A Lecture at Shirak State University Titled “The Semantic Transformation of the Concept of ‘Ἱστορία’ (History) in the Ancient World”

A Lecture at Shirak State University Titled “The Semantic Transformation of the Concept of ‘Ἱστορία’ (History) in the Ancient World” at Shirak State University, Associate Professor of the Department of History and Law, Doctor of Historical Sciences Hovhannes Khorikyan presented a lecture entitled “The Semantic Transformation of the Concept of ‘Ἱστορία’ in the Ancient World.”

The speaker noted that in Ancient Greece the term ἱστορία referred not only to historical research but also to myths, poetic narratives and, more broadly, to various forms of human thought and cognition.

Based on evidence drawn from ancient Greek sources, H. Khorikyan substantiated the claim that it was not the word ἱστορία that originally emerged, but rather its cognates ϊστορ and ιστορέω. The word Їστορ denoted a person who collected, analyzed, evaluated and recounted certain information. The verb Ιστορέω meant “to see,” “to gather testimonies or information (reports)” and “to narrate what was seen” or “to recount existingfacts.”

At the conclusion of the lecture, the attendees expressed their gratitude to H. Khorikyan for the informative and engaging lecture and asked their questions to him.