Greek nationhood and ‘Greek love’: sexualizing the nation and multiple readings of the glorious Greek past

The paper addresses the ways in which the idea of homosexuality has been expelled from local dominant narrations about the Modern Greek nation and seeks to culturally frame this historical erasure. The ancient past and Ottoman rule are viewed as the two key moments of negotiating (and repeatedly placing in oblivion) any link between ‘Greekness’ and homoeroticism. Placing this institutional silence in juxtaposition to multiple Western readings of ‘Greek love’, the study provides ethnographic instances that reveal the appropriations of the Western gaze and moments of breaking the silence about Greek homosexuality. Selected individuals and cultural locales serve as terrains of negotiating the present-day Greek state's façade as cosmopolitan, Western and post-modern. On the one hand, Greece is perpetually re-constituted as a topos, appropriate(d) for projections of varying versions of history-telling from Western and local agents alike; on the other hand, homoeroticism is being negotiated through consecutive articulations of Greekness in past and present tense.     

Social memory and ethnic identity: Ancient Greek drama performances as commemorative ceremonies

This paper is an ethnographic account of ancient Greek drama performances that take place in contemporary Greece. The material presented here is part of the data that were collected, mainly through participant observation, interviews and newspapers, during 1997 and 1998 in Athens. The paper illuminates an aspect of modern ancient drama performances that has not been taken into account until today: it treats them as commemorative ceremonies that produce, reproduce, and transmit social memory. The interrelation and interdependence between social memory and ethnic identity construction processes are analyzed and is shown that ancient drama performances, due to specific characteristics, constitute something more than mere theatrical events (as they are defined within the Western tradition). These performances, which convey, sustain, and transmit perceptions of a glorious culture of the past, become, for their creators and spectators, as members of an ethnic group, occasions for consciously remembering their ethnic past, and coming, in a way, to a "mythical identification" with it.     

Civilisation Versus Civitas? La Cité Grecque à L’Épreuve de la Civilisation

How does the Greek city-state attain its position as the cradle of European civilization? Such a position became possible only since civilization was conceived as a homogenous, irreversible historical process, identified with the historical progress of Europe. This is what concerned Guizot’s era. Yet, in the xix ^th century, civilization referred to a plethora of historical processes that permitted one to regard the course of the different people of Antiquity and modernity, ranging from the primitive to a state of refinement. My hypothesis is that civilization functions in this case as a differentiating concept: it makes possible the distinction between the Ancients and the Ancients, between the Moderns and the Moderns, between Antiquity and modernity as a whole. In this article, I focus on the desiderata and risks concomitant with the integration of Greece into the history of European civilization.     

The Lesbian and gay past: It's Greek to whom?

Part of a series of projects which seek to defamiliarize—indeed, to queer—the concept history in lesbian and gay studies, this paper focuses on the ‘imagined cultural geography’ of ancient Greece in queer fictions of the past. Although figurations of Greek culture have been centrally important in a wide range of reverse discourses on homosexuality, such conceptual models are neither historically inevitable nor politically innocent, and are in fact weighted with dense cultural baggage. In a reading of several texts (including ones which disavow their complicity in this practice), this paper investigates the ethnocentric notions of ‘lesbian and gay identity formation’ which inhere in this cultural project to raise questions about multiculturalism and the (hidden) construction of white racial identification within these gay and lesbian discourses.     

The pearls and pitfalls of skull trephination as described in the Hippocratic treatise "On Head Wounds"

The purpose of our current study is to describe the guidelines regarding trephination as suggested in the Hippocratic writer's book, "Peri ton en cephali traumaton" ("On Head Wounds"). The ancient Greek text was reviewed as well as two English translations. The Hippocratic author described the indications, timing, and techniques of trephination for patients with head injury. He emphasized that attention should be paid to the details of the employed technique. He also commented on the difference of skull thickness at different anatomical sites and also between different age groups. The Hippocratic recommendations provided details for the performance of trephination by the ancient Greek physicians that are still considered important in modern neurosurgery.     

Neuroscience and Greek mythology

This article highlights the major reflections of ancient Greek mythology in modern neuroscience. An analysis of ancient Greek texts and medical literature using the MeSH term mythology was performed to identify mythological references pertaining to neuroscience. The findings are discussed in relation to etymology, early conceptualization of the nervous system structure and function, incipient characterization of neuropsychiatric disease, and philosophical stance to the practice of medicine in ancient Greece. The search identified numerous observations in clinical neurology (e.g., stroke, epilepsy, cognitive and movement disorders, sleep, pain and neuromuscular medicine, neuroinfectious diseases, headache, neuroophthalmology, and neurourology), neurosurgery, and psychiatry, as well as basic neurosciences (e.g., anatomy, embryology, genetics, pathology, and pharmacology) concealed in ancient myths. Beyond mere etymological allure and imaginative reflections in science, these fables envisage philosophical concepts that still tantalize our protean medical practice today.     

