Ancient Greek History

domineering impulses, rationality and emotionality, humankind must harmonize them by creating and contemplating art. Schiller’s theory is obtuse; he often employs poetic language in place of deduction, there is little instruction regarding how to practice his assertions, and it is unclear how the claimed effects of his theory are achieved. If we recognize that Schiller appropriated alchemical concepts,1 then we may dissipate the obscurity of Schiller’s theory. The process of evincing Schiller’s appropriation begins with an overview of Schiller’s claims, as this will aid in recognizing parallels with alchemical concepts. As we will see below, Schiller would have been familiar with alchemical operations thanks to his friendship with Goethe and the academic environment

Within Sophocles' Ajax, Menelaus is generally regarded as an unsympathetic, authoritarian, and typically Spartan character. Indeed, scholars have often treated him as a common despotic ruler who, despite his wise words about civic order, was inevitably hated by the audience. The first part of this paper contextualises Menelaus' speech on the principles of fear of and respect for the law within the πόλις, suggesting it was actually a rather legitimate statement which included universally shared (i.e. Panhellenic) political views paralleled by several fifth-and fourth-century BC historical, philosophical and literary sources. While appreciating Sophocles' technique in portraying 'negative' mythological figures and assigning 'positive' features, the second part of this discussion analyses the resulting conflict between the particular situation of the tragic world and the universal principle of fearing and respecting the law, which may have led the audience to wonder about the possible injustices ensuing from the creation of a world governed by such an extreme and prevailing principle theorised by Menelaus.

The Neolithic and Bronze Ages were highly transformative periods for the genetic history of Europe but for the Aegean—a region fundamental to Europe’s prehistory—the biological dimensions of cultural transitions have been elucidated only to a limited extent so far. We have analysed newly generated genome-wide data from 102 ancient individuals from Crete, the Greek mainland and the Aegean Islands, spanning from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. We found that the early farmers from Crete shared the same ancestry as other contemporaneous Neolithic Aegeans. In contrast, the end of the Neolithic period and the following Early Bronze Age were marked by ‘eastern’ gene flow, which was predominantly of Anatolian origin in Crete. Confirming previous findings for additional Central/Eastern European ancestry in the Greek mainland by the Middle Bronze Age, we additionally show that such genetic signatures appeared in Crete gradually from the seventeenth to twelfth centuries bc, a period when the in...

Considerations about size and scale have always played a central role within Greek and Roman visual culture, deeply affecting sculptural production. Both Greeks and Romans, in particular, had a clear notion of “colossality” and were able to fully exploit its implications with sculpture in many different areas of social, cultural and religious life. Instead, despite their ubiquitous presence, an equal and contrary categorization for small size statues does not seem to have existed in Greek and Roman culture, leading one to wonder what were the ancient ways of conceptualizing sculptural representations in a format markedly smaller than “life-size.” Even in the context of modern scholarship on Classical Art, few notions appear to be as elusive as that of “small sculpture”, often treated with a certain degree of diffidence well summarized in the formula Klein, aber Kunst? In fact, a large and heterogeneous variety of objects corresponds to this definition: all kinds of small sculpture, from statuettes to miniatures, in a variety of materials including stone, bronze, and terracotta, associated with a great array of functions and contexts, and with extremely different levels of manufacture and patronage. It would be a major misunderstanding to think of these small sculptures in general as nothing more than a cheap and simplified alternative to larger scale statues. Compared with those, their peculiar format allowed for a wider range of choices, in terms, for example, of use of either cheap or extremely valuable materials (not only marble and bronze, but also gold and silver, ivory, hard stones, among others), methods of production (combining seriality and variation), modes of fruition (such as involving a degree of intimacy with the beholder, rather than staging an illusion of “presence”). Furthermore, their pervasive presence in both private and public spaces at many levels of Greek and Roman society presents us with a privileged point of view on the visual literacy of a large and varied public. Although very different in many respects, small-sized sculptures entertained often a rather ambivalent relationship with their larger counterparts, drawing from them at the same time schemes, forms and iconographies. By offering a fresh, new analysis of archaeological evidence and literary sources, through a variety of disciplinary approaches, this volume helps to illuminate this rather complex dynamic and aims to contribute to a better understanding of the status of Greek and Roman small size sculpture within the general development of ancient art.

