The Invention of Greek Ethnography: From Homer to Herodotus

356 Pages·2012·2.43 MB·English

by  Joseph E. Skinner

The Invention of Greek Ethnography
GREEKS OVERSEAS
Series Editors
Carla Antonaccio and Nino Luraghi
This series presents a forum for new interpretations of Greek settlement in
the ancient Mediterranean in its cultural and political aspects. Focusing on
the period from the Iron Age until the advent of Alexander, it seeks to
undermine the divide between colonial and metropolitan Greeks. It
welcomes new scholarly work from archaeological, historical, and literary
perspectives, and invites interventions on the history of scholarship about
the Greeks in the Mediterranean.
A Small Greek World
Networks in the Ancient Mediterranean
Irad Malkin
Italy’s Lost Greece
Magna Graecia and the Making of Modern Archaeology
Giovanna Ceserani
The Invention of Greek Ethnography
From Homer to Herodotus
Joseph E. Skinner
The Invention of Greek
Ethnography
From Homer to Herodotus
joseph e. skinner

3
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Skinner, Joseph (Joseph Edward)
The invention of Greek ethnography : ethnography and history from Homer to Herodotus / Joseph Skinner.
p. cm. — (Greeks overseas)
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-19-979360-0
1. Ethnology—Greece—History. 2. Historiography—Greece—History. 3. History, Ancient—Historiography.
4. National characteristics, Greek. 5. Greece—Civilization—To 146 B.C. I. Title.
DF135.S55 2012
305.800938—dc23 2011017482
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America

on acid-free paper
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
CHAPTER 1 Ethnography before Ethnography 3
1.1 F raming the Problem: Defi ning Ethnography 5
1.2 “ Other” Ethnographies 8
1.3 E thnography (re) Defi ned 14
1.4 A pproaches to (Greek) Identity 19
1.5 S tructuring Discourse, Inventing Genre:
Felix Jacoby and Greek Ethnography 30
1.6 E thnography and Identity 34
1.7 P olarities Deconstructed 44
1.8 S etting Sail: Homeric Paradigms and the
Economies of Knowledge 49
C HAPTER 2 Populating the Imaginaire 59
2 .1 Phaeacians and Cyclopes 60
2 .2 Hyperboreans 62
2 .3 Arimaspians 64
2 .4 Scythians 68
2 .5 Amazons 79
2 .6 Thracians 83
2 .7 Phoenicians 86
2 .8 Lydians 89
2 .9 Ethiopians 95
2 .10 Egyptians 99
2 .11 Pelasgians 106
2 .12 Arcadia 108
C HAPTER 3 Mapping Ethnography 111
3 .1 Naming and Describing 111
3 .1.1 Epithets 112
3 .1.2 Stereotyping 115
3 .2 Listing and Imagining 121
3 .3 Enquiring 128
3 .4 Celebrating Place and People 132
3 .4.1 Epinicia 132
3 .4.2 Greek Coinage and its Reception 134
3 .5 Visualizing 140
3 .6 Consuming 145
C HAPTER 4 Mapping Identities 151
4 .1 Between Boundless Steppe and a Welcoming Sea: Olbia
and its Environs 153
4 .1.1 Negotiated Heterogeneity: From Earliest Contacts
to the Fifth Century b.c. 153
4 .1.2 Points of Contact and Receptions of
Diff erence 166
4 .2 Reconstructing Identities in Southern Calabria: An
Archaeology of discourse 175
4 .2.1 Framing the Argument: Contact, Interaction,
and Systems of Exchange 177
4 .2.2 Landscape and Identity in Southern Calabria 178
4 .2.3 Materials in Circulation, Ideas in Play 181
4 .2.4 The Play of Identities, Knowledge, and
Diff erence 189
4 .2.5 Notions of Place 193
4 .2.6 The Case for Diff erence: The Western
Locrians 199
vi | Contents
4 .2.7 Confl ict, Connectivity, and Exchange: The View
from the Margins 204
4 .3 The Imagined Centre: Identity and Diff erence at
Delphi and Olympia 211
4 .3.1 (Re)constructing Diff erence at Delphi and
Olympia 214
4 .3.2 “Reading” Objects, Viewing People: Everyday
Activities at the Center of all things “Greek” 217
4 .3.3 Delphi and Colonization 221
4 .3.4 Eclectic Spaces? Material Identities, Intercultural
Contact, and Receptions of “Diff erence” 222
C HAPTER 5 The Invention of Greek Ethnography 233
5 .1 Ethnography and Identity, from Homer to Herodotus 237
5 .2 Inventing the Greek 249
5 .3 Ancient Ethnography: Future Directions, New
Approaches 253
Abbreviations 259
Bibliography 263
Index 327
Contents | vii
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
While the eclectic nature of this book renders ellipses and solecisms all
but inevitable, the remainder bears witness to the enduring patience
and unswerving generosity of one individual in particular. Thomas Harrison
fi rst introduced me to Greek ethnography—and Herodotus—during my un-
dergraduate studies at the University of St. Andrews. Then, as now, his pas-
sion for his subject was both infectious and inspiring, but this has been
more than matched by the kindness and wisdom that he has subsequently
displayed in his capacity as teacher, supervisor, and friend. I have also
benefi ted from the help and support of a veritable cohort of benefactors who
gave freely of their time and knowledge, whether by reading chapter sections
or inspiring conversation. Christopher Tuplin, Zosia Archibald, Robin
Osborne, Kostas Vlassopoulos, Catherine Morgan, Eran Almagor, Theodora
Hadjimichael, Amy Coker, Sean Gurd, and Lin Foxhall have all read and
commented on chapter sections; it goes without saying that they bear no re-
sponsibility for any errors that remain. I am particularly indebted to Lin for
years of help and support in her capacity as “archaeological mentor” and
remain deeply grateful for both the initial opportunity to participate in the
Bova Marina Archaeological Project (BMAP) and permission to publish data
from the site at San Salvatore. Participation in BMAP brought with it a
chance to consider broad-brush questions of identity and diff erence in a re-
gional setting in the company of scholars who have all infl uenced my out-
look and approach in one way or another (notably John Robb, Jonathan Prag,
Hamish Forbes, and David Yoon). Discussions with Irad Malkin, Ian Jen-
kins, John Davies, Matthew Fitzjohn, Andrew Meadows, and Renee Hirschon
have been a great source of help and inspiration, while Michael Sommer
provided advice and support at the drop of a hat. Graham Oliver and Phiroze