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. |
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Page 32
... land is echoed by the sexual inversion of the inhabitants; the sterile male couples push their groceries about in baby carriages. Both descriptions are systematic, in that a pattern of difference is found to pervade more than one realm ...
... land is echoed by the sexual inversion of the inhabitants; the sterile male couples push their groceries about in baby carriages. Both descriptions are systematic, in that a pattern of difference is found to pervade more than one realm ...
Page 36
... land was empty (ερη ́μη). Scythia is a natural landscape which came to be inhabited; Egypt is a landscape radically reconstructed by habitation. The relation between man and nature in Egypt is also reciprocal, since their soil and water ...
... land was empty (ερη ́μη). Scythia is a natural landscape which came to be inhabited; Egypt is a landscape radically reconstructed by habitation. The relation between man and nature in Egypt is also reciprocal, since their soil and water ...
Page 44
... land we hold, which is after all small and a rough one, and let us take a better. There are many near us; and many yet further off; if we take one we shall be impressive in a variety of ways. It is fitting that men who rule should do ...
... land we hold, which is after all small and a rough one, and let us take a better. There are many near us; and many yet further off; if we take one we shall be impressive in a variety of ways. It is fitting that men who rule should do ...
Page 56
... land.] Here, too, critics (e.g. Schütz, who is rejected by Broadhead) have suggested that the connection between this conclusion and the queen's earlier remarks is weak. Again, however, her language points to the underlying political ...
... land.] Here, too, critics (e.g. Schütz, who is rejected by Broadhead) have suggested that the connection between this conclusion and the queen's earlier remarks is weak. Again, however, her language points to the underlying political ...
Page 57
... land in the same way'. It is precisely the nature of Xerxes' rule that is brought to the fore. Darius emphasizes a different aspect of this rule. On the one hand, he stresses how Persia is ruled (note σκη ̃πτρον ευθυντη ́ριον [the ...
... land in the same way'. It is precisely the nature of Xerxes' rule that is brought to the fore. Darius emphasizes a different aspect of this rule. On the one hand, he stresses how Persia is ruled (note σκη ̃πτρον ευθυντη ́ριον [the ...
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