Foundation Myths and Politics in Ancient Ionia
Foundation Myths and Politics in Ancient Ionia
This book examines foundation myths told about the Ionian cities during the archaic and classical periods. It uses these myths to explore the complex and changing ways in which civic identity was constructed in Ionia, relating this to the wider discourses about ethnicity and cultural difference that were current in the Greek world at this time. The Ionian cities seem to have rejected oppositional models of cultural difference which set in contrast East and West, Europe and Asia, Greek and Barbarian, opting instead for a more fluid and nuanced perspective on ethnic and cultural distinctions. The conclusions of this book have far-reaching implications for our understanding of Ionia, but also challenge current models of Greek ethnicity and identity, suggesting that there was a more diverse conception of Greekness in antiquity than has often been assumed.
- Proposes a new understanding of Greek identity in the archaic and classical periods
- Offers fresh explanations of how ethnic and cultural distinctions were drawn in the archaic and classical periods, giving an enhanced understanding of cultural interaction
- Provides new insights into Ionia during the archaic and classical periods
Product details
November 2013Hardback
9781107037496
252 pages
253 × 179 × 16 mm
0.63kg
11 b/w illus. 8 maps
Available
Table of Contents
- 1. Introduction: identity and the construction of cultural difference
- 2. Foundation myths and politics
- 3. Ionia
- 4. Miletus: violence and bloodshed
- 5. Chios and Samos: land and island
- 6. Colophon and Ephesus: founding mothers
- 7. Being Ionian: the Ionian League, Ionian migrations, and Smyrna
- 8. Conclusions.
