1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910818329403321

Autore

Mac Sweeney Naoíse <1982->

Titolo

Foundation myths and politics in ancient Ionia / / by Naoíse Mac Sweeney [[electronic resource]]

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cambridge : , : Cambridge University Press, , 2013

ISBN

1-108-72996-7

1-107-46137-5

1-139-89267-3

1-107-47216-4

1-107-46858-2

1-107-46508-7

1-139-77541-3

1-107-47317-9

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (xiv, 239 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)

Collana

Cambridge classical studies

Disciplina

939/.23

Soggetti

City-states - Ionia (Turkey and Greece) - History - To 1500

Extinct cities - Ionia (Turkey and Greece)

Ionia (Turkey and Greece) History

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Nota di contenuto

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.

Sommario/riassunto

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.