcome, we established and translated our corpus of study, presenting a novel approach to the problem of fiction in ancient Lives. Covering a much broader corpus than the works already done on the Lives of Ancient Greek poets, we worked on the initial hypothesis that these texts follow a typically narrative functioning, making use of fictionalizing procedures shared with other prose genres in Antiquity - most notably, the Greek novel. Such a characteristic is perceived, for example, in the use of interchangeable anecdotes and epigrams, capable of illustrating the Life of more than one individual according to a typological characterization and certain intended effects. In this context, it is impossible and unnecessary to rely on a search for historical accuracy (to which these texts have been tied for centuries) because what is at stake are different regimens of truth. In this stage of the research, with the translated corpus in hand, we will study its narrative patterns and devices, organized around some central themes, such as the poet's birth and affiliation, synchronicity with illustrious persons and events, oracles and dreams, exile and patronage, and supernatural deaths. Working in cooperation with prominent scholars in the field, who enthusiastically agreed to host our research, we will have the opportunity to develop a work with broad international relevance on a subject still seldom studied in Brazil. (AU)