Perceiving the past in the early Hellenistic period : the uses of the past in remodelling reality
This thesis examines the use of the past as a medium for the articulation of claims of present political power during the early Hellenistic period. The Hellenistic period marks an era of major changes both in the political and geographical landscapes. The polis, which remains the centre of political life, struggles between autonomy and dependence among the emerging political formations (Kingdoms and Koina). In the fluid political environment, the past presents an excellent opportunity: it can be used as a (re)confirmation of a certain identity, be it civic or collective, or can help to construct a new one. In either way, its potential is enormous. In the contemporary world, the connection between the use of the past and politics has been confirmed. However, this relationship was also clearly realised in the ancient world. Due to the workings of memory, the past has a central role in the political life of communities; memory and the use of the past are social and cultural forces, effectively altering the modes of representation and contemporary worldviews. And vice versa, any political decisions are seen in the light of civic or communal traditions â the cultural memory of each society. In the cases of Athens
Pagkalos, Manolis E.
Perceiving the past in the early Hellenistic period : the uses of the past in remodelling reality. This thesis examines the use of the past as a medium for the articulation of claims of present political power during the early Hellenistic period. The Hellenistic period marks an era of major changes both in the political and geographical landscapes. The polis, which remains the centre of political life, struggles between autonomy and dependence among the emerging political formations (Kingdoms and Koina). In the fluid political environment, the past presents an excellent opportunity: it can be used as a (re)confirmation of a certain identity, be it civic or collective, or can help to construct a new one. In either way, its potential is enormous. In the contemporary world, the connection between the use of the past and politics has been confirmed. However, this relationship was also clearly realised in the ancient world. Due to the workings of memory, the past has a central role in the political life of communities; memory and the use of the past are social and cultural forces, effectively altering the modes of representation and contemporary worldviews. And vice versa, any political decisions are seen in the light of civic or communal traditions â the cultural memory of each society. In the cases of Athens
past early_hellenistic period past reality examines use past medium articulation claim present political_power early_hellenistic period hellenistic_period mark era major_change political geographical landscape polis remain centre political_life struggle autonomy dependence among emerge political formation kingdoms fluid political environment past_present excellent opportunity use confirmation certain identity civic collective help construct_new either way potential enormous contemporary world connection use past politics confirm however relationship also clearly realise ancient_world due working memory past central_role political_life community memory use past social_cultural force effectively alter mode representation contemporary worldviews vice_versa political_decision see light civic communal tradition cultural_memory society case athens