The human occupation history of Southeast Asia (SEA) remains heavily debated. Current evidence suggests that SEA was occupied by Hòabìnhian hunter-gatherers until ~4000 years ago, when farming economies developed and expanded, restricting foraging groups to remote habitats. Some argue that agricultural development was indigenous; others favor the "two-layer" hypothesis that posits a southward expansion of farmers giving rise to present-day Southeast Asian genetic diversity. By sequencing 26 ancient human genomes (25 from SEA, 1 Japanese Jōmon), we show that neither interpretation fits the complexity of Southeast Asian history: Both Hòabìnhian hunter-gatherers and East Asian farmers contributed to current Southeast Asian diversity, with further migrations affecting island SEA and Vietnam. Our results help resolve one of the long-standing controversies in Southeast Asian prehistory.

Recently, historians have discussed the relevance of the nineteenth-century mathematical discipline of projective geometry for early modern classical logic in relation to possible solutions to semantic problems facing it. In this paper I consider Hegel’s Science of Logic as an attempt to
provide a projective geometrical alternative to the implicit Euclidean underpinnings of Aristotle’s syllogistic logic. While this proceeds via Hegel’s acceptance of the role of the three means of Pythagorean music theory in Plato’s cosmology, the relevance of this can be separated from any fanciful “music of the spheres” approach by the fact that common mathematical structures underpin both music theory and projective geometry, as suggested in the name of projective geometry’s principal invariant, the “harmonic cross-ratio”. Here I demonstrate this common structure in terms of the phenomenon of “inverse foreshortening”. As with recent suggestions concerning the relevance of projective geometry for logic, Hegel’s modifications of Aristotle respond to semantic problems of his logic.

The extent to which pre-Columbian societies altered Amazonian landscapes is hotly debated. We performed a basin-wide analysis of pre-Columbian impacts on Amazonian forests by overlaying known archaeological sites in Amazonia with the distributions and abundances of 85 woody species domesticated by pre-Columbian peoples. Domesticated species are five times more likely than nondomesticated species to be hyperdominant. Across the basin, the relative abundance and richness of domesticated species increase in forests on and around archaeological sites. In southwestern and eastern Amazonia, distance to archaeological sites strongly influences the relative abundance and richness of domesticated species. Our analyses indicate that modern tree communities in Amazonia are structured to an important extent by a long history of plant domestication by Amazonian peoples.

Full article available here: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-hellenic-studies/article/cretan-way-of-war-status-violence-and-values-from-the-classical-period-to-the-roman-conquest/D430EF78564AA3E79EB5E6ABC50A8FA2

The tactics of Cretan citizen armies differed markedly from those utilized in most regions of the Classical and Hellenistic Greek world: instead of fighting in phalanxes, Cretans fought in open order, specializing in archery, skirmishing, ambushes and night actions. These tactics (and the cultural attitudes that went with them) were disparaged by mainland Greeks such as Polybios and explained in terms of moral deviancy: a sign of the duplicitous nature of the Cretans. This article demonstrates that these descriptions of Cretan tactics and behaviours are factual, but argues against the idea that they derive from moral deviancy. Rather, they represent the outcome of a different line of historical development than that followed in mainland Greece. Cretan tactics and attitudes stand far closer to those described by archaic poets (especially Homer, Archilochos and Kallinos); in this regard, Cretan city states displayed strong continuities with archaic social practices and values, detectable in other areas of Cretan society and culture. The stability of Cretan sociopolitical organization from the late seventh century down to the Roman conquest fostered the endurance of such practices and attitudes, leading to cultural divergence from mainland Greece and, accordingly, a generally hostile representation of Cretans in our main historiographical sources.

