DOCSLIB.ORG

The Construction of the Image of Peace in Ancient Greece: a Few Literary and Iconographic Evidences

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Construction of the Image of Peace in Ancient Greece: a Few Literary and Iconographic Evidences Martins de Jesus, Carlos A. The Construction of the Image of Peace in Ancient Greece: A few literary and Iconographic Evidences Synthesis 2010, vol. 17, p. 25-46 Este documento está disponible para su consulta y descarga en Memoria Académica, el repositorio institucional de la Facultad de Humanidades y Ciencias de la Educación de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata, que procura la reunión, el registro, la difusión y la preservación de la producción científico-académica édita e inédita de los miembros de su comunidad académica. Para más información, visite el sitio www.memoria.fahce.unlp.edu.ar Esta iniciativa está a cargo de BIBHUMA, la Biblioteca de la Facultad, que lleva adelante las tareas de gestión y coordinación para la concre- ción de los objetivos planteados. Para más información, visite el sitio www.bibhuma.fahce.unlp.edu.ar Cita sugerida: Martins de Jesus, C. A. (2010) The Construction of the Image of Peace in Ancient Greece: A few literary and Iconographic Evidences. Synthesis, 17, 25-46. En Memoria Académica. Disponible en: http://www.fuentesmemoria.fahce.unlp.edu.ar/art_revistas/pr.4216/p r.4216.pdf Licenciamiento Esta obra está bajo una licencia Atribución-No comercial-Sin obras derivadas 2.5 Argentina de Creative Commons. Para ver una copia breve de esta licencia, visite http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ar/. Para ver la licencia completa en código legal, visite http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ar/legalcode. O envíe una carta a Creative Commons, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, California 94305, USA. THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE IMAGE OF PEACE IN ANCIENT GREECE: A FEW LITERARY AND ICONOGRAPHIC EVIDENCES1 CARLOS A. MARTINS DE JESUS University of Coimbra RESUMEN El presente artículo busca identificar y analizar algunas de los principales trata- mientos poéticos y artísticos del binomio paz / riqueza en una perspectiva diacrónica y com- parativa, intentando aislar las más frecuentes imágenes, metáforas y epítetos relacionados con ese tema. El estudio de los pasajes elegidos deja claro cómo ambos, poetas y artistas plásticos, conocían y manipulaban con su arte un mismo patrimonio bastante antiguo. ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to identify and analyse some of the main poetic and artistic manifestations of the pair peace / wealth, adopting a diachronic and comparative perspective and trying to isolate the most frequent images, metaphors and epithets in relation to that subject. The study of the selected passages intends to clarify how both poets and plastic artists knew and made use of the same very ancient heritage. PALABRAS CLAVE Eirene - Paz - Ploutos – Riqueza - Lírica Griega - Iconografía. KEY-WORDS Eirene – Peace – Ploutos – Wealth - Greek Lyrics - Iconography. 1 I would like to thank Professor J. Ribeiro Ferreira for his readings and suggestions on this paper, the result of an oral communication formerly presented at the congress “Pindar, Bacchylides and the memory of the city”, held at the University of Coimbra in 2008. My thanks are also addressed to the UI&D Centro de Estudos Clás- sicos e Humanísticos for providing the financial help for the translation of the Portuguese paper. / SYNTHESIS (2010) ISSN 03281205, VOL.17 25 Carlos A. Martins de Jesus The treaty known as the Peace of Nicias, signed between Athens and Sparta, in March of 421 BC, marked the first truce in one of the bloodiest wars of the Greek civilization, the Peloponnesian War. Upon this event Plutarch (Nic. 9.5) joyfully recalled the saying that in times of peace men are woken by cocks, not trumpets (οὐς ἐν εἰρήνῃ καθεύδοντας οὐ σάλπιγγες, ἀλλ’ ἀλεκτρυόνες ἀφυπνίζουσι). The sleeper may also be awakened by the poet’s song, the sweet sound of flutes and percussion of a city rejoicing over its peaceful foundations, deemed to be unwavering. However, the worst war scenario is often the inspiration for the poet’s whimsical thoughts on peace and the gifts that it bestows on cities and men. The Chaeronean author’s assertion, in the context of a biographical narrative, reactivates part of an ancient code, which can be traced back at least to the Homeric Poems, describing the benefits of peace. In the Iliad (18. 