Archaic Greece

Investigations of Mediterranean connectivity have increasingly turned toward maritime landscape models to frame questions of seaborne exploration, marine resource exploitation, trade and exchange, and seafaring culture. Environmental and technological parameters are consistently acknowledged as crucial for understanding when and why different relationships developed across the sea, but their formal employment in the modeling and interpretation of maritime space remains quite limited. The methodology outlined here utilizes Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to integrate environment and technology as an analytical tool for exploring the complexity of seaborne connectivity. Focusing on sailing days as practical units of distance and using an Archaic Greek shipwreck off Turkey as a case study, this preliminary model demonstrates how a more nuanced spatial approach can inform the human geography and socioeconomic structures of ancient maritime interaction.

This book aims to provide the reader of Homer with the traditional knowledge and fluency in Homeric poetry which an original ancient audience would have brought to a performance of this type of narrative. To that end, Adrian Kelly presents the text of Iliad VIII next to an apparatus referring to the traditional units being employed, and gives a brief description of their semantic impact. He describes the referential curve of the narrative in a continuous commentary, tabulates all the traditional units in a separate lexicon of Homeric structure, and examines critical decisions concerning the text in a discussion which employs the referential method as a critical criterion. Two appendices deal with speech introduction formulae, and with the traditional function of Here and Athene in early Greek epic poetry.

Tsagalis, C., Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2008.01.25
Heath, M., Greece & Rome 55 (2008) 111–12
Clackson, J., Times Literary Supplement October 17 (2008) 33
Strauss Clay, J., Religious Studies Review 34 (2008) 289
Huxley, G. L., Hermathena 184 (2008) 93–5
Cook, E., Classical Review 59 (2009) 14–16
de Jong, I., Mnemosyne 62 (2009) 478–80
Blanc, A., Revue des études grecques 122 (2009) 237–9

This paper addresses the construction of a " national " identity of the Athenian inhabitants during the tyrannical governance of Peisistratos and his sons (561/0-511/0 BCE 1) mainly through a series of religious practices, such as the transfer of cults from the rural areas to the city (asty) of Athens, the reorganization of the Panathenaia, the establishment of the City Dionysia, etc. The present paper investigates how this developed " national " consciousness in the late 6th century, in the sense of the citizens' nationalization within the borders of the Athenian city-state, could enable the political unification of Attica and the emergence of Democracy, taking into account the constitutional reforms of Kleisthenes the Alcmeonid, after the expulsion of the Peisistratidai. This paper focuses on the interpretation of the concept of political equality and the formation of a political identity of the Athenians in the late 6th century onwards, two notions which are treated here as very closely integrated. It was that political consciousness, following the constitutional changes of Kleisthenes, which led the Athenians to their first great military victories in the early 5th century over the Persians. These victories, which indisputably confirmed the strength of the constitution, will be brought, in short, into discussion in order to clarify the transition of Athens from the narrow borders of an archaic city-state to the rise of its naval empire in the " golden " 5th century via the newly-established Democracy.

This book is the edited proceedings from the conference 'The Art of Stesichorus' held at St John's College, Oxford, on June 29–30 2012. Contributors include: Ewen Bowie (Oxford), Chris Carey (London), Patrick Finglass (Nottingham), Richard Hunter (Cambridge), Adrian Kelly (Oxford), Ian Rutherford (Reading), Gerson Schade (Berlin), Laura Swift (Open University), Martin West (Oxford).

Pelling, C., Classics for All 2015/08/11

This book presents a new study of Greek large-scale bronze statuary of the late Archaic and Classical periods. It examines the discovery, origin, style, date, artistic attribution, identification, and interpretation of the surviving bronzes, and focuses in particular on their technical features and casting techniques. It contains over 170 plates of photographs and drawings to illustrate its discussion.

It also places the development of the casting techniques in connection with the stylistic evolution in Greek free-standing sculpture. During the Classical period, artists preferred bronze to marble when creating their contrapposto figures. Indisputably, bronze gave particular freedom to artists in creating three-dimensional figures. In addition, the evolution in style encouraged the development of the uses of bronze to serve the new needs and tendencies in sculpture during the late Archaic and especially the Classical period. Through the examination of how technical matters affect style, this book presents fresh interpretations of these important monuments of Greek art and offers a new approach in the field of Greek free-standing bronze sculpture.