Tracing the Line of Europa: Migration,Genealogy, and the Power of Holy Origins in Ancient Greek Narrative Knowledge and Cultural Memory

This essay explores the place of the mythical heroine Europa in the narrative knowledge and cultural memory of ancient Greece and modern Europe. Early Greek sources make reference to several women named Europa, only one of whom is Agenor's (or Phoenix's) daughter abducted by Zeus who made her the member of a divine lineage. However, during the fifth-century BCE, the diverse “Europa” figures came to be identified with the Phoenician princess; and the foundations were laid for the abduction story to take on its modern notion as founding myth of Europe. This elevation to founding myth can, in part, be attributed to Europa's membership in a family of eponymous founders. From the Archaic through the Hellenistic periods, Europa's kin gradually grew as various myths were integrated with each other—myths, which shaped identities by creating memory through storytelling. Mythical family bonds came to be seen as biological facts and served both to consolidate local identities and to affirm a Panhellenic identity in times when inner and outer boundaries had to be negotiated as a consequence of migration, colonization, or warfare. The high degree of migration and the dense genealogical network in the narratives of Europa's kin allowed many different groups to lay claim to this narrative knowledge and in doing so, created new myths and cults, interpretations and evaluations of a family well-established in the Greek mind on account of its holy origins. Thus foundation myths surrounding Europa helped to define cultural and ethnic space shaped by migration and the dialectics of unity and plurality. As such, these myths remain relevant to Europe today.     

The Colour Purple? Reconsidering the Greek Word halourgos (ἁλουργός) and its Relation to Ancient Textiles

The aim of the present article is to reconsider the interpretation of the Greek word halourgos (?λουργ??) and its relation to textiles and purple dye by reinvestigating its recordings in Greek epigraphy and the papyri, as well as comparative examples from Greek literary sources, in the period from the fourth century bc to the seventh century ad — thus combining the source material from ancient Greece and the Greek-speaking part of the Roman world. This will illustrate the wealth of information one can get from the exploration of one single word: not only on the significance and appearance of textiles and garments in the ancient world from Greece to Egypt, but also on the diversity of colours and the subtleties in their use and terminology.     

Between Galen, Geddes, and the Gael: Arthur Brock, modernity, and medical humanism in early-twentieth-century Scotland

Arthur Brock (1879-1947) is generally remembered as the physician who treated poet Wilfred Owen for shell shock and as the translator of Galen and other ancient physicians. He was also a key figure in the early-twentieth-century humanist revival within medicine. Brock's interest in humanism, I argue, was inspired by a broader concern about modernity and by a desire to return medicine and society to the more harmonious, organic existence that he believed was characteristic of ancient Greece and could still be found among "primitive" peoples, such as the Scottish Gaels. This article explores Brock's anxieties about modernity and its relations to his interests in ancient and "primitive" peoples; to his medical thought and practice; to his interests in history, sociology, language, and translation; and to his involvement in the social and political life of Edinburgh and North Queensferry, where he moved in 1925. Crucially, it shows how all these interests and activities were influenced by Brock's mentor, Edinburgh polymath Patrick Geddes. The article concludes with a discussion of Brock's place in early-twentieth-century medical humanism.     

Apollo and the Virgin: The Changing Meanings of a Sacred Site on Anafi

The ruins of an ancient Greek temple on a Cycladic island form part of an Orthodox Christian shrine. To local people and returning migrants, the site is that of their patron saint; its pre‐Christian past is irrelevant except in so far as it establishes their specific link with the ancient world, and thus with national claims of unbroken continuity between modern and ancient Greece. To early travellers and antiquarians, and to today’s archaeologists, it has been primarily the ancient site which is of interest, while tourists are more concerned in finding “an unspoilt island”. A historical survey of information about the ancient and the Christian site reveals ambiguities and confusions about both. These multiple meanings for locals and scholars are discussed.     

ANTIQUARIANISM AS GENEALOGY: ARNALDO MOMIGLIANO'S METHOD

This essay uses Arnaldo Momigliano's genealogy of antiquarianism and historiography to propose a new method for engaging the past. Momigliano traced antiquarianism from its advent in ancient Greece and later growth in Rome to its early modern efflorescence, its usurpation by history, and its transformation into anthropology and sociology in late modernity. Antiquarianism performed for Momigliano the work of excavating past archives while infusing historiographical inquiry with a much‐needed dose of contingency. This essay aims to advance our understanding of the mutual imbrications of antiquarian methods with modern conceptions of history, while also suggesting how antiquarianism can generate alternatives to historical inquiry.     

