Rethinking the Other in Antiquity (Martin Classical Lectures, New Series)

432 Pages·2010·2.95 MB·English

by  Erich S. Gruen

RETHINKING THE OTHER
IN ANTIQUITY
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MARTIN CLASSICAL LECTURES
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The Martin Classical Lectures are delivered annually at Oberlin College through a
foundation established by his many friends in honor of Charles Beebe Martin, for
forty-fi ve years a teacher of classical literature and classical art at Oberlin.
John Peradotto, Man in the Middle Voice: Name and Narration in the Odyssey
Martha C. Nussbaum, The Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics
Josiah Ober, Political Dissent in Democratic Athens: Intellectual Critics of Popular Rule
Anne Carson, Economy of the Unlost: (Reading Simonides of Keos with Paul Celan)
Helene P. Foley, Female Acts in Greek Tragedy
Mark W. Edwards, Sound, Sense, and Rhythm: Listening to Greek and Latin Poetry
Michael C. J. Putnam, Poetic Interplay: Catullus and Horace
Julia Haig Gaisser, The Fortunes of Apuleius and the Golden Ass: A Study in Transmis-

sion and Reception
Kenneth J. Reckford, Recognizing Persius
Leslie Kurke, Aesopic Conversations: Popular Tradition, Cultural Dialogue, and the
Invention of Greek Prose
Erich Gruen, Rethinking the Other in Antiquity
RETHINKING THE OTHER
IN ANTIQUITY
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Erich S. Gruen

p r i n c e t o n u n i v e r s i t y p r e s s
p r i n c e t o n a n d o x f o r d
Copyright 2011© by the Trustees of Oberlin College
Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be sent to Permissions,
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Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gruen, Erich S.
Rethinking the other in antiquity / Erich S. Gruen.
p. cm. — (Martin classical lectures)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-691-14852-6 (hardcover : acid-free paper)
1. Greeks—Attitudes—History—To 1500. 2. Romans—Attitudes—History—To 1500.
3. Aliens—Greece—Public opinion—History—To 1500. 4. Aliens—Rome—Public opinion—
History. 5. Greece—Civilization—To 146 B.C.—Foreign infl uences. 6. Rome—Civilization—
Foreign infl uences. 7. Culture confl ict—History. 8. Civilization, Classical. I. Title.
CB251.G78 2011
930.1—dc22 2010014739
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Janson Text
Printed on acid-free paper. ∞
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To the memory of Joan B. Gruen,
who remains ever a vital part of my life
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CONTENTS
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List of Illustrations xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction 1
PART I. IMPRESSIONS OF THE “OTHER”
CHAPTER ONE
Persia in the Greek Perception: Aeschylus and Herodotus 09
Aeschylus’ Persae 09
Herodotus 21
Some Visual Representations 40
CHAPTER TWO
Persia in the Greek Perception: Xenophon and Alexander 53
Xenophon’s Cyropaedia 53
Alexander and the Persians 65
CHAPTER THREE
Egypt in the Classical Imagination 76
Herodotus 76
Diodorus 90
Assorted Assessments 99
Plutarch 111
CHAPTER FOUR
Punica Fides 115
The Hellenic Backdrop 116
In the Shadow of the Punic Wars 122
The Manipulation of the Image 132
The Enhancement of the Image 137
CHAPTER FIVE
Caesar on the Gauls 141
Prior Portraits 141
The Caesarian Rendering 147
viii CONTENTS
CHAPTER SIX
Tacitus on the Germans 159
Germans and Romans 159
Interpretatio Romana? 169
CHAPTER SEVEN
Tacitus and the Defamation of the Jews 179
The Question 180
Tacitean Irony 187
CHAPTER EIGHT
People of Color 197
Textual Images 197
Visual Images 211
PART II. CONNECTIONS WITH THE “OTHER”
CHAPTER NINE
Foundation Legends 223
Foundation Tales as Cultural Thievery 224
Pelops 227
Danaus 229
Cadmus 233
Athenians and Pelasgians 236
Rome, Troy, and Arcadia 243
Israel’s Fictive Founders 250
CHAPTER TEN
Fictitious Kinships: Greeks and Others 253

Perseus as Multiculturalist 253
Athens and Egypt 265
The Legend of Nectanebos 267
Numidians and the Near East 272
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Fictitious Kinships: Jews and Others 277
The Separatist Impression 277
The Bible’s Other Side 287
Ishmaelites and Arabs 299
Jews and Greeks as Kinsmen 302
CONTENTS ix
CHAPTER TWELVE
Cultural Interlockings and Overlappings 308
Jews and Greeks as Philosophers 308
Jewish Presentations of Gentiles 325
Phoenicians and Greeks 341
Roman Adaptation and Appropriation 343
Conclusion 352
Bibliography 359
Index of Citations 385
Subject Index 403