ABSTRACT
As scholars have observed, Herodotos has extraordinary “time-management” skills, manipulating time sequences from different sources, and weaving them around specific details of the chronology of his narrative. This chapter explores the underlying structure of this “weaving,” using Hayden White’s theory of tropological figuration. It argues that while a number of these tropes can be traced in the structure of Herodotos’ Histories, the synecdochic—in which parts of the narrative can be seen to represent some quality of the larger whole—is particularly significant for understanding Herodotos’ handling of time. The chapter begins with an examination of Herodotos’ use of the term chronos and its role in the synecdochic narrative structure as an integrative device. It then explores how this underlying temporal structure constructs and is constructed by the depiction of women and their bodies, which are used to provide temporal structure, but also more abstractly as a metaphorical language to reify temporal concepts such as continuity/discontinuity and future time. Importantly, however, their activities in these roles do not mean that they ensure stability within the temporal world of the narrative; instead, we also see them portrayed as catalysts for radical discontinuities—stopping, starting or redirecting events, even as they provoke the potential for mortal danger.
