Library Catalog
Amazon cover image
Image from Amazon.com

Kinship Myth in Ancient Greece / Lee E. Patterson.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Austin : University of Texas Press, [2021]Copyright date: ©2010Description: 1 online resource (271 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780292784796
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 938
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources:
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Abbreviations -- Note on Translations and Transliterations -- Preface and Acknowledgments -- 1. Kinship and Constructed Identities -- 2. Credulity and Historical Causation -- 3. Kinship Myth in the Literary Sources -- 4. Kinship Myth in the Literary Sources -- 5. Alexander the Great -- 6. Epigraphical Evidence of Kinship Diplomacy -- 7. Epigraphical Evidence of Kinship Diplomacy -- 8. Conclusions -- Appendix One. The Historical Context of Plutarch, solon 8–10 -- Appendix Two. Greek Myth and Macedonian Identity -- Appendix Three. A Tale of Two Phoci -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index Locorum -- General Index
Summary: In ancient Greece, interstate relations, such as in the formation of alliances, calls for assistance, exchanges of citizenship, and territorial conquest, were often grounded in mythical kinship. In these cases, the common ancestor was most often a legendary figure from whom both communities claimed descent. In this detailed study, Lee E. Patterson elevates the current state of research on kinship myth to a consideration of the role it plays in the construction of political and cultural identity. He draws examples both from the literary and epigraphical records and shows the fundamental difference between the two. He also expands his study into the question of Greek credulity—how much of these founding myths did they actually believe, and how much was just a useful fiction for diplomatic relations? Of central importance is the authority the Greeks gave to myth, whether to elaborate narratives or to a simple acknowledgment of an ancestor. Most Greeks could readily accept ties of interstate kinship even when local origin narratives could not be reconciled smoothly or when myths used to explain the link between communities were only "discovered" upon the actual occasion of diplomacy, because such claims had been given authority in the collective memory of the Greeks.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9780292784796

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Abbreviations -- Note on Translations and Transliterations -- Preface and Acknowledgments -- 1. Kinship and Constructed Identities -- 2. Credulity and Historical Causation -- 3. Kinship Myth in the Literary Sources -- 4. Kinship Myth in the Literary Sources -- 5. Alexander the Great -- 6. Epigraphical Evidence of Kinship Diplomacy -- 7. Epigraphical Evidence of Kinship Diplomacy -- 8. Conclusions -- Appendix One. The Historical Context of Plutarch, solon 8–10 -- Appendix Two. Greek Myth and Macedonian Identity -- Appendix Three. A Tale of Two Phoci -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index Locorum -- General Index

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

In ancient Greece, interstate relations, such as in the formation of alliances, calls for assistance, exchanges of citizenship, and territorial conquest, were often grounded in mythical kinship. In these cases, the common ancestor was most often a legendary figure from whom both communities claimed descent. In this detailed study, Lee E. Patterson elevates the current state of research on kinship myth to a consideration of the role it plays in the construction of political and cultural identity. He draws examples both from the literary and epigraphical records and shows the fundamental difference between the two. He also expands his study into the question of Greek credulity—how much of these founding myths did they actually believe, and how much was just a useful fiction for diplomatic relations? Of central importance is the authority the Greeks gave to myth, whether to elaborate narratives or to a simple acknowledgment of an ancestor. Most Greeks could readily accept ties of interstate kinship even when local origin narratives could not be reconciled smoothly or when myths used to explain the link between communities were only "discovered" upon the actual occasion of diplomacy, because such claims had been given authority in the collective memory of the Greeks.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 26. Apr 2022)