El proyecto eunómico de Solón, plasmado en sus reformas normativas, pero ya expresado en líneas generales en su poesía, responde a un cuestionamiento “teórico” de la estructura de la pólis griega que, enredada en un planteamiento hegemónico y unilateral, se veía abocada a una ruta tiránica clara. La fenomenología política soloniana, al poner el acento en el carácter de conjunto de la pólis, supuso un primer paso, aunque no desde luego el último, para el reconocimiento jurídico de secciones de la ciudadanía ateniense distintas del grupo hegemónico. Con las reformas solonianas, destinadas a hacer justicia a la parte olvidada pero no a igualarla, Atenas dio sus primeros pasos para convertirse en el núcleo cultural de la civilización griega. La isonomía, en cuanto programa constitutivo de la pólis griega, aparece aquí dependiente de un particular acto “teórico” que, desde una posición atópica respecto de las partes, es capaz de hacerlas comparecer como tales, como una estructura conflictivo-relacional. Los griegos vincularon así la “universalidad” con la “theoría”, mostrando el acto teórico-práctico de la legislación como el único garante del mantenimiento de la pólis mediante un reconocimiento de aquellas partes que, contribuyendo a la pólis, se veían aplastadas por las partes privilegiadas que, de ese modo, perdían la posición de privilegio al no poder sostenerse en las otras. Se entiende así que el proyecto político igualitario de la Ilustración haya fijado su mirada en la edad antigua, reclamándose imaginariamente herederos directos de la civlización griega y de sus “ideales”. Aunque el proyecto griego no sea de arranque ni mucho menos igualitario, es cierto que el gesto que lo caracteriza, el reconocimiento del nómos, conlleva unos resultados igualitarios que justifican la voluntad de filiación ilustrada. De este modo, la “resistencia a la tiranía” moderna, que plantea la necesidad de detener la inercia de la formación de hegemonías mediante un aparato coactivo-legal que disuelva los focos de desigualdad, puede reconocerse en los planteamientos eunómicos de Solón y, más en general, en los gestos de reconocimiento global que se producen en la cultura griega, culminando en las monumentales obras de Platón y Aristóteles.

The much shorter Archaiologikon Deltion for the single year of 2005 invariably offers far fewer reports on the work of the Archaeological Service than the four-year volume with which we were presented last year. This, in itself, is no bad thing, although the geographical and chronological balance generated by such a large dataset is notable by its absence. This unevenness is, as ever, partially offset by the publication of fieldwork, although certain areas maintain a far more visible archaeological presence than others. This is particularly true for the northeastern Peloponnese, which has, in recent years, been the recipient of an almost unparalleled focus of both research and rescue excavation; a fact reflected in the significant contribution made to this year's report by the edited proceedings of the conference The Corinthia and the Northeast Peloponnese: Topography and History from Prehistoric Times until the End of Antiquity (Kissas and Niemeier 2013). A total of 56 individual papers provide details on sites that range in date from the Neolithic to the Byzantine period. A great strength of this collection lies in the contribution of so many current and former staff of the Archaeological Service, and, of the numerous papers that engage directly or indirectly with the archaeology of the Archaic to Roman period, several are discussed in greater depth in the course of this report. A complementary Hesperia supplement detailing the current state of prehistoric and historic research on the Corinthian Isthmus is due to appear before the end of the year (Gebhard and Gregory forthcoming), as is a study of material from Henry Robinson's 1961–1962 excavation in the North Cemetery (Slane forthcoming). The study of religious practice during the Classical period benefits from the publication of the first volume of material from excavations conducted by the Canadian Institute in Greece between 1994 and 2001 in the Sanctuary of Athena at Stymphalos (Schaus 2014a), while the consolidation of synthetic regional studies and individual site reports within Villae Rusticae: Family and Market-oriented Farms in Greece under Roman Rule (Rizakis and Touratsoglou 2013) will no doubt ensure that it becomes a standard text for the study of the rural economy of Roman Greece (see Stewart, this volume).

