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Dictys’descriptionsofHthosewhohadbeensummoned”
tothewarconstitutedtheprecedingekphrasticsection
ofportraits,whiletheconcludingphraseHeachwithhis
ownships”allowsforthetransitiontotheotherwiseun-
connectedcatalogofships.Similarcitationsoccurattran-
sitionalmomentslaterinthenarrativeaswell,suchas,for
instance,whenareferencetoDictysconcludesMalalas’
narrativedescribingOdysseus’stayatKirke’sislandand
transitionstotherestofhisjourneys(V.19(119),63)and
whenhetransitionsfromOdysseustoDiomedes’home-
coming(V.20(122),64).
AlthoughatsomepointsinthetextMalalasfairlyfaith-
fullyfollowsidentifiablesources,healsodeviatessignif-
icantlyatotherpoints.Hecould,therefore,haveexcised
theportraitsofGreeksandTrojanseventhoughtheyap-
pearedinhissources,buthedidnot.Theremust,then,be
reasonsforretainingthem,andinsuchprominentposi-
tionthattheytakealmostfiveofthethirty-fivepages(in
theEnglishtranslation)oftheTrojanWarnarrative.An
analysisoftheportraitssectionofthenarrative,therefore,
mayillustrateMalalas’largermethodregardinghisuse
ofsourcesgenerally.
Fromanaestheticperspective,partoftheanswermaylie
inMalalas’atempttocreateanepicsensibilityinanother-
wiserelativelydrychroniclebyincludingsomeelements
fromtheepictraditionofTheIliaditself.Theteichoscopeia
ofIliad3,inwhichHelendescribestheGreekstoPriam
astheylookatthemfromthewall,providesanepicparal-
leltoMalalas’portraits.Fromahistoriographicalperspec-
tive,asecondreasonmaybethatthedescriptionsprovide
alevelofnarrativeauthority.Byretainingtheseportraits,
Malalasperhapsalsohopestoretaintheirclaimtohistor-
icalveracity,noting,ashedoes,Dictys’statusasarelia-
bleeye-witness:HForDiktyshappenedtobeIdomeneus’
scribeandobservedthecourseofthewaraccuratelyand
wroteitdown,beingpresentatthattimewiththeHel-
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