O Herodotowej narracji w świetle oralności

This paper consists of four parts. The first one provides a short commentary on the oral tradition of the Histories, and the second, third, and fourth parts focus on the analysis of some passages of Herodotus’ work in view of his oral discourse. Consequently, the following categories of Herodotus’ poetics are discussed: the compositional structure of the work, the mutual relations of its components, i.e. plots, episodes etc. and the narrator’s construction. The last part contains a brief recapitulation of the results in several points:— Herodotus shapes the events and heroes in his History in view of the figures provided by oral literature, i.e. he confers on them a heroic dimension that intends them be remembered and honoured. This is especially so in the parts that are strictly stories. Herodotus here plays the role of a third-person narrator. His narration is more discrete, allusive, and dramatised through which he wishes to reach a broader audience that is accustomed to rapsodic competitions and theatrical performances popular in those days;—The narration of the Histories is based on the episodic structure composed of a series of brief stories linked with one another by means of sentences. These sentences trace the direction of the story, and this in turn orientate the story-teller and listener to a more complete reception of the verbal message;—The narration of the Histories additionally contains stereotypical thematic lines, together with a schematic structure of plots and a typological image of figures. This enables their multiple usage in the process of oral and spontaneous presentation of parts of the work.