With the conquest of ancient Macedonia by the Romans, the first stage of the Roman expansion in the Balkans came to an end. A period of lull followed, which was briefly interrupted by a new advance of the expansion between 149 and 146 BC. The subsequent establishment of the provinces of Macedonia and Achaea launched a new phase of Roman policy in the region, which was aimed at strengthening the conquered positions and at a temporary cessation of the Roman expansion in the Balkans. A detailed analysis of the causes and events related to the preparation and development of an uprising led by Andriscus is important, because it will make it possible to trace the attitude of the Romans towards these events, this person and the actions taken by him, which in turn allows to detect trends and dynamics in them in terms of the goals and methods followed by the Romans in their expansion in the Balkans during the period under review.

Dating Cave Paintings A number of caves in Europe contain exquisite ancient art. Most of the art has been thought to be produced during the time of last glaciation by recently arrived modern humans, but dating of the art has been problematic because the art contains only minimal amounts of carbon for radiocarbon dating. Pike et al. (p. 1409 ; see the cover; see the Perspective by Hellstrom ) have now obtained U-series dates on the calcite crusts that formed over the art from 11 caves in northwestern Spain. The ages from three caves are older than 35,000 years ago, and one dates to nearly 41,000 years ago. The earliest art used primarily red and was relatively formless; animal depictions appeared later. This dating is near the time of the arrival of modern humans and, because Neandertals were also present, complicates identifying the artists.

In current research, military victories are regarded as an important means of legitimizing ancient monarchies. Although a necessarily bellicose orientation of monarchical action is often assumed a priori, the aspect of victoriousness in the context of monarchical self-representation must be weighted accordingly. This volume explores the central question of whether war is primarily conceptualized as a means of establishing peace or as a way of appropriating material resources. For this purpose, leading international experts on ancient monarchy do not look at political practice itself, but at its representation and reflection in various media and texts. The monarchical traditions of the Near East, Hellenistic kingship, Roman emperorship, and the transformation of Late Antiquity into the Middle Ages will be examined. In addition to a descriptive and analytical part, the contributions contain a collection of central sources, which will provide an indispensable basis for the future study of the topic of peace in antiquity.

Öz: Karadeniz Ereğli Müzesi’ndeki epigrafik çalışmalarımız kapsamında Zonguldak ili Gökçebey ilçesi Asartepe mevkiinden müzeye getirilen yazıtlı bir adak taşı ile karşılaştık. Ön yüzündeki yazıtından, “Meter Theon
Lykokhorites (Lykokhorion’un Ana Tanrıçası) huzurunda/nezdinde Hosios Dikaios (Aziz/Kutsal ve Adil) Aleksandros’a” adandığı anlaşılmıştır. Yüzeyinin zarar görmüş olmasından dolayı yazıtının bazı satırları ve alt
kısmı okunamaz durumdadır. Hosios Dikaios, Anadolu’da çokça belgelenmiş ve halen niteliği tartışılan bir tanrı adı ya da sıfatıdır. Burada adı geçen Aleksandros’un ise Lukianos’un (MS ca. 120-190) Sahte Peygamber Aleksandros eserinde hikayesini anlattığı, Antoninus Pius döneminde Yılan Tanrısı Glykon’u, “Yeni Asklepios” sıfatıyla kullanarak Paphlagonia’daki Abonuteikhos (Kastamonu-İnebolu) kentinde bir kehanet ve tapınım merkezi kuran Aleksandros olduğunu düşünüyoruz. Bu makalede yazıtın içeriği, Hosios Dikaios Aleksandros ve Meter Theon kültlerinin Tios/Tieion antik kentindeki varlığı ile tartışılmaktadır.

Abstract: During the epigraphic studies in the Karadeniz Ereğli Museum, we worked on a altar that was brought to the museum from Asartepe of Gökçebey District in Zonguldak. From the inscription, it was understood that the altar was dedicated to Hosios Dikaios Aleksandros, at the place of/by the side of Meter Theon Lykochorites. Due to the wear on the surface of the stone, some lines of the inscription are partially illegible. Hosios Dikaios (Saint and Righteous) is a god or epitheton of a deity, which is widely documented in Anatolia, and his identity is still debated. It made us think that Alexandros, who is mentioned here, might be the Alexandros, whose noteworthy story was narrated in the work of the writer Lucianus (ca. 120-190 AD) in his work “The False Prophet Alexander”. According to this story, he established a prophecy, and worshipping center in the period of Antoninus Pius (138-161 AD) in Paphlagonian Abonouteichus presenting his snake God Glycon as “New Asclepius”. In this article, the content of the inscription is discussed together with the presence of the cults of Hosios Dikaios Alexandros and Meter Theon in the ancient city of Tios/Tieion.

