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Rethinking The Other in Antiquity Erich S. Gruen Full

Rethinking the Other in Antiquity by Erich S. Gruen explores the perceptions and representations of various cultures, such as Persia, Egypt, and the Gauls, in ancient Greek and Roman literature. The book examines how these 'others' were depicted and the cultural interactions that shaped these views, highlighting themes of identity and cultural appropriation. It is part of the Martin Classical Lectures series and includes extensive bibliographical references.

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100% found this document useful (1 vote)
29 views117 pages

Rethinking The Other in Antiquity Erich S. Gruen Full

Rethinking the Other in Antiquity by Erich S. Gruen explores the perceptions and representations of various cultures, such as Persia, Egypt, and the Gauls, in ancient Greek and Roman literature. The book examines how these 'others' were depicted and the cultural interactions that shaped these views, highlighting themes of identity and cultural appropriation. It is part of the Martin Classical Lectures series and includes extensive bibliographical references.

Uploaded by

blenxtuppil
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
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R E T H I N K I N G T H E OT H E R

I N A N T I QU I T Y
─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─
M a rt i n C l a s s i c a l L e c t u r e s

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

The Martin Classical Lectures are delivered annually at Oberlin College through a
foundation established by his many friends in honor of Charles Beebe Martin, for
forty-five years a teacher of classical literature and classical art at Oberlin.

John Peradotto, Man in the Middle Voice: Name and Narration in the Odyssey

Martha C. Nussbaum, The Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics

Josiah Ober, Political Dissent in Democratic Athens: Intellectual Critics of Popular Rule

Anne Carson, Economy of the Unlost: (Reading Simonides of Keos with Paul Celan)

Helene P. Foley, Female Acts in Greek Tragedy

Mark W. Edwards, Sound, Sense, and Rhythm: Listening to Greek and Latin Poetry

Michael C. J. Putnam, Poetic Interplay: Catullus and Horace

Julia Haig Gaisser, The Fortunes of Apuleius and the Golden Ass: A Study in Transmis-
sion and Reception

Kenneth J. Reckford, Recognizing Persius

Leslie Kurke, Aesopic Conversations: Popular Tradition, Cultural Dialogue, and the
Invention of Greek Prose

Erich Gruen, Rethinking the Other in Antiquity

Simon Goldhill, Victorian Culture and Classical Antiquity: Art, Opera, Fiction, and
the Proclamation of Modernity
RETHINKING THE OTHER
IN ANTIQUITY
─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─

Erich S. Gruen

p r i n c e t o n u n i v e r s i t y p r e s s

p r i n c e t o n a n d o x f o r d
Copyright © 2011 by the Trustees of Oberlin College

Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be sent to Permissions,
Princeton University Press

Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540

In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxford-
shire OX20 1TW

press.princeton.edu

All Rights Reserved

Third printing, and first paperback printing, 2012


Paperback ISBN 978-0-691-15635-4

The Library of Congress has cataloged the cloth edition of this book as follows

Gruen, Erich S.
 Rethinking the other in antiquity / Erich S. Gruen.
   p. cm. — (Martin classical lectures)
 Includes bibliographical references and index.
 ISBN 978-0-691-14852-6 (hardcover : acid-free paper)
1. Greeks—Attitudes—History—To 1500. 2. Romans—Attitudes—History—To 1500.
3. Aliens—Greece—Public opinion—History—To 1500. 4. Aliens—Rome—Public opinion—
History. 5. Greece—Civilization—To 146 B.C.—Foreign influences. 6. Rome—Civilization—
Foreign influences. 7. Culture conflict—History. 8. Civilization, Classical. I. Title.
CB251.G78 2011
930.1—dc22      2010014739

British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available

This book has been composed in Janson Text

Printed on acid-free paper. ∞

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
To the memory of Joan B. Gruen,
who remains ever a vital part of my life
This page intentionally left blank
CONTENTS
─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─

List of Illustrations xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1

PART I. IMPRESSIONS OF THE “OTHER”


CHAPTER ONE
Persia in the Greek Perception: Aeschylus and Herodotus 09
Aeschylus’ Persae 09
Herodotus 21
Some Visual Representations 40

CHAPTER TWO
Persia in the Greek Perception: Xenophon and Alexander 53
Xenophon’s Cyropaedia 53
Alexander and the Persians 65

CHAPTER THREE
Egypt in the Classical Imagination 76
Herodotus 76
Diodorus 90
Assorted Assessments 99
Plutarch 111

CHAPTER FOUR
Punica Fides 115
The Hellenic Backdrop 116
In the Shadow of the Punic Wars 122
The Manipulation of the Image 132
The Enhancement of the Image 137

CHAPTER FIVE
Caesar on the Gauls 141
Prior Portraits 141
The Caesarian Rendering 147
viii CONTENTS

CHAPTER SIX
Tacitus on the Germans 159
Germans and Romans 159
Interpretatio Romana? 169

CHAPTER SEVEN
Tacitus and the Defamation of the Jews 179
The Question 180
Tacitean Irony 187

CHAPTER EIGHT
People of Color 197
Textual Images 197
Visual Images 211

PART II. CONNECTIONS WITH THE “OTHER”


