Diodorus’ Mythistory and the Pagan Mission: Historiography and Culture-heroes in the First Pentad of the Bibliotheke

Examining Diodorus Siculus’ historiographical methods and his representation of mythical culture-heroes, this study demonstrates the significant contribution of the author’s first pentad to his universal history and its importance as a supplement to our perception of Hellenistic civilization.

Iris Sulimani, Ph.D. (2004) in History, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, teaches at the Hebrew University and the University of Haifa. She has published articles on Semiramis’ journey in Diodorus (SCI 24, 2005), and on Diodorus’ source-citations (Athenaeum 96, 2008).