Reflections of the 'Other': foreign polities in archaic and classical greek political discourse
Throughout their history interactions with foreigners had a profound influence on the Greek sense of' self and the development of a Panhellenic identity. In many ways, Greek culture developed out of interactions with ' others'. However, Greek ethnicity did not operate as a polarity with strictly defmed categories but was a sliding scale. The endpoints were strongly structuralist understandings of 'Greek' and 'Barbarian', with various intermediary points to accommodate those who did not conform to these precise categories. Greek ethnicity was complex and fluid, meaning different things at different times to different people. The texts examined in this study, Homer's epic poems, Herodotus' Histories, and Ctesias' Persica, all variously display what it meant to be Greek, 'other', and the shades and subtleties inherent in such concepts. Homer's Trojans, although traditionally considered to be similar to the Greeks, exhibit several characteristics of 'others' as typified in fifth-century concepts of the Barbarian, demonstrating that such stereotypes have long roots. Although several contemporary texts emphasise the differences between Greeks and Barbarians, Herodotus provides an extremely sophisticated portrait
Anderson, Loriel Sarah Ann
Reflections of the 'Other': foreign polities in archaic and classical greek political discourse. Throughout their history interactions with foreigners had a profound influence on the Greek sense of' self and the development of a Panhellenic identity. In many ways, Greek culture developed out of interactions with ' others'. However, Greek ethnicity did not operate as a polarity with strictly defmed categories but was a sliding scale. The endpoints were strongly structuralist understandings of 'Greek' and 'Barbarian', with various intermediary points to accommodate those who did not conform to these precise categories. Greek ethnicity was complex and fluid, meaning different things at different times to different people. The texts examined in this study, Homer's epic poems, Herodotus' Histories, and Ctesias' Persica, all variously display what it meant to be Greek, 'other', and the shades and subtleties inherent in such concepts. Homer's Trojans, although traditionally considered to be similar to the Greeks, exhibit several characteristics of 'others' as typified in fifth-century concepts of the Barbarian, demonstrating that such stereotypes have long roots. Although several contemporary texts emphasise the differences between Greeks and Barbarians, Herodotus provides an extremely sophisticated portrait
other foreign polity archaic_classical greek political_discourse throughout_history interaction foreigner profound_influence greek sense_self development identity many_way greek_culture develop interaction others however greek ethnicity operate polarity strictly category scale strongly structuralist understandings greek barbarian various intermediary point accommodate conform precise category greek ethnicity complex fluid mean different thing different time different people text examine study homer epic poem herodotus histories variously display meant greek other shade subtlety inherent concept homer although traditionally consider similar greeks exhibit several characteristic others typify fifth_century concept barbarian demonstrate stereotype long root although several contemporary text emphasise difference greeks herodotus provide extremely sophisticated portrait