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
Page 3
... non-Greek world'; Lévy, 'Naissance du concept de barbare'; see further below, n. 18. See e.g. Drews, 'The first tyrants in Greece'. 16 Greek enemies – unlike the Trojans of fifth-century tragedy, who, General Introduction 3.
... non-Greek world'; Lévy, 'Naissance du concept de barbare'; see further below, n. 18. See e.g. Drews, 'The first tyrants in Greece'. 16 Greek enemies – unlike the Trojans of fifth-century tragedy, who, General Introduction 3.
Page 4
... 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, Talking Trojan. For the ...
... 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, Talking Trojan. For the ...
Page 5
... fifth century.25 Most importantly perhaps, the Histories of Herodotus, written under the shadow of the first part of the Peloponnesian War (431–404), clearly had a broader currency than in Athens. The Histories are increasingly (and ...
... fifth century.25 Most importantly perhaps, the Histories of Herodotus, written under the shadow of the first part of the Peloponnesian War (431–404), clearly had a broader currency than in Athens. The Histories are increasingly (and ...
Page 6
... fifth and fourth centuries undergoes a number of contradictory movements: Euripides' problematisation and refraction of the Greek–barbarian polarity; the use of Persia as a model of the ideal monarchy by Xenophon in the Cyropaedia;33 ...
... fifth and fourth centuries undergoes a number of contradictory movements: Euripides' problematisation and refraction of the Greek–barbarian polarity; the use of Persia as a model of the ideal monarchy by Xenophon in the Cyropaedia;33 ...
Page 8
... fifth-century historian Herodotus (Ch. 1: Redfield), the Athenian tragedians Aeschylus and Euripides (Chs 2–3: Goldhill, Saïd), and, finally, classical Athenian art (Ch. 4: Lissarrague). Part II then looks in more detail at a number of ...
... fifth-century historian Herodotus (Ch. 1: Redfield), the Athenian tragedians Aeschylus and Euripides (Chs 2–3: Goldhill, Saïd), and, finally, classical Athenian art (Ch. 4: Lissarrague). Part II then looks in more detail at a number of ...
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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