490-496), when the poet describes the detailed scenes and figures chiselled in the shield Hephaistos forged for Achilles, next to the first exterior rim — dedi- cated to the “wreaths from heaven” (τά τ’ οὐρανὸς ἐστεφάνωται: Il. 18.485) — the second level depicts two cities of men, the first of which immersed in peace and prosperity: Ἐν δὲ δύω ποίησε πόλεις μερόπων ἀνθρώπων 490 καλάς. ἐν τῇ μέν ῥα γάμοι τ’ ἔσαν εἰλαπίναι τε, νύμφας δ’ ἐκ θαλάμων δαΐδων ὕπο λαμπομενάων ἠγίνεον ἀνὰ ἄστυ, πολὺς δ’ ὑμέναιος ὀρώρει· κοῦροι δ’ ὀρχηστῆρες ἐδίνεον, ἐν δ’ ἄρα τοῖσιν αὐλοὶ φόρμιγγές τε βοὴν ἔχον· αἳ δὲ γυναῖκες 495 ἱστάμεναι θαύμαζον ἐπὶ προθύροισιν ἑκάστη. On it he made also two fair cities of mortal men. In the one there were marriages and feastings, and by the light of the blazing torches they were leading the brides from their rooms through the city, and loud rose the bridal song. And young men were whirling in the dance, and with them flutes and lyres sounded continually. And the women stood each at her door and marvelled.2 2 All translations, except when stated otherwise, are from the Loeb Classical Library collection. 26 / SYNTHESIS (2010) ISSN 03281205, VOL.17 The Construction of the Image of Peace in Ancient Greece: a few Literary and Iconographic Evidences The light of the bridal torches, the white of the bridal gowns, the sound of the epithalamia and the whirling dances of the young men complete the most ancient synaes- thetic picture of a city at peace; this passage would further be recovered and developed, at least thematically, by other poets. It appears in Hesiod’s3 more detailed description of Heracles’ shield. Apparently describing Thebes (ἑπτὰ πύλαι, v. 272), Heracles’ city and the Boeotian metropolis where Hesiod himself comes from, the poet alludes to parties and dances (ἐν ἀγλαΐαις τε χοροῖς, v. 272; πᾶσαν δὲ πόλιν θαλίαι τε χοροί τε/ ἀγλαΐαι τ’ εἶχον, vv. 284-285), to the celebration of a wedding (πολὺς δ’ ὑμέναιος ὀρώρει, v. 274) and to the fertility of mother-earth (αὐτὰρ ἔην βαθὺ λήιον, v. 288), in yet another picture rich in light, colour and flavours. Both these texts perfectly encompass ekphrasis, the poetic description of an artistic artifact plausibly existent, a category also defined as the poetic ability to make vividly synaesthetic pictorial descriptions; such an ability would also be explored by the poets we will study. Eirene (Peace) and Ploutos (Wealth), the two deities that are also moral concepts, are the pair that poetically and pictorially best represent such a scenario of prosperity.4 Eirene, along with the two Horae, her sisters – Dike (Justice) and Eunomia (Order) – is the daughter of Zeus and Themis (the personification of divine Justice), as explained by Hesiod (Th. 901 sqq.), Apollodorus (1.13) or even the later Latin mythographer Hyginus (Fab. 103); they were the goddesses of the seasons, frequently represented carrying varied fruits and vegetation. Pindar (O. 13.6-12) refers to this perfect breed of deities in an excerpt that we will take as a starting point for our considerations: ἐν τᾷ γὰρ Εὐνομία ναίει κασι- γˈνήτα τε, βάθρον πολίων ἀσφαλές, Δίκα καὶ ὁμότροφος Εἰ- ρήνα, τάμι’ ἀνδράσι πλούτου, χρύσεαι παῖδες εὐβούλου Θέμιτος· 10 3 Stesichorus (6th century BC), Megacleides the Athenian (4th century BC) and Apollonius Rhodius (3rd century BC) attributed to Hesiod the authorship of the Scutum, today believed to be from another author. 