Avec Alexandre Farnoux, Emanuele Greco et Alain Schnapp, j’ai rédigé la partie consacrée au monde grec dans le premier tome d’une histoire générale de l’art, de la préhistoire à nos jours, d’un grand éditeur. On m’a confié dans ce volume tous les chapitres sur la plastique (archaïque, classique et hellénistique), quelques chapitres sur l’architecture classique et la totalité des chapitres sur la période hellénistique. Les contraintes éditoriales et le public visé m’ont donné l’occasion d’exprimer dans une forme contenue et accessible l’approche et la vision de l’art grec que je me suis forgées tant à travers mes travaux de recherche qu’à travers mon enseignement. J’y ai insisté en particulier sur les contraintes techniques et le métier du sculpteur, sur le poids de la tradition et surtout de la convention dans les arts figurés, mais aussi sur les circonstances historiques, religieuses, politiques et sociales qui constituent le cadre, à la fois contraignant et explicatif, des créations de l’art grec. Au-delà de la familiarité trompeuse des formes, leur signification nous échappe en fait la plupart du temps et demande à être « expliquée ».

The article takes a look at some historiographical perspectives that have conditioned the studies on the Greek polis during the last decades, paying particular attention to the concept of consumption city impelled by Moses Finley, following Werner Sombart and Max Weber, and the criticisms on this notion elaborated by Mogens Hansen within the Copenhagen Polis Center. A review of Sombart’s formulation on the consumption city, which is Weber’s point of departure taken up by Finley in proposing that the ancient city was a city of consumers, allows Hansen to conjecture that the polis does not fit into this model. Indeed, it is based on a distribution of the population between countryside and town that is not in line with what recent archaeological surveys have shown in relation to the polis. On the basis of this, the notion of Normalpolis, promoted by John Bintliff but originally enunciated by Eberhard Ruschenbusch, and certain ideas of Aristotle, on the inclusion of peasant population in the politeia, are reconsidered to understand the relationships between population, territory, and political models that were probably characteristic of the structure of most poleis.

[From the cover]:

In Writing Authority, Hawke argues that the rapidly changing political and economic landscape of early Greece prompted elites to begin committing laws to written form. The emergence of the polis and its institutions, the demographic growth of Greece, the development of market forces and the commoditization of wealth, all presented new challenges and difficulties for the Greeks of the eighth and seventh centuries B.C.E. Hawke contends that no one felt the attendant anxieties of these changes more acutely than the leading members of early Greek communities—they confronted regulating their intense competition for status and power in an environment where traditional sources of authority, such as Homeric epic, offered no ready solutions for problems arising from the transformation of Greek society. Greek elites enshrined in writing rules aimed at stabilizing their relationships with one another and, by extension, their communities.

Challenging both established and emerging orthodoxies about the appearance of written law in ancient Greece, Writing Authority questions the importance of a popular or communal role in the earliest Greek legislation. Approaches from anthropology, legal studies, and sociology are used to situate the emergence of Greek law in the broader context of Greek legal culture in the eighth through early sixth centuries B.C.E. as Hawke describes in rich detail the legal culture of Homer’s world, considers the impact of literacy on Greek attitudes about law and authority and its practical consequences for the governing of the Greek polis, and examines the effects of the tumultuous changes in Archaic Greece on the leading members of Greek communities. The result is a compelling monograph that provides an exhaustive and nuanced history of earliest Greek law and the motivations of the elites that brought it into being. It will be of interest to scholars of Greek history, classicists, and early legal historians.

Die Geschichte des Ionischen Aufstandes und der Perserkriege (5. Jh. v. Chr.) ist von dem antiken Geschichtsschreiber Herodot überliefert worden. Eine unreflektierte Übernahme seiner Erzählung ist jedoch nicht möglich. Allerdings läßt sich nicht ignorieren, daß zahlreiche seiner Behauptungen überprüft werden können, so etwa die Angaben zu Schlachtfeldern an der realen Topographie. Den Wahrheitsgehalt der von Herodot überlieferten Erzählung aufzuspüren, haben sich die Autoren dieses Bandes zur Aufgabe gestellt.

