Scrivere la storia. Costruzione e rappresentazione degli spazi nelle Storie di Erodoto

The main purpose of this project is to try to understand the function of spaces in Herodotus’ work and, in particular, to analyze the way in which spaces may play a different role accordingly to a specific context or topic Herodotus is dealing with. A first part of the research is dedicated to the attempt of understanding how spatial information are fundamental to characterize those civilizations to which Herodotus devotes a large part of his narrative, notably the Persians, the Egyptians and the Scythians. The second part of the research is dedicated to sacred spaces. In this section I focus on two aspects: the multiple role of the temple as thoma, landmark and proof/impulse of the historical narrative; the passages in which Herodotus describes his characters by insisting on their behaviours towards sacred spaces. A third and final part of the thesis deals with space from a more geographical perspective and it is structured in the five following paragraphs: terminology of proximity; 'epeiros'; 'eremos', 'eschatos' and knowledge; hodological and cartographic space; naming lands and seas.