The Greeks: A Portrait of Self and Others
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Author Description
This book provides an original and challenging answer to the question: 'Who were the Classical Greeks?' Paul Cartledge - 'one of the most theoretically alert, widely read and prolific of contemporary ancient historians' (TLS) - here examines the Greeks and their achievements in terms of their own self-image, mainly as it was presented by the supposedly objective historians: Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon. Many of our modern concepts as we understand them were invented by the Greeks: for example, democracy, theatre, philosophy, and history. Yet despite being our cultural ancestors in many ways, their legacy remains rooted in myth and the mental and material contexts of many of their achievements are deeply alien to our own ways of thinking and acting. The Greeks aims to explore in depth how the dominant group (adult, male, citizen) attempted, with limited success, to define themselves unambiguously in polar opposition to a whole series of 'Others' - non-Greeks, women, non-citizens, slaves and gods. This new edition contains an updated bibliography, a new chapter entitled 'Entr'acte: Others in Images and Images of Others', and a new afterword.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
Who were the Classical Greeks, and how did they construct their identity through the exclusion of perceived 'Others'? Paul Cartledge, a distinguished historian of the ancient world, utilizes the writings of Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon to analyze the self-image of the Classical Greek citizen. He argues that Greek identity was defined by a deliberate, often fraught, opposition to those they categorized as inferior or alien, including women, slaves, non-citizens, and non-Greeks.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- Analysis of primary historical texts from the Classical period.
- Examination of the social constructs of democracy, philosophy, and citizenship.
- Exploration of the 'us versus them' dichotomy in ancient Greek thought.
- Updated bibliography and supplemental chapters on visual representations of the 'Other'.
Scope Limits
- The text focuses primarily on the perspective of the dominant adult male citizen class.
- It does not provide a comprehensive survey of all Greek city-states, focusing instead on the intellectual and social frameworks of the era.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Scholars and readers frequently note the academic rigor and theoretical depth Cartledge brings to his analysis of ancient social structures. Experts highlight this work as a significant contribution to understanding the complexities of Greek identity and the origins of Western cultural concepts.
Page Count:
248
Publication Date:
2002-01-01
Publisher:
OUP Oxford
ISBN-10:
0191577839
ISBN-13:
9780191577833
History
Cultural History
Greeks
Sociology
Ancient Greece
National characteristics Greek
Ancient History
