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The genealogy of the boukoloi: how Greek literature appropriated an Egyptian narrative-motif*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2012

Ian Rutherford
Ian Rutherford
Affiliation:
University of Reading
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Extract

The subject of this paper is the relationship between the Demotic Egyptian Inaros-Petubastis Cycle and the Greek novel. I will not argue that the Greek novel as a whole arose from Egyptian literature; that theory has been rightly laid to rest by scholars working in the area, most recently by Susan Stephens and the late Jack Winkler in their edition of the fragments of the novel. What I want to do, rather, is to draw attention to a single motif that might have made its way from Egyptian narrative fiction to the Greek novel; to explore the background of this motif in Egyptian literature; and to discuss the mode through which this motif was appropriated by the Greek novelists. This motif concerns the boukoloi, outlaw shepherds who inhabit the Egyptian Delta and oppose central Egyptian authority.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Hellenic Studies , Volume 120 , November 2000 , pp. 106 - 121
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies 2000

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