Michael Flower is a historian of ancient Greece whose primary areas of research are in Greek religion, historical writing, and social and political history. He is particularly interested in broadening the scope of these subjects by adapting methodologies from the disciplines of modern history, the anthropology and sociology of religion, and literary criticism.
His current book project attempts to assess the nature, purpose, and tropes of fictionality in Classical Greek historical writing. By employing various modern conceptual models and categories, he hopes to reveal the techniques of fictionality that are employed by the Greek historians and how those techniques establish the parameters of fictional narrative in terms of plot, dialogue, and action.