4 Although none of them are seen as such in the Homeric Poems, the association of peace with wealth was al- ready evident, as in Od. 24.485-486 (πλοῦτος δὲ καὶ εἰρήνη ἅλις ἔστω), referring to Ithaca. / SYNTHESIS (2010) ISSN 03281205, VOL.17 27 Carlos A. Martins de Jesus ἐθέλοντι δ’ ἀλέξειν Ὕβριν, Κόρου ματέρα θρασύμυθον. For there dwell Order with her sister Justice, firm foundation for cities, and Peace, steward of wealth for men, who was raised with them – the golden daughters of wise-counseling Themis. 10 They resolutely ward off Hybris, the bold-tongued mother of Excess. In the initial praise of Corinth, the birthplace of Xenophon – the athlete who ob- tained a double victory at the stadium and the pentathlon in Olympia, in 464 BC – Pindar identifies the town as the symbolic dwelling of the three Horae, who warrant prosperity to the city and its children. The adjective ἀσφαλές (v. 7) accurately represents the idea that these deified values are the unwavering foundations of the victor’s community, a notion also expressed in Olympian 4 (v. 16), where Tranquility (Ἡσυχία), not Eirene, is said to be φιλόπολιν (“friend of the city”). Wealth (πλούτου, v. 9) is the consequence for a city living under the auspices of Eirene and the Horae in general, in reference to which the epithet ὁμότροφος (“steward of wealth for men”, v. 8)5 is quite expressive. In an adespota fragment once attributed to Pindar, an authorship rejected by D. L. Page and D. A. Campbell (fr. adesp. 1021 PMG), two single verses characterize Eirene as such: ὦ γλυκεῖ’ Εἰράνα, πλουτοδότειρα βροτοῖς. O sweet Peace, wealth-giver to mortals! 5 The epithet, strongly related to the notion of fertility, appears, among other examples, in hAp. 199 (Ἄρτεμις ἰοχέαιρα ὁμότροφος Ἀπόλλωνι), hDian. 2 (ὁμότροφον Ἀπόλλωνος) and Ar. Av. 329 (ὁμότροφά… πεδία). 28 / SYNTHESIS (2010) ISSN 03281205, VOL.17 The Construction of the Image of Peace in Ancient Greece: a few Literary and Iconographic Evidences It is clear that only a city at peace, prosperous and focused on the life of its citi- zens, not wasting time and resources on wars which bring no advantage, will breed a son capable of surpassing mortality by means of athletic triumph.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics
    Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics The eighth-century revolution Version 1.0 December 2005 Ian Morris Stanford University Abstract: Through most of the 20th century classicists saw the 8th century BC as a period of major changes, which they characterized as “revolutionary,” but in the 1990s critics proposed more gradualist interpretations. In this paper I argue that while 30 years of fieldwork and new analyses inevitably require us to modify the framework established by Snodgrass in the 1970s (a profound social and economic depression in the Aegean c. 1100-800 BC; major population growth in the 8th century; social and cultural transformations that established the parameters of classical society), it nevertheless remains the most convincing interpretation of the evidence, and that the idea of an 8th-century revolution remains useful © Ian Morris. [email protected] 1 THE EIGHTH-CENTURY REVOLUTION Ian Morris Introduction In the eighth century BC the communities of central Aegean Greece (see figure 1) and their colonies overseas laid the foundations of the economic, social, and cultural framework that constrained and enabled Greek achievements for the next five hundred years. Rapid population growth promoted warfare, trade, and political centralization all around the Mediterranean. In most regions, the outcome was a concentration of power in the hands of kings, but Aegean Greeks created a new form of identity, the equal male citizen, living freely within a small polis. This vision of the good society was intensely contested throughout the late eighth century, but by the end of the archaic period it had defeated all rival models in the central Aegean, and was spreading through other Greek communities.
