Ancient Greek ekphrasis: Between description and narration

This thesis contains an investigation into the nature of five ancient Greek ekphraseis: 1. the shield of Achilles in the Iliad (18.478-608); 2. the shield of Heracles in the pseudo-Hesiodic Scutum (139-320); 3. the goatherd’s cup in Theocritus’ first Idyll (27-60); 4. Jason’s cloak in Apollonius Rhodius’ Argonautica (1.721-68); and 5. Europa’s basket in Moschus’ Europa (37-62). The main aim of this thesis is to investigate to what degree these ekphraseis can be regarded as descriptive, and to what degree as narrative. For definitions of narration and description, this thesis draws on modern narratological and discourse linguistic theory. By close analysis of the ekphraseis, it is shown that they contain both descriptive and narrative elements.