CHAPTER NINE
Foundation Legends 223
Foundation Tales as Cultural Thievery 224
Pelops 227
Danaus 229
Cadmus 233
Athenians and Pelasgians 236
Rome, Troy, and Arcadia 243
Israel’s Fictive Founders 250

CHAPTER TEN
Fictitious Kinships: Greeks and Others 253
Perseus as Multiculturalist 253
Athens and Egypt 265
The Legend of Nectanebos 267
Numidians and the Near East 272

CHAPTER ELEVEN
Fictitious Kinships: Jews and Others 277
The Separatist Impression 277
The Bible’s Other Side 287
Ishmaelites and Arabs 299
Jews and Greeks as Kinsmen 302
CONTENTS ix

CHAPTER TWELVE
Cultural Interlockings and Overlappings 308
Jews and Greeks as Philosophers 308
Jewish Presentations of Gentiles 325
Phoenicians and Greeks 341
Roman Adaptation and Appropriation 343

Conclusion 352
Bibliography 359
Index of Citations 385
Subject Index 403
This page intentionally left blank
I L L U S T R AT I O N S
─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─

Figure 1. Oinochoe showing Greek warrior and Persian archer,


mid–fifth century BCE. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 41
Figure 2. “Eurymedon” oinochoe, showing one nude figure and
one in “barbarian” attire, first half of fifth century BCE. Hamburg,
Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe. 43
Figure 3. Amazon rhyton, showing victorious Persian and fallen
Greek, first half of fifth century BCE. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 46
Figure 4. Darius volute krater, with scenes of divinities and Persian
court, second half of fourth century BCE. Museo Archeologico
Nazionale, Naples. 47
Figure 5. Bronze herm with negroid head, Roman period. Ashmolean
Museum. 214
Figure 6. Kantharos in form of conjoined heads, white and Negro,
late sixth century BCE. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. 217
Figure 7. Terra-cotta vase with Janiform heads, fourth century BCE.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. 218
Figure 8. Kantharos with Janiform heads, early fifth century BCE.
Archaeological Museum, Thessaloniki. 219
This page intentionally left blank
AC K N OW L E D G M E N T S
─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─

A cknowledgments, however heartfelt, are never adequate. Numer-


ous people have shared their thoughts with me on one or more aspects of
this study over the past several years. Many more attended lectures or con-
ferences at which I presented ideas connected with the theme, offering
their reactions, questions, suggestions, criticisms, dissent, and even (occa-
sionally) assent. Obviously the registering of their names is impossible. But
they have earned deep gratitude.
Some, however, deserve to be singled out. First and foremost, the Clas-
sics Department at Oberlin College paid me the signal honor of inviting
me to deliver the Martin Classical Lectures for 2006, out of which this
(much larger, though not necessarily better) work eventually emerged. I
note in particular Tom Van Nortwick, who issued the invitation, and Kirk
Ormand, who chaired the department. The warmth of their hospitality and
the pleasure of their company trumped even the challenging weather of
Ohio in February. Comments from Oberlin students and faculty alike en-
riched my experience and enhanced the book.
Several scholars have very kindly read one or another of the chapters in
penultimate form, much to my profit. Their pointed observations, both
encouraging and sobering, substantially improved the manuscript — even
though they might withhold agreement on many matters. I am happy to
record my gratitude to Stan Burstein, Ada Cohen, Mark Griffith, Chris
Kraus, Christopher Krebs, Meg Miller, Sarah Morris, Ellen O’Gorman,
Margaret Root, Dylan Sailor, Tom Scanlon, Ron Stroud, and Christopher
Tuplin. They are, of course, not implicated in the outcome.
I have obtained at least equal advantage from the graduate students at
Berkeley who participated in my seminar, The Alien in Antiquity, where I
floated a number of these ideas, some of which drew their fire but emerged
much the better for the shelling. My thanks go to David DeVore, Vera
Hannush, Tom Hendrickson, Chris Johnson, Nandini Pandey, David
Rosenberg-Wohl, Amy Russell, Greg Smay, Cai Thorman, and John Tully.
And I take special pleasure in acknowledging the help of two incisive and
industrious research assistants, Nandini Pandey and Amy Russell.
Two generous invitations to spend time outside my normal environs
placed me in stimulating and productive settings that markedly advanced
the work. I had the great privilege of serving as “Villa Professor” at the
Getty Villa in Malibu during the academic year 2007/8, where I enjoyed
the conversations and company of fellow visiting scholars Kevin Butcher,
xiv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Ada Cohen, Cecilia D’Ercole, Josephine Quinn, Karen Stern, and Molly
Swetnam-Burland, and benefited immeasurably from the learning and
congeniality of Ken Lapatin. In the spring of 2009, the hospitality of Mer-
ton College, Oxford, and the availability of Oxford’s incomparable librar-
ies, effected through the kind offices of Jonathan Prag, allowed me to bring
the manuscript to a respectable conclusion.
Certain portions of the book have appeared or will appear elsewhere in
modified form. I appreciate the willingness of the publishers, Getty Re-
search Institute, Mohr Siebeck, The Open University, and Eerdmans, to
grant permission for republication.
My greatest debt, in countless matters both large and small, is owed to
my partner, bride, and loving critic Ann Hasse.
January 2010
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