Greeks and Barbarians
- ISBN-10
- 0748679316
- ISBN-13
- 9780748679317
- Series
- Greeks And Barbarians
- Category
- Europe
- Pages
- 336
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2002
- Author
- Thomas Harrison
Description
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.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
In Search of Your European Roots: A Complete Guide to Tracing Your Ancestors in Every Country in Europe
By Angus BaxterOffers information on locating birth, marriage, and death certificates, emigration registers, guild records, vaccination lists, census returns, church records, orphan lists, and other documentation necessary to trace an ancestor's European ...
-
On the Rails Around Europe: A Comprehensive Guide to Europe by Train
By Melissa ShalesOn the Rails Around Europe: A Comprehensive Guide to Europe by Train
-
Men and Women of the Renaissance and Reformation, 1300-1600
By Thomas R. RumseyOn the cathedral and religious art : H. Adams , Mont - Saint - Michel and Chartres ( 1904 ) ; T. Bowie , The Sketchbook of Villard de Honnecourt ( 1968 ) ; A.W. Clapham , Romanesque Architecture in Western Europe ( 1936 ) ; K. Edwards ...
-
Twentieth-century European History
By William Laird Kleine-AhlbrandtText is contemporary, student-oriented, and balances a strong political focus with an economic and social perspective. The text features profiles of major historical figures and a photo essay on the...
-
Europe, 1984
By Stephen BirnbaumEurope, 1984
-
Birnbaum's Western Europe 1992
By Stephen BirnbaumBirnbaum's Western Europe 1992
-
Social Challenges at the National Level: Social Policy, European Integration, and Economic Competitiveness : the Cases of Finland and Great...
By Jacob Ross, Preeti Shrooff-MehtaTiivistelmä.
-
Frommer's 97: Frugal Traveller's Guides : Europe from $50 a Day
Offers tips, information, and listings for accommodations, sights, and restaurants for European cities
-
The World History Highway: A Guide to Internet Resources
By Dennis A. Trinkle, Scott A. MerrimanA Guide to Internet Resources Dennis A. Trinkle, Scott A. Merriman. Asian Art Beijing Palace Museum http://www.dpm.org.cn/C-english/C_english.htm This is the site of the Beijing Palace Museum . As an Internet site , it rivals the site ...
-
Europe 1450 to 1789: Popular culture to Switzerland
By Jonathan DewaldThrough the encouragement of the early annalists , such as Marc Bloch and Lucien Febvre , historians ' attention began to focus on Durkheim's concept of the collective consciousness and modify it to explain slow changes over time ( la ...