There are two views about early-modern algebra very often endorsed (either explicitly or implicitly). The former is that in early-modern age, algebra and geometry were different branches of mathematics and provided alternative solutions for many problems. The latter is that ...

En la trayectoria del profesor Domingo Yndurain como filologo y, sobre todo, como estudioso de la historia literaria espanola, ocupa un lugar central la publicacion de su magna obra Humanismo y Renacimiento en Espana (Madrid, Catedra, 1994), de la cual se cumplen diez anos. La celebracion de este decenio es motivo mas que suficiente para reconsiderar la significacion del libro mencionado en el panorama bibliografico sobre la cuestion humanista, dentro del marco mas amplio del Renacimiento.

В статье исследуются различные формы контроля рождаемости, применяемые в греческом обществе. На основе анализа некоторых трактатов из Гиппократова сборника, сочинений Диоскорида и Сорана делается вывод: греческие врачи знали множество рецептов противозачаточных и абортивных средств, для чего использовались в больших количествах разнообразные растения, равно как снадобья животного происхождения и соли металлов. Кроме того, медики рекомендовали особые техники с целью избежать зачатия, а также упражнения, спа-процедуры, особые отвары, диету и т. п. для того, чтобы вызвать выкидыш на ранних стадиях беременности. Очевидно, какие-то из этих средств были весьма действенными, другие - вряд ли, а третьи вообще едва ли находили практическое применение из-за экзотичности ингредиентов и сложности приготовления. Однако, судя по античным источникам, эти рекомендации активно использовались греческими женщинами, которые тем самым получали шанс избавиться от нежелательной беременности, а в каких-то случаях - от потрясения и горя, неизбежных при столь антигуманном способе решения демографических проблем, как инфантицид.
The article examines the various forms of birth control used in Ancient Greek society. Based on the analysis of some treatises from the Hippocratic corpus, the writings of Dioscorides and Soranus, the conclusion is made: Greek medical writers knew many prescriptions for contraceptives and abortifacients, for which a variety of different plants were used, as well as drugs of animal origin and metal salts. Moreover the Greek physicians recommended special techniques to avoid conception and if it didn’t work - in order to induce a miscarriage in the early stages of pregnancy, they advised exercise, spa treatments, special decoctions and a diet of pungent food. Obviously, some of these remedies were very effective, others were unlikely. Some of these prescriptions hardly ever found practical use due to the exotic ingredients and the complexity of preparation. However, according to ancient sources, these recommendations were actively used by Greek women, who thereby got a chance to get rid of unwanted pregnancies, and in some cases - from the shock and grief that are inevitable with such an inhuman way of solving demographic problems as infanticide.

Taking into account the new elements provided by a recently discovered fragment of the same inscription, the paper presents a study of the so called “Stele of the Agathoi ” from Thasos. A thorough reading of the epigraphical source brings into focus its relevance to the issue of rituals that Greek cities of the Classical period performed in honor of their citizens fallen in battle. The study also stresses a possible link with Plato’s tradition which suggests how this field was strictly inherent to changing ideas and models concerning politeia , the role of the good citizen and that of the city.

The theatre at Kalydon in Aitolia – known only since a few decades – has already attracted a lot of attention due to its square orchestra and rectilinear benches for seating. The Danish-Greek collaborative project responsible for investigating the theatre presents in this two-volume publication results of the excavation and documentation, including all finds such as tile, pottery, metals and coins, made during the excavations. The traditional analysis of the building is supplemented by an archaeoacoustic analysis comparing acoustic advantages and disadvantages between the square and semicircular design.

