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 6-10 of 41
Page 28
... means abandoning power and throwing oneself on the mercy of the natives. Only in this way can the ethnographer begin ... mean active participation, which would change the culture; ethnographers rather try to efface themselves, to become ...
... means abandoning power and throwing oneself on the mercy of the natives. Only in this way can the ethnographer begin ... mean active participation, which would change the culture; ethnographers rather try to efface themselves, to become ...
Page 29
... mean that they were unobservant travelers, or without anxieties, or that their principles of observation were trivial. If we are to understand Herodotus' inquiry into culture we must see the problem as it presented itself to him. It may ...
... mean that they were unobservant travelers, or without anxieties, or that their principles of observation were trivial. If we are to understand Herodotus' inquiry into culture we must see the problem as it presented itself to him. It may ...
Page 34
... means of neutralizing them, and even of profiting from them, and those societies which, like ours, practice anthropoemy (from the Greek emein, vomit); confronted by the same problem, they have chosen the opposite solution; which ...
... means of neutralizing them, and even of profiting from them, and those societies which, like ours, practice anthropoemy (from the Greek emein, vomit); confronted by the same problem, they have chosen the opposite solution; which ...
Page 35
... means of communication (2. 96), while the Scythian rivers divide Scythia into districts, and serve as barriers to travel and invasion (4. 47). The Scythian rivers are plural, and this plurality of rivers is the most notable fact about ...
... means of communication (2. 96), while the Scythian rivers divide Scythia into districts, and serve as barriers to travel and invasion (4. 47). The Scythian rivers are plural, and this plurality of rivers is the most notable fact about ...
Page 55
... mean that the Athenians are slaves to no external man ( πη ́κοοι [subjects] 242 significantly echoes πη ́κοο [subject] 234) ... means 'people' (as at e.g. Eum. 569); certainly the overlap of citizen and soldier makes such a rendering easy ...
... mean that the Athenians are slaves to no external man ( πη ́κοοι [subjects] 242 significantly echoes πη ́κοο [subject] 234) ... means 'people' (as at e.g. Eum. 569); certainly the overlap of citizen and soldier makes such a rendering easy ...
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