Greeks And BarbariansEdinburgh University Press, 2019 M07 30 - 288 pages How did the Greeks view foreign peoples? This book considers what the Greeks thought of foreigners and their religions, cultures and politics, and what these beliefs and opinions reveal about the Greeks. The Greeks were occasionally intrigued by the customs and religions of the many different peoples with whom they came into contact; more often they were disdainful or dismissive, tending to regard non-Greeks as at best inferior, and at worst as candidates for conquest and enslavement. Facing up to this less attractive aspect of the classical tradition is vital, Thomas Harrison argues, to seeing both what the ancient world was really like and the full nature of its legacy in the modern. In this book he brings together outstanding European and American scholarship to show the difference and complexity of Greek representations of foreign peoples - or barbarians, as the Greeks called them - and how these representations changed over time.The book looks first at the main sources: the Histories of Herodotus, Greek tragedy, and Athenian art. Part II examines how the Greeks distinguished themselves from barbarians through myth, language and religion. Part III considers Greek representations of two different barbarian peoples - the allegedly decadent and effeminate Persians, and the Egyptians, proverbial for their religious wisdom. In part IV three chapters trace the development of the Greek-barbarian antithesis in later history: in nineteenth-century scholarship, in Byzantine and modern Greece, and in western intellectual history.Of the twelve chapters six are published in English for the first time. The editor has provided an extensive general introduction, as well as introductions to the parts. The book contains two maps, a guide to further reading and an intellectual chronology. All passages of ancient languages are translated, and difficult terms are explained. |
From inside the book
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Page 21
... hands of the father of Pericles (and through an ironic flashback to the height of the 'hardness' of the Persians) – the Athenians taking on the mantle of empire from the Persians, and also adopting their excesses.22 Aeschylus, by ...
... hands of the father of Pericles (and through an ironic flashback to the height of the 'hardness' of the Persians) – the Athenians taking on the mantle of empire from the Persians, and also adopting their excesses.22 Aeschylus, by ...
Page 22
... 32 Ferrari Pinney, 'For the heroes are at hand'; Davidson, Courtesans and Fishcakes, pp. 170–1, 180–2. 33 Davidson, Courtesans and Fishcakes, p. 171. Nylander, Ionians; Root, The King and Kingship. 35 Root, 'From 22 Sources.
... 32 Ferrari Pinney, 'For the heroes are at hand'; Davidson, Courtesans and Fishcakes, pp. 170–1, 180–2. 33 Davidson, Courtesans and Fishcakes, p. 171. Nylander, Ionians; Root, The King and Kingship. 35 Root, 'From 22 Sources.
Page 32
... hand. This brings us to the most famous of all the Herodotean passages on nomos; it is in the form of a comment on the madness of Cambyses, whose most dangerous symptom was that he laughed at the nomoi of the Egyptians (3. 38): If one ...
... hand. This brings us to the most famous of all the Herodotean passages on nomos; it is in the form of a comment on the madness of Cambyses, whose most dangerous symptom was that he laughed at the nomoi of the Egyptians (3. 38): If one ...
Page 43
... hand, can be conquered, but in defeat they take their revenge by transforming the conquerer. They soften him, and at the same time fill him with just that irrational insatiability which will lead him into destruction. Cambyses ...
... hand, can be conquered, but in defeat they take their revenge by transforming the conquerer. They soften him, and at the same time fill him with just that irrational insatiability which will lead him into destruction. Cambyses ...
Page 47
... hands of tyrants, power is typically a threat to their nomoi. It is characteristic of the tyrant to “interfere with inherited nomaia” (3. 80. 5). The mad Persian Cambyses, for instance, burned Egyptian Amasis' body; in so doing he ...
... hands of tyrants, power is typically a threat to their nomoi. It is characteristic of the tyrant to “interfere with inherited nomaia” (3. 80. 5). The mad Persian Cambyses, for instance, burned Egyptian Amasis' body; in so doing he ...
Contents
1 | |
15 | |
PART II THEMES | 125 |
PART III PEOPLES | 187 |
PART IV OVERVIEWS | 229 |
Intellectual Chronology | 311 |
Guide to Further Reading | 313 |
Bibliography | 314 |
Index | 328 |
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Common terms and phrases
according Aeschylus ancient appears argument Asia Athenian Athens authors Barbarian become Cadmus called century classical common concept context contrast course culture customs dialect discussion divine early Egypt Egyptian empire especially ethnic Euripides evidence example existence fact fifth foreign further give gods Greece Greek Hall hand Hellenic Herodotus human idea identity important instance interest interpretation Isocrates Italy king land language later less linguistic matriarchy means mentioned myth nature never nomoi opposition oriental origin Paris particular period Persian Persian Wars Phoenician Plato play political possible present problem question reason refer regard relations religion Roman rule Scythians seems seen shows society sources speak speech story theory thought tradition tragedy turn University various whole women writing