    [Show full text]
  • Early Mycenaean Arkadia: Space and Place(S) of an Inland and Mountainous Region
    Early Mycenaean Arkadia: Space and Place(s) of an Inland and Mountainous Region Eleni Salavoura1 Abstract: The concept of space is an abstract and sometimes a conventional term, but places – where people dwell, (inter)act and gain experiences – contribute decisively to the formation of the main characteristics and the identity of its residents. Arkadia, in the heart of the Peloponnese, is a landlocked country with small valleys and basins surrounded by high mountains, which, according to the ancient literature, offered to its inhabitants a hard and laborious life. Its rough terrain made Arkadia always a less attractive area for archaeological investigation. However, due to its position in the centre of the Peloponnese, Arkadia is an inevitable passage for anyone moving along or across the peninsula. The long life of small and medium-sized agrarian communities undoubtedly owes more to their foundation at crossroads connecting the inland with the Peloponnesian coast, than to their potential for economic growth based on the resources of the land. However, sites such as Analipsis, on its east-southeastern borders, the cemetery at Palaiokastro and the ash altar on Mount Lykaion, both in the southwest part of Arkadia, indicate that the area had a Bronze Age past, and raise many new questions. In this paper, I discuss the role of Arkadia in early Mycenaean times based on settlement patterns and excavation data, and I investigate the relation of these inland communities with high-ranking central places. In other words, this is an attempt to set place(s) into space, supporting the idea that the central region of the Peloponnese was a separated, but not isolated part of it, comprising regions that are also diversified among themselves.
    [Show full text]
  • Marathon 2,500 Years Edited by Christopher Carey & Michael Edwards
    MARATHON 2,500 YEARS EDITED BY CHRISTOPHER CAREY & MICHAEL EDWARDS INSTITUTE OF CLASSICAL STUDIES SCHOOL OF ADVANCED STUDY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON MARATHON – 2,500 YEARS BULLETIN OF THE INSTITUTE OF CLASSICAL STUDIES SUPPLEMENT 124 DIRECTOR & GENERAL EDITOR: JOHN NORTH DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONS: RICHARD SIMPSON MARATHON – 2,500 YEARS PROCEEDINGS OF THE MARATHON CONFERENCE 2010 EDITED BY CHRISTOPHER CAREY & MICHAEL EDWARDS INSTITUTE OF CLASSICAL STUDIES SCHOOL OF ADVANCED STUDY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON 2013 The cover image shows Persian warriors at Ishtar Gate, from before the fourth century BC. Pergamon Museum/Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin. Photo Mohammed Shamma (2003). Used under CC‐BY terms. All rights reserved. This PDF edition published in 2019 First published in print in 2013 This book is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0) license. More information regarding CC licenses is available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ Available to download free at http://www.humanities-digital-library.org ISBN: 978-1-905670-81-9 (2019 PDF edition) DOI: 10.14296/1019.9781905670819 ISBN: 978-1-905670-52-9 (2013 paperback edition) ©2013 Institute of Classical Studies, University of London The right of contributors to be identified as the authors of the work published here has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Designed and typeset at the Institute of Classical Studies TABLE OF CONTENTS Introductory note 1 P. J. Rhodes The battle of Marathon and modern scholarship 3 Christopher Pelling Herodotus’ Marathon 23 Peter Krentz Marathon and the development of the exclusive hoplite phalanx 35 Andrej Petrovic The battle of Marathon in pre-Herodotean sources: on Marathon verse-inscriptions (IG I3 503/504; Seg Lvi 430) 45 V.
    [Show full text]
  • Archaic Eretria
    ARCHAIC ERETRIA This book presents for the first time a history of Eretria during the Archaic Era, the city’s most notable period of political importance. Keith Walker examines all the major elements of the city’s success. One of the key factors explored is Eretria’s role as a pioneer coloniser in both the Levant and the West— its early Aegean ‘island empire’ anticipates that of Athens by more than a century, and Eretrian shipping and trade was similarly widespread. We are shown how the strength of the navy conferred thalassocratic status on the city between 506 and 490 BC, and that the importance of its rowers (Eretria means ‘the rowing city’) probably explains the appearance of its democratic constitution. Walker dates this to the last decade of the sixth century; given the presence of Athenian political exiles there, this may well have provided a model for the later reforms of Kleisthenes in Athens. Eretria’s major, indeed dominant, role in the events of central Greece in the last half of the sixth century, and in the events of the Ionian Revolt to 490, is clearly demonstrated, and the tyranny of Diagoras (c. 538–509), perhaps the golden age of the city, is fully examined. Full documentation of literary, epigraphic and archaeological sources (most of which have previously been inaccessible to an English-speaking audience) is provided, creating a fascinating history and a valuable resource for the Greek historian. Keith Walker is a Research Associate in the Department of Classics, History and Religion at the University of New England, Armidale, Australia.
