The Structural Device of “Unsuccessful Repetition” in Two Ancient Greek Healing Narratives

Abstract

AbstractSince the turn of the nineteenth into the twentieth century scholars have underscored the similarities between two ancient Greek healing accounts of miraculous cures ascribed to Asclepius, the Greek god of Medicine, and some modern narratives related to the international folktale known as ATU 753 A: Unsuccessful Repetition. This study analyses the narrative structure of these accounts in order to reassess the similarities pointed out by earlier researchers and also enquires into some compositional aspects of one of these narratives.