The Many Genres of History in the ~First Century

Awhile back, I came across a passage in Theon's Exercises in which he lists the different sub-genres of historical writing. Here are the sub-genres that he lists:

1. Genealogical history
2. Political history
3. Mythical history
4. Biographical 
5. General history
6. Descriptions of constitutions
7. Advanced histories which combine features of the above genre1

This list is interesting as it shows the diversity of historical genres in the ~first century. 

1. Kennedy, George, Progymnasmata: Greek Textbooks of Prose Composition and Rhetoric (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003), p. 68.

Confirming our definition of παῖς (pais)

I came across the following discussion about παῖς by Theon. The surrounding context is Theon's advice for clarity in writing. One of the things to avoid is the use of homonyms. On this topic, he penned,

A homonym is a single word pronounced in the same way but with different significations, like pais ("boy"); for it means a son and a young child and a slave.1

There we have it. These meanings are the same as those found in our current Greek lexicons. While this is not groundbreaking, I, nonetheless, find such discoveries interesting.
1. Kennedy, George, Progymnasmata: Greek Textbooks of Prose Composition and Rhetoric (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003), p. 31.

Narrative Analysis is not Anachronistic

I have often wondered if narrative analysis is anachronistic. However, it would appear that ancient authors were consciously constructing narrative using similar categories as we do. For instance, Theon outlines that the elements of narration are:

1. The person/s

 2. "[T]he action done by the person"

3. "[T]he place where the action was done"

4. "[T]he time at which it was done"

5. "[T]he manner of the action"

6. "[T]he cause of these things"1

These match up with our categories. Therefore, it is fair to say that our analytical techniques are not overly anachronistic.

1. Kennedy, George, Progymnasmata: Greek Textbooks of Prose Composition and Rhetoric (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003), p. 28.

Greco-Roman Historical Genres: More than chronology

In approaching the Gospels, it is apparent that they are more than just chronologies about Jesus and his ministry. Each Gospel is presenting Jesus' story/life with a different purpose. In line with this purpose, the writer brings together individual stories about Jesus to communicate a central message. Each Gospel is coherent in its message and also unique from the other Gospels in its emphasis about Jesus. This observation has been reinforced by both literary and rhetorical criticism.

In line with this observation, I came across something interesting awhile ago in my readings of ancient rhetorical sources. According to Theon, narration and fable were two of the main literary exercises that help one learn how to write a history well.1 The importance of practicing narration is obvious in how it would help a person write history. However, how would writing fable help? This is answered by looking at Theon's discussion on fable. He says, "a fable (mythos) is a fictitious story giving an image of truth...".2 Fable would apparently help a person learn how to write a story, which is important for writing histories. Additionally, a person who practices fable would also learn to write/tell a story with the goal of communicating a central truth. Therefore, for Theon, it would appear that to write a history is more than just chronological narrations and facts about a person. It is to combine together narrations to drive home a central truth about that person, nation, etc.

All in all, the observations that scholars have made about the Gospels line up with Theon's view of what was involved in writing history. As he was writer of the ~first century, this observation has merit in helping inform our view of how ~first century histories were written and read.

1. Kennedy, George, Progymnasmata: Greek Textbooks of Prose Composition and Rhetoric (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2003), p. 4.
2. Ibid. p. 23.