    [Show full text]
  • MONEY and the EARLY GREEK MIND: Homer, Philosophy, Tragedy
    This page intentionally left blank MONEY AND THE EARLY GREEK MIND How were the Greeks of the sixth century bc able to invent philosophy and tragedy? In this book Richard Seaford argues that a large part of the answer can be found in another momentous development, the invention and rapid spread of coinage, which produced the first ever thoroughly monetised society. By transforming social relations, monetisation contributed to the ideas of the universe as an impersonal system (presocratic philosophy) and of the individual alienated from his own kin and from the gods (in tragedy). Seaford argues that an important precondition for this monetisation was the Greek practice of animal sacrifice, as represented in Homeric epic, which describes a premonetary world on the point of producing money. This book combines social history, economic anthropology, numismatics and the close reading of literary, inscriptional, and philosophical texts. Questioning the origins and shaping force of Greek philosophy, this is a major book with wide appeal. richard seaford is Professor of Greek Literature at the University of Exeter. He is the author of commentaries on Euripides’ Cyclops (1984) and Bacchae (1996) and of Reciprocity and Ritual: Homer and Tragedy in the Developing City-State (1994). MONEY AND THE EARLY GREEK MIND Homer, Philosophy, Tragedy RICHARD SEAFORD cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 2ru, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521832281 © Richard Seaford 2004 This publication is in copyright.
    [Show full text]
  • Bacchylides 17: Singing and Usurping the Paean Maria Pavlou
    Bacchylides 17: Singing and Usurping the Paean Maria Pavlou ACCHYLIDES 17, a Cean commission performed on Delos, has been the subject of extensive study and is Bmuch admired for its narrative artistry, elegance, and excellence. The ode was classified as a dithyramb by the Alex- andrians, but the Du-Stil address to Apollo in the closing lines renders this classification problematic and has rather baffled scholars. The solution to the thorny issue of the ode’s generic taxonomy is not yet conclusive, and the dilemma paean/ dithyramb is still alive.1 In fact, scholars now are more inclined to place the poem somewhere in the middle, on the premise that in antiquity the boundaries between dithyramb and paean were not so clear-cut as we tend to believe.2 Even though I am 1 Paean: R. Merkelbach, “Der Theseus des Bakchylides,” ZPE 12 (1973) 56–62; L. Käppel, Paian: Studien zur Geschichte einer Gattung (Berlin 1992) 156– 158, 184–189; H. Maehler, Die Lieder des Bakchylides II (Leiden 1997) 167– 168, and Bacchylides. A Selection (Cambridge 2004) 172–173; I. Rutherford, Pindar’s Paeans (Oxford 2001) 35–36, 73. Dithyramb: D. Gerber, “The Gifts of Aphrodite (Bacchylides 17.10),” Phoenix 19 (1965) 212–213; G. Pieper, “The Conflict of Character in Bacchylides 17,” TAPA 103 (1972) 393–404. D. Schmidt, “Bacchylides 17: Paean or Dithyramb?” Hermes 118 (1990) 18– 31, at 28–29, proposes that Ode 17 was actually an hyporcheme. 2 B. Zimmermann, Dithyrambos: Geschichte einer Gattung (Hypomnemata 98 [1992]) 91–93, argues that Ode 17 was a dithyramb for Apollo; see also C.
