Rethinking the other in antiquity / Erich S. Gruen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gruen, Erich S.

Series:

Martin classical lectures (Unnumbered). New series.

Martin classical lectures

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Greeks--Attitudes--History--To 1500.

Greeks.

Romans--Attitudes--History--To 1500.

Romans.

Noncitizens--Greece--Public opinion--History--To 1500.

Noncitizens.

Noncitizens--Rome--Public opinion--History.

Culture conflict--History.

Culture conflict.

Civilization, Classical.

Greece--Civilization--To 146 B.C--Foreign influences.

Greece.

Rome--Civilization--Foreign influences.

Rome.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 415 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Prevalent among classicists today is the notion that Greeks, Romans, and Jews enhanced their own self-perception by contrasting themselves with the so-called Other--Egyptians, Phoenicians, Ethiopians, Gauls, and other foreigners--frequently through hostile stereotypes, distortions, and caricature. In this provocative book, Erich Gruen demonstrates how the ancients found connections rather than contrasts, how they expressed admiration for the achievements and principles of other societies, and how they discerned--and even invented--kinship relations and shared roots with diverse peoples. Gruen shows how the ancients incorporated the traditions of foreign nations, and imagined blood ties and associations with distant cultures through myth, legend, and fictive histories. He looks at a host of creative tales, including those describing the founding of Thebes by the Phoenician Cadmus, Rome's embrace of Trojan and Arcadian origins, and Abraham as ancestor to the Spartans. Gruen gives in-depth readings of major texts by Aeschylus, Herodotus, Xenophon, Plutarch, Julius Caesar, Tacitus, and others, in addition to portions of the Hebrew Bible, revealing how they offer richly nuanced portraits of the alien that go well beyond stereotypes and caricature. Providing extraordinary insight into the ancient world, this controversial book explores how ancient attitudes toward the Other often expressed mutuality and connection, and not simply contrast and alienation.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgments

Introduction

PART I. IMPRESSIONS OF THE "OTHER"

CHAPTER ONE. Persia in the Greek Perception: Aeschylus and Herodotus

CHAPTER TWO. Persia in the Greek Perception: Xenophon and Alexander

CHAPTER THREE. Egypt in the Classical Imagination

CHAPTER FOUR. Punica Fides

CHAPTER FIVE. Caesar on the Gauls

CHAPTER SIX. Tacitus on the Germans

CHAPTER SEVEN. Tacitus and the Defamation of the Jews

CHAPTER EIGHT. People of Color

PART II. CONNECTIONS WITH THE "OTHER"

CHAPTER NINE. Foundation Legends

CHAPTER TEN. Fictitious Kinships: Greeks and Others

CHAPTER ELEVEN. Fictitious Kinships: Jews and Others

CHAPTER TWELVE. Cultural Interlockings and Overlappings

Conclusion

Bibliography

Index of Citations

Subject Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Description based upon print version of record.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9786612936494

9781282936492

1282936492

9781400836550

1400836557

OCLC:

703155982