The history of Belerion : an investigation into the discussions of Greeks and Romans in Cornwall
~Who controls the past [...] controls the future: who controls the present controls the past~. In the first century BCE Diodorus of Sicily described a corner of the British Isles he called Belerion and drew attention to the ingenious way the inhabitants extracted tin and the civilised manner they had acquired through trading that metal. In 2012 a tourist may stay in a bed and breakfast near Penzance or buy books from a shop named after that promontory. However, during the nineteenth century a debate amongst historians arose as to the meaning of Diodorus' Greek text, its relationship to other classical texts and the status of Cornwall in antiquity. The discussion involved at least ten treatments specifically of the topic in Cornwall alone and was incorporated into a variety of other narratives. The debate offers an unusual insight into the role of classical texts in the description and understanding of local identity. This thesis looks at passages from the classical world that have been linked to Cornwall and which often have very little academic scholarship relating to them, and examines how they have been interpreted by Cornish historians. It will show how, despite the inconclusiveness of the ancient material,
Sheldrake, Cara Elanor
Classics ; Classical Reception ; Cornwall ; Cornish Studies ; Historiography ; Local History ; Identity ; Ancient Greek
The history of Belerion : an investigation into the discussions of Greeks and Romans in Cornwall. ~Who controls the past [...] controls the future: who controls the present controls the past~. In the first century BCE Diodorus of Sicily described a corner of the British Isles he called Belerion and drew attention to the ingenious way the inhabitants extracted tin and the civilised manner they had acquired through trading that metal. In 2012 a tourist may stay in a bed and breakfast near Penzance or buy books from a shop named after that promontory. However, during the nineteenth century a debate amongst historians arose as to the meaning of Diodorus' Greek text, its relationship to other classical texts and the status of Cornwall in antiquity. The discussion involved at least ten treatments specifically of the topic in Cornwall alone and was incorporated into a variety of other narratives. The debate offers an unusual insight into the role of classical texts in the description and understanding of local identity. This thesis looks at passages from the classical world that have been linked to Cornwall and which often have very little academic scholarship relating to them, and examines how they have been interpreted by Cornish historians. It will show how, despite the inconclusiveness of the ancient material,
history investigation discussion greeks romans cornwall control past control future control present control past bce diodorus sicily describe corner british_isles call draw_attention way inhabitant extract tin manner acquire trading metal tourist may stay bed near buy book shop name however debate amongst historian arise mean diodorus greek_text relationship classical_text status cornwall antiquity discussion involve least treatment specifically topic cornwall alone incorporate variety narrative debate offer unusual insight_role classical_text description local_identity look passage classical_world link cornwall often little academic scholarship relating examines interpret cornish historian show despite ancient material