'Can an ancient truth become an old lie?' A few methodological remarks concerning current comparative research on war and its aftermath'

War and its aftermath have always been a favourite topic of comparative historical research, in the political, military and socio-economic spheres, and, more recently, in relation to collective emotions, psychological reactions and forms of commemoration. This paper will discusse some  case studies concerning war and post-war (commemoration of the war dead in public discourse and monumentality; sensory, emotional and psychological aspects involved in war-related phenomena; war trauma), which scholars have already approached from a comparative standpoint. Its aim is not to treat each case study in detail, but to comment on them from a methodological perspective, in order to show, through a few relevant examples, taken from both ancient Greek and 20th century history, the need to avoid perfunctory comparisons between ancient and modern phenomena, and instead to pursue a coherent historical contextualization.

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