    [Show full text]
  • Thucydides, Book 6. Edited by E.C. Marchant
    ^ Claasiral ^nits^ ( 10 THUCYDIDES BOOK VI THUCYDIDES BOOK VI EDITED BY E. C. MAECHANT, M.A. TRINITY COLLEGE, OXFORD ASSISTANT-MASTER IN ST. PAUL'S SCHOOL FELLOW AND LATE ASSISTANT-TUTOR OF PETEBHOUSE, CAMBRIDGE LATE PROFESSOR OF GREEK AND ANCIENT HISTORY IN QUEEN'S COLLEGE, \ LONDON fLontron MACMILLAN AND CO., Lt NEW YORK : THE MACMILLAN CO. 1897 ftd>c • FRIDERICO • GVLIELMO WALKER VI RO NVLLA EGENTI LAVDATIONE ET IVVBNTVTI FIDE ET LITERARVM STVDI08AE I CONTENTS PAQK Introduction— I. The Sicilian Expedition ix II. The MSS. and Text of the Sixth Book . iviii III. Some Graces xxx IV. Criticism of the Book in detail . xli Text 1 Notes US Appendix—On the Speech of Alcibiades, cc. 89-92 . 255 Index—Greek 259 English 294 INTRODUCTION I. Remarks on the Sicilian Expedition Intervention in —It is to § 1. Athenian Sicily. usual classify the states of antiquity according to the character of their government, and for Greek history down to the Peloponnesian War (431-404) this classification, derived from the teaching of Aristotle, is essential. But during the war the essential dis- tinction is not between oligarchy and democracy : it is much more between Ionian and Dorian. What is held to draw states into united action is the natural bond of common origin. In practice the artificial bond of common interest may prove as strong or stronger than the natural bond, and may lead to alliance between aliens or enmity between kinsmen. In order to understand the transactions between the independent states, we have to banish from our minds the elaborate rules that constitute modern Inter- national Law.
    [Show full text]
  • Hesiod Theogony.Pdf
    Hesiod (8th or 7th c. BC, composed in Greek) The Homeric epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, are probably slightly earlier than Hesiod’s two surviving poems, the Works and Days and the Theogony. Yet in many ways Hesiod is the more important author for the study of Greek mythology. While Homer treats cer- tain aspects of the saga of the Trojan War, he makes no attempt at treating myth more generally. He often includes short digressions and tantalizes us with hints of a broader tra- dition, but much of this remains obscure. Hesiod, by contrast, sought in his Theogony to give a connected account of the creation of the universe. For the study of myth he is im- portant precisely because his is the oldest surviving attempt to treat systematically the mythical tradition from the first gods down to the great heroes. Also unlike the legendary Homer, Hesiod is for us an historical figure and a real per- sonality. His Works and Days contains a great deal of autobiographical information, in- cluding his birthplace (Ascra in Boiotia), where his father had come from (Cyme in Asia Minor), and the name of his brother (Perses), with whom he had a dispute that was the inspiration for composing the Works and Days. His exact date cannot be determined with precision, but there is general agreement that he lived in the 8th century or perhaps the early 7th century BC. His life, therefore, was approximately contemporaneous with the beginning of alphabetic writing in the Greek world. Although we do not know whether Hesiod himself employed this new invention in composing his poems, we can be certain that it was soon used to record and pass them on.
    [Show full text]
  • Notes and Inscriptions from South-Western Messenia Author(S): Marcus Niebuhr Tod Source: the Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol
    Notes and Inscriptions from South-Western Messenia Author(s): Marcus Niebuhr Tod Source: The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 25 (1905), pp. 32-55 Published by: The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/624207 . Accessed: 14/06/2014 14:24 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of Hellenic Studies. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 130.239.116.185 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 14:24:24 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions NOTES AND INSCRIPTIONS FROM SOUTH-WESTERN MESSENIA. I.-Introduction. THE following notes and inscriptions represent part of the results of a journey made in the spring of 1904, supplemented and revised on a second visit paid to the same district in the following November. One iuscription from Korone, a fragment of the 'Edictum Diocletiani,' I have already published (J.H.S. 1904, p. 195 foll.). I have attempted to state as briefly as possible the fresh topographical evidence collected on my tour, avoiding as far as possible any mere repetition of the descriptions and discussions of previous writers.
