Inhaltliche Zusammenfassung: | 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.
Cover -- Half title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- Part I. Impressions of the "Other" -- Chapter One Persia in the Greek Perception: Aeschylus and Herodotus -- Aeschylus' Persae -- Herodotus -- Some Visual Representations -- Chapter Two Persia in the Greek Perception: Xenophon and Alexander -- Xenophon's Cyropaedia -- Alexander and the Persians -- Chapter Three Egypt in the Classical Imagination -- Herodotus -- Diodorus -- Assorted Assessments -- Plutarch -- Chapter Four Punica Fides -- The Hellenic Backdrop -- In the Shadow of the Punic Wars -- The Manipulation of the Image -- The Enhancement of the Image -- Chapter Five Caesar on the Gauls -- Prior Portraits -- The Caesarian Rendering -- Chapter Six Tacitus on the Germans -- Germans and Romans -- Interpretatio Romana? -- Chapter Seven Tacitus and the Defamation of the Jews -- The Question -- Tacitean Irony -- Chapter Eight People of Color -- Textual Images -- Visual Images -- Part II. Connections with the "Other" -- Chapter Nine Foundation Legends -- Foundation Tales as Cultural Thievery -- Pelops -- Danaus -- Cadmus -- Athenians and Pelasgians -- Rome, Troy, and Arcadia -- Israel's Fictive Founders -- Chapter Ten Fictitious Kinships: Greeks and Others -- Perseus as Multiculturalist -- Athens and Egypt -- The Legend of Nectanebos -- Numidians and the Near East -- Chapter Eleven Fictitious Kinships: Jews and Others -- The Separatist Impression -- The Bible's Other Side -- Ishmaelites and Arabs -- Jews and Greeks as Kinsmen -- Chapter Twelve Cultural Interlockings and Overlappings -- Jews and Greeks as Philosophers -- Jewish Presentations of Gentiles -- Phoenicians and Greeks -- Roman Adaptation and Appropriation -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Index of Citations -- Subject Index. |
