Periegesis

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The Periegesis (pronounced Peri-egesis ; from ancient Greek περιήγησις Periegesis , German , leading around ' ) or Periegese (accent on the last syllable) refers to the literary genre of ancient Greek descriptions of countries and artistic monuments. It is also used to describe a “structural moment in ancient travel reports [...]. A stranger comes to a town or a sanctuary, wanders around, looks at statues, altars and pictures, asks passers-by about their meaning, which in turn gives rise to interspersed anecdotes and excursions. "

The Periegesis was a kind of travel guide, usually with information on culture , landscape, religion or other abnormalities of the regions, cities or states visited. The first travelogue of this kind comes from the ancient historian Hekataios of Miletus . Other important representatives in antiquity were Polemon von Ilion and Pausanias .

The authors of such reports are called periegetes .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. Hans-Josef Klauck: Magic and Paganism in the Acts of the Apostles of Luke . Stuttgart 1996, 90.
  2. Brockhaus' Small Conversation Lexicon at zeno.org
  3. Peter Teuthorn: An essay volume on the Periegesis des Pausanias (PDF; 24 kB)