Reaching back to the sources and the meaning of essential European values is of great importance to creating the vision of democracy and freedom. This applies also to values such as fraternity. The root thereof is found in pre-ancient poetry, later in the reflection of early philosophers-especially of the Sophists and the Stoics. Fraternity stands for the common descent, background, and heritage of humans. Descriptions of social reality nowadays reveal various forms of discrimination , e.g. on account of passing over the imperative of fraternity. A guarantee of only majority decision-making without common kindness as defined by Czeslaw Znamierowski and without fraternity will not make a system democratic. In such circumstances, the righteousness of legal acts is also debatable.

""En Filipo II y el Arte de la Guerra tendremos la oportunidad de conocer en profundidad a uno de los más grandes reyes de la antigua Macedonia. Gracias a su habilidad como estratega, diplomático, político y soldado, heredó un reino pobre, débil y acosado por innumerables enemigos y lo transformó en el más poderoso de toda Grecia.

A lo largo de sus páginas podremos conocer la historia del reino Macedonio, desde sus orígenes míticos hasta la formación de un imperio, de la mano del que, a la postre, se convertiría en el padre del mítico Alejandro Magno y en el forjador de un nuevo ejército que cambiaria el devenir de la guerra en la Antigüedad. Filipo II fue el creador de la falange macedonia, formación que se demostraría como inigualable en el campo de batalla y que reportaría incontables victorias sobre poderosos enemigos, como los ilirios, los tesalios, los tracios, los beocios o los atenienses. Pero no sólo eso, logró integrar en el campo de batalla a la infantería y a la caballería para emplearlos en nuevas formaciones tácticas: armó a sus soldados con las míticas sarissas y apreció como pocos las posibilidades militares que la maquinaria de guerra podía proporcionarle, siendo el mecenas de numerosos avances en este campo. Soñó con conquistar el Imperio persa, cuando ya había logrado lo que nadie antes fue capaz: el control de Grecia.

Sólo la muerte le arrebató esa hazaña, pero sentó las bases de lo que más tarde conseguiría su propio hijo. Su figura levantó tanto odios como pasiones; se le conocía como mujeriego y bebedor, pero también por su habilidad para la oratoria, por sus astucia, determinación y valor. Siempre luchó en primera línea junto a sus soldados y nunca permitió que éstos le llamaran rey, sino solo "General".

During the Archaic period, when commercial and cultural networks in the Eastern Mediterranean flourished again, Egyptian and Egyptianizing artefacts were spread within the Aegean. The largest assemblages of Aegyptiaca come from sanctuaries and tombs in Rhodes and Samos. Among the most common objects were amulets and figurines depicting Egyptian deities. The most popular divinity in the Aegean was Bes, a demon-god mainly associated with fertility, protection of motherhood and childbirth. The aim of this paper is to trace the multiple connotations of Bes representations at the aforementioned sites with regard to the archaeological context, and the general historical framework. Furthermore, we will try to trace iconographical and symbolical influences of Bes image on local demonic entities of the 6th century BC, the so-called ‘Fat-bellied’ demons. The presence of Bes’s image and its local ‘adaptation’ in the Aegean reflects a special cultural interaction during the 7th and 6th centuries BC. Within this framework Egyptian symbols and ideas were adopted, transformed and had an impact on popular religious tradition and cult.

Lyric Poetry and Social Identity in Archaic Greece examines how Greek men presented themselves and their social groups to one another. The author examines identity rhetoric in sympotic lyric: how Greek poets constructed images of self for their groups, focusing in turn on the construction of identity in martial-themed poetry, the protection of group identities in the face of political exile, and the negotiation between individual and group as seen in political lyric. By conducting a close reading of six poems and then a broad survey of martial lyric, exile poetry, political lyric, and sympotic lyric as a whole, Jessica Romney demonstrates that sympotic lyric focuses on the same basic behaviors and values to construct social identities regardless of the content or subgenre of the poems in question. The volume also argues that the performance of identity depends on the context as well as the material of performance. Furthermore, the book demonstrates that sympotic lyric overwhelmingly prefers to use identity rhetoric that insists on the inherent sameness of group members.

