Space on the move: the travel of narratology to Ancient Greek lyric

In this article I to investigate the possibility of applying narratology (primarily with regard to ‘space’) to ancient Greek lyric poetry (7th-5th C. B.C.). Narratology has initially been developed for the analysis of modern novels and has only recently been applied to other fields, for instance to modern lyric poetry. Putting Fludernik’s programmatic advocacy of diachronic research into practice, I will transfer narratology to a different cultural, historical field, i.e. ancient Greek lyric poetry. Focusing on space, I will examine what such a transfer means for narratology.
In a number of case studies I will argue that in Greek lyric space primarily functions as symbol: space can have symbolic associations (e.g. sea associated with danger) or take a symbolic form (e.g., space as metaphor, personification, or literary motif).
The symbolism of space has not yet received sufficient attention, as space is often merely considered in its function of providing a setting for a narrative, although some scholars have also attributed a characterizing function to space. Taking ancient Greek lyric poetry as a case, this article attempts to make a beginning filling this gap.