Rule of Law: A Comparison between Ancient Persia and Ancient Greece

The ancient Persian empires are denoted as despotic, practicing arbitrary rule while Greece, Persia's archrival during the sixth to fourth century BC, exercised rule of law. This paper uses a contract theory framework to analyze some of the geographical and environmental underpinnings of the existence of rule of law in the city-states of ancient Greece and its absence in Persia. I discuss the role of geographical conditions of land (open plains versus mountains), population pressure, proximity to the sea and form of trade (overland versus overseas) as factors conducive to rule of law in the city-states of ancient Greece and to despotism in ancient Persia. Specifically, the role of trade via land in Persia prior to the fifth century BC is compared to the role of sea trade (alongside with piracy) in ancient Greece. I argue that in ancient Persia monarchs could tax or expropriate much of the gains from overland trade, preventing the accumulation of an independent form of wealth by merchants. In Greece, sea trade alongside the practice of piracy led to gains from trade that could not be easily expropriated by the monarchs and acted as a balancing force vis-à-vis the power of the monarchs, creating a basis for rule of law in the Greek city-states.     

"酷儿"视角下的城市性和空间政治

围绕城市与同性恋的主题,本文从现代性的视角回顾了同性恋作为一个"社会群体"在城市中的出现和发展,强调了同性恋身份认同本质上的城市属性.文章揭示了同性恋研究在城市研究中的独特地位,并主要探讨了组织和控制城市空间与同性恋欲望和权利表达之间的张力,尤其关注同性恋现象在不同社会语境下"公共空间"的建构.文章以2009年中国大陆主要城市中"同志"社群引发媒体关注的事件为例,展现了这个群体争取公共空间,改变城市社会景观的努力.文章认为当代中国同性恋社群不断提升的社会可见度和日益扩展的公共空间,反映了中国城市和社会发生的积极变化.     

Ancient Greece: Recent developments in Aegean archaeology and regional studies

This review begins by defining the diverse field of Greek archaeology. Based on our own expertise, we focus on recent advances in the study of ancient Greece, especially the prehistoric Aegean, and on regional approaches, primarily those associated with archaeological surface survey. General developments in method and theory are addressed as they relate to several major topics: social complexity, Aegean chronology, writing systems, exchange, and regional studies.     

Theophilos Kairis: the creator and initiator of Theosebism in Greece1

The views of the Enlightenment in European countries are in general well known, while the attempts to introduce the Enlightenment to countries in the periphery of Europe, like Greece, are not known in the same degree. How did the scientific revolution migrate to the Greek‐speaking regions occupied by the Ottoman Empire? How did the Greeks accept the truly revolutionary ideas of the French Revolution and liberalism? What were the reactions of the conservative Greek Orthodox Church and who sacrificed their lives in the cause of their ideas? Theophilos Kairis (1784–1853), a scholar, philosopher, and priest, was the tragic victim of clerical bigotry. The creator of Theosebism in Greece, Kairis suffered the tragic end reserved by fate for those who, being pioneers, tried to introduce to Greece the liberal ideas of Western Europe and the Enlightenment.     

论狄奥尼索斯和阿波罗的关系

狄奥尼索斯与阿波罗的对立统一关系是尼采借助于古希腊的宗教和神话传说提出的一种艺术原则,但这种关系只是尼采应其时代的需要而做的一种创造,与两神在古希腊宗教体系中的实质关系还有一些差别。对古希腊的宗教来说,狄奥尼索斯崇拜不仅不是一个外来的因素,而且在时间上还早于阿波罗崇拜,两者之间的对立成分很少,而且存在着很多联系和相似性。同时,狄奥尼索斯与阿波罗通过这种联系,确立了彼此在古希腊宗教里的层次和地位。     

What did the Greeks mean?

By tracing in the work of medical authorities, some of whom are not widely quoted, the changing meaning of three neurological terms used in ancient Greece - poplexia, epilepsia and cephalalgia - the development of Greek ideas about neurological science may be appreciated. It may be concluded that the achievement of the schools of Greek medicine was in keeping with the level attained by the ancient Greeks in philosophy and other aspects of civilization.     

Aspects of ancient Greek trade re-evaluated with amphora DNA evidence

Ancient DNA trapped in the matrices of ceramic transport jars from Mediterranean shipwrecks can reveal the goods traded in the earliest markets. Scholars generally assume that the amphora cargoes of 5th-3rd century B.C. Greek shipwrecks contained wine, or to a much lesser extent olive oil. Remnant DNA inside empty amphoras allows us to test that assumption. We show that short ∼100 nucleotides of ancient DNA can be isolated and analyzed from inside the empty jars from either small amounts of physical scrapings or material captured with non-destructive swabs. Our study material is previously inaccessible Classical/Hellenistic Greek shipwreck amphoras archived at the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Ephorate of Underwater Antiquities in Athens, Greece. Collected DNA samples reveal various combinations of olive, grape, Lamiaceae herbs (mint, rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage), juniper, and terebinth/mastic (genus Pistacia). General DNA targeting analyses also reveal the presence of pine (Pinus), and DNA from Fabaceae (Legume family); Zingiberaceae (Ginger family); and Juglandaceae (Walnut family). Our results demonstrate that amphoras were much more than wine containers. DNA shows that these transport jars contained a wide range of goods, bringing into question long-standing assumptions about amphora use in ancient Greece. Ancient DNA investigations open new research avenues, and will allow accurate reconstruction of ancient diet, medicinal compounds, value-added products, goods brought to market, and food preservation methods.