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
Results 1-5 of 36
Page 4
... rule Athens exercised over its fifth-century empire.22 There is good reason to suppose, however, that the Persian–Greek 18 17 Hall, Inventing the Barbarians, pp. 21–47; contrast, however, pp. 19–21 on foreign names, and now Mackie ...
... rule Athens exercised over its fifth-century empire.22 There is good reason to suppose, however, that the Persian–Greek 18 17 Hall, Inventing the Barbarians, pp. 21–47; contrast, however, pp. 19–21 on foreign names, and now Mackie ...
Page 26
... rule. Nomoi are specifically human; the word has no relevance to animals. Furthermore, nomoi are the sign of a ... rules for themselves. In the one place where diaita and nomoi are contrasted (4. 78), the former refers to clothing, the ...
... rule. Nomoi are specifically human; the word has no relevance to animals. Furthermore, nomoi are the sign of a ... rules for themselves. In the one place where diaita and nomoi are contrasted (4. 78), the former refers to clothing, the ...
Page 41
... rule against anthropomorphic gods by borrowing Aphrodite “from the Assyrians and the Arabs” (1. 131). Their religious institutions are becoming more complex. At the center the relation between hard and soft becomes dynamic. The contrast ...
... rule against anthropomorphic gods by borrowing Aphrodite “from the Assyrians and the Arabs” (1. 131). Their religious institutions are becoming more complex. At the center the relation between hard and soft becomes dynamic. The contrast ...
Page 44
... rule of Xerxes (like all Oriental monarchies) is a tyrannis [tyranny], and hybris is characteristic of the tyrannos ... rule should do this. And what moment could be finer than this, when we rule many men and all Asia?” Cyrus listened ...
... rule of Xerxes (like all Oriental monarchies) is a tyrannis [tyranny], and hybris is characteristic of the tyrannos ... rule should do this. And what moment could be finer than this, when we rule many men and all Asia?” Cyrus listened ...
Page 52
... rule by a single ruler, rule by a few, and rule by the people not merely in the famous debate of the Persian nobles.7 Evidence on the sophists suggests an active as well as intellectual interest in the development of constitutions.8 ...
... rule by a single ruler, rule by a few, and rule by the people not merely in the famous debate of the Persian nobles.7 Evidence on the sophists suggests an active as well as intellectual interest in the development of constitutions.8 ...
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