The Cultures within Ancient Greek Culture Contact, Conflict, Collaboration

Originally published in 2003, The Cultures within Ancient Greek Culture challenges the conventional perception of ancient Greece as the paradigm for unified models of culture. It offers an alternative view of archaic and classical Greece, one in which the contact, conflict and collaboration of a variety of 'sub-cultures' combine to comprise what we understand as 'Greekness'. This volume argues for the recognition and analysis of cultural contact within Greece, focussing on the micromechanics of cultural exchange, the permeability of cultural boundaries, and the significance of Delphi's geographically marginal, yet symbolically central location as an 'internal contact zone'. Through attention to everyday practices and professions, the essays reveal important ways of conceiving of diversity within Greek culture, ranging from the non-elite culture of athletic trainers to the competing musical cultures at work in fifth-century Athens.

1. Introduction Carol Dougherty and Leslie Kurke; Part I. The Circulation of Cultures: 2. 'Culture' of 'cultures'?: Hellenism in the late-sixth century Jonathan M. Hall; 3. The Aristonothos Krater: competing stories of conflict and collaboration Carol Dougherty; 4. Hybridity and the cultures within Greek culture Carla Antonaccio; Part II. Negotiation and Conflict at the Margins: The Case of Delphi: 5. Aesop and the contestation of Delphic authority Leslie Kurke; 6. Aristocratic victory memorials and the absent charioteer Nigel Nicholson; 7. Framing and gift: the Siphnian treasury at Delphi and the politics of public art Richard T. Neer; Part III. Athens: Convergences and Diversity within the Polis: 8. The pipes are brawling: conceptualizing musical performance in archaic Athens Richard P. Martin; 9. The sound of cultural conflict: Kritias and the culture of Mousike in Athens Peter Wilson; 10. Becoming the 'other': attitudes and practices at Attic cemeteries Katarzyna Hagemajer Allen; 11. Postscript: culture, thin coherence, and the persistence of politics Josiah Ober.

This 2003 book challenges the conventional perception of ancient Greece as the paradigm for unified models of culture. It offers an alternative view of archaic and classical Greece, one in which the contact, conflict and collaboration of a variety of 'subcultures' combine to comprise what we understand as 'Greekness'.