Herodotus adapts Homeric techniques for manipulating time as a means of structuring an extensive narrative. Like the poet, he uses anachronies (analepses and prolepses) to expand a chronologically focused main story – especially narratorial anachronies that address issues of geographical, ethnographical, and historical significance. The importance of epic precedent is especially visible in the open-ended closure of Herodotus’ narrative, and the sense that it creates of the Histories as being, like an epic poem, both a self-contained whole and part of a larger story to be continued. Herodotus also follows Homer’s lead with regard to narrative rhythm and narrative frequency. Like the epics, the Histories slow down markedly in the climactic stage of the story, and in both authors large-scale repeating narratives serve to juxtapose a character’s version of events with the primary narrator’s, or with another character’s, as a means of highlighting personality traits or thematic issues.