Due to recent osteoarchaeological publications, prominent historians, archaeologists  and  osteologists  have  reignited  the  debate  over  the  practice  of  infant  and  child  sacrifice  at  Phoenician sites in the central Mediterranean. In all previous studies, including osteoarchaeological approaches, the debate has been conducted on terms established by the Greco-Roman sources. Here, I move away from those sources and suggest a series of demographic models in order to understand better the effects of infanticide on population growth at Phoenician colonies in the Early Iron Age central Mediterranean.

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This paper examines representations of the city of Halikarnassos that are built upon linguistic and/or etymological puns, attested from Hellenistic literature and epigraphy through Byzantine lexicographers. The paper discusses three case-studies: (1) the etymologies of the city’s name attested in Stephanus of Byzantium and their relation to other pieces of erudite literature; (2) the celebration of Halikarnassos’s rocky soil in the Salmakis inscription through the figure of the mythical Athenian king Kranaos; (3) literary devices based on the contrast between the morphology and the grammatical gender of the city’s name which feature in the Salmakis inscription.

During archaeological rescue excavations carried out in 2007 at Potočani in continental Croatia, a pit containing numerous human skeletal remains (MNI = 41) was discovered. The remains were mostly articulated but also commingled and showed no clear pattern of organization. There were no associated artifacts, just a few pottery fragments probably belonging to the Copper Age Lasinja Culture (c. 4300 to 3950 BCE). Anthropological analyses suggest the presence of individuals of all ages and both sexes with many crania exhibiting various perimortem injuries. Three human bone samples from different layers were dated to around 4100 cal BCE by radiocarbon analysis. These radiocarbon dates combined with other aspects of archaeological context, indicate that the deposition was a single episode rather than a long-term accumulation. All this suggests a single violent encounter (massacre). Here we present results of the bioarchaeological analysis of four adult crania with clear signs of perimort...

Este articulo analiza la relacion entre esclavitud y adivinacion en Roma desde dos perspectivas diferentes: los esclavos como adivinos y sus consultas adivinatorias. El estudio de los textos antiguos permite concluir que los esclavos poseian una capacidad especial para la adivinacion natural y que su practica entraba en conflicto con la "artificiosa divinatio", dirigida por el sacerdocio oficial. (A.)

Oι έννοιες του χρόνου και του χώρου έχουν απασχολήσει τις θετικές επιστήμες των μαθηματικών και της φυσικής, τις ανθρωποκεντρικές, την φιλοσοφία, την αρχιτεκτονική και λοιπές τέχνες. Από που κατάγεται ο χρόνος και πως σχετίζεται με την αλήθεια; Υπάρχει κάτι που ο χρόνος δεν μπορεί να αγγίξει; Από τον Νευτώνειο απόλυτο και ανεξάρτητο χαρακτήρα του χρόνου, την Αριστοτελική εξάρτηση του χρόνου από την κίνηση, την σχετικότητα του χρόνου σύμφωνα με τον Αϊνστάιν, μέχρι την μουσική ως τέχνη του χρόνου και την αρχιτεκτονική ως τέχνη του χώρου, ο χώρος και ο χρόνος αποτελούν θεμελιώδεις διαστάσεις της ανθρώπινης εμπειρίας.

Fortification and Qanat structures in the area of Acropolis of Thessaloniki

In 2009-2012, under the supervision of the 9th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities, archaeologists excavated a plot in close proximity to the western walls of the Acropolis. The earliest phase represented by the few building remains dates back to the Roman imperial times. In the northwestern part of the plot there was revealed part of water concentration system consisting of three wells carved into the local stone. The wells were linked together by a duct (qanat). A road section coated with schist dates back to 4th-6th century A. D. The road is later abandoned and the area was used as a graveyard for the Christians of Thessaloniki, as shown by the eleven Christian graves that were opened in the former roadway. In the same chronological period fall three built water pipes discovered during the excavation. At the eastern boundary of the plot there was revealed part of the smaller external wall which went along with the main walls of the Acropolis. The discovery of the external wall certifies its existence in front of the main wall, in this certain area of the city. The important findings show the daily struggle of the people in order to survive and create in safety and their position in the social stratification, represented by the simplicity of their burial structures.