    [Show full text]
  • Politics and Policy in Corinth 421-336 B.C. Dissertation
    POLITICS AND POLICY IN CORINTH 421-336 B.C. DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University by DONALD KAGAN, B.A., A.M. The Ohio State University 1958 Approved by: Adviser Department of History TABLE OF CONTENTS Page FOREWORD ................................................. 1 CHAPTER I THE LEGACY OF ARCHAIC C O R I N T H ....................7 II CORINTHIAN DIPLOMACY AFTER THE PEACE OF NICIAS . 31 III THE DECLINE OF CORINTHIAN P O W E R .................58 IV REVOLUTION AND UNION WITH ARGOS , ................ 78 V ARISTOCRACY, TYRANNY AND THE END OF CORINTHIAN INDEPENDENCE ............... 100 APPENDIXES .............................................. 135 INDEX OF PERSONAL N A M E S ................................. 143 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................... 145 AUTOBIOGRAPHY ........................................... 149 11 FOREWORD When one considers the important role played by Corinth in Greek affairs from the earliest times to the end of Greek freedom it is remarkable to note the paucity of monographic literature on this key city. This is particular­ ly true for the classical period wnere the sources are few and scattered. For the archaic period the situation has been somewhat better. One of the first attempts toward the study of Corinthian 1 history was made in 1876 by Ernst Curtius. This brief art­ icle had no pretensions to a thorough investigation of the subject, merely suggesting lines of inquiry and stressing the importance of numisihatic evidence. A contribution of 2 similar score was undertaken by Erich Wilisch in a brief discussion suggesting some of the problems and possible solutions. This was followed by a second brief discussion 3 by the same author.
    [Show full text]
  • Athens' Domain
    Athens’ Domain: The Loss of Naval Supremacy and an Empire Keegan Laycock Acknowledgements This paper has a lot to owe to the support of Dr. John Walsh. Without his encouragement, guid- ance, and urging to come on a theoretically educational trip to Greece, this paper would be vastly diminished in quality, and perhaps even in existence. I am grateful for the opportunity I have had to present it and the insight I have gained from the process. Special thanks to the editors and or- ganizers of Canta/ἄειδε for their own patience and persistence. %1 For the Athenians, the sea has been a key component of culture, economics, and especial- ly warfare. The Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) displayed how control of the waves was vital for victory. This was not wholly apparent at the start of the conflict. The Peloponnesian League was militarily led by Sparta who was the greatest land power in Greece; to them naval warfare was excessive. Athens, as the head of the Delian League, was the greatest sea power in Greece whose strengths lay in their navy. However, through a combination of factors, Athens lost control of the sea and lost the war despite being the superior naval power at the war’s outset. Ultimately, Athens lost because they were unable to maintain strong naval authority. The geographic position of Athens and many of its key resources ensured land-based threats made them vulnerable de- spite their naval advantage. Athens also failed to exploit their naval supremacy as they focused on land-based wars in Sicily while the Peloponnesian League built up a rivaling navy of its own.
    [Show full text]
  • Herodotus and the Origins of Political Philosophy the Beginnings of Western Thought from the Viewpoint of Its Impending End
    Herodotus and the Origins of Political Philosophy The Beginnings of Western Thought from the Viewpoint of its Impending End A doctoral thesis by O. H. Linderborg Dissertation presented at Uppsala University to be publicly examined in Engelska Parken, 7-0042, Thunbergsvägen 3H, Uppsala, Monday, 3 September 2018 at 14:00 for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. The examination will be conducted in English. Faculty examiner: Docent Elton Barker (Open University). Abstract Linderborg, O. H. 2018. Herodotus and the Origins of Political Philosophy. The Beginnings of Western Thought from the Viewpoint of its Impending End. 224 pp. Uppsala: Department of Linguistics and Philology, Uppsala University. ISBN 978-91-506-2703-9. This investigation proposes a historical theory of the origins of political philosophy. It is assumed that political philosophy was made possible by a new form of political thinking commencing with the inauguration of the first direct democracies in Ancient Greece. The pristine turn from elite rule to rule of the people – or to δημοκρατία, a term coined after the event – brought with it the first ever political theory, wherein fundamentally different societal orders, or different principles of societal rule, could be argumentatively compared. The inauguration of this alternative-envisioning “secular” political theory is equaled with the beginnings of classical political theory and explained as the outcome of the conjoining of a new form of constitutionalized political thought (cratistic thinking) and a new emphasis brought to the inner consistency of normative reasoning (‘internal critique’). The original form of political philosophy, Classical Political Philosophy, originated when a political thought launched, wherein non-divinely sanctioned visions of transcendence of the prevailing rule, as well as of the full range of alternatives disclosed by Classical Political Theory, first began to be envisioned.
    [Show full text]