The role of the hoplite as a central pillar of the ancient polis‑system seems incontrovertible nowadays. From the 8th/7th century B.C. on, these bronze armour‑clad warriors fought in a closed formation, the phalanx, and successfully defended the Greek mainland against the Persians, or the Greek colonies along Mediterranean shores. The military brotherhood and equality involved created a feeling of belonging, and thus led to the development of the most important political institution of ancient times, the popular assembly. Nevertheless, this thesis has led to deep disagreement among classical researchers. Supporters of the “traditional” approach and their opponents, the “gradualists”, confront each other regularly with extremely forceful arguments. However, this discussion has not attracted much attention other than among historians, for instance in classical archaeology, despite the topic’s axiomatic character for the overall understanding of ancient Greece. This paper thus tries on the one hand to present the arguments involved, and on the other to pose the question how material culture can help in addressing issues of the development

This course presents a broad survey of historical forces at work over the past 6,000 years, examining the manners in which human societies have organized themselves along categories of race, ethnicity, class, and gender to meet the challenges of the increasing human population and its demands on natural resources: thus, it examines continuity and change in societies over time, in different places, and among various peoples.

This new companion (edited by Patrick Finglass and Adrian Kelly) aims to incorporate the newest finds of Sappho's poetry into an overall study of her importance in the ancient world and her reception into the modern. The cast list and proposed structure can be found in the attached document.

ENGLISH: Is it possible to talk about politeness in ancient Greece? Modern sociology defines politeness as a system of rules,
which set behavioural patterns in accordance with different social situations. Ancient Greek thought never conceived
a similar idea. Instead, between the 8th and the 5th century BC, the Greeks seem to have appraised social
conduct through the lens of a principle of correspondence between one’s aspect and demeanour and the virtue of
one’s soul. This study aims at shedding light upon the cultural features of this Greek idea, and to outline the ways
in which it oriented social judgement. The analysis is conducted through categories inspired by the research of the
sociologist Erving Goffman, entirely readapted in order to apply them to ancient sources. The prime focus of the
work is on Homer. This is followed by a study of the role of the principles of ancient Greek politeness, as gleaned
from the epics, with regard to conversation, gestural expressiveness and meeting occasions in the Archaic and
Classical periods.

FRANÇAIS : Est-il possible de parler d’un savoir-vivre grec antique ? La sociologie contemporaine définit le code de politesse
comme un ensemble de règles proposant des modèles de conduite adaptés aux différentes occasions de rencontre.
La pensée grecque antique, quant à elle, ne formula jamais une idée pareille : entre le VIIIe et le Ve siècle av.
J.-C., les Grecs semblent plutôt avoir évalué la conduite sociale en fonction d’un principe de correspondance entre
d’une part l’aspect et les manières de chaque individu et d’autre part la disposition de son esprit. Ce travail vise à la
fois à mettre en lumière les spécificités culturelles de cette idée antique et à étudier les manières dont celle-ci
orientait le jugement social. L’analyse est menée par le biais de catégories inspirées des recherches du sociologue
américain Erving Goffman, entièrement réélaborées afin de les adapter aux sources. L’attention est d’abord focalisée
sur l’épopée homérique, dont l’examen permet de cerner des principes majeurs de la politesse en Grèce ancienne.
Ensuite l’étude se concentre sur le rôle social qu’ont eu ces principes aux époques archaïque et classique,
notamment en ce qui concerne la conversation, la gestuelle et les occasions de sociabilité.

Neoanalysis and narratology in their different ways allow the poet to comment upon well-kown, distinct oral or written texts which are not subject to continuous change. This liberates the poets from both the almost compulsory asscocitation with the "heroic age" and from dependence upon a supposed national tradition. This makes it possible for them to adopt a non-aristocratic perspective as well, and even to criticize existing conditions by means of commenting on existing texts.
Since this chapter analyzes texts, it can only discover literary worlds. Theses, however can be compared with the worlds "reconstructed" by archaeology and its models, and with information derived from Near Eastern Sources. It is only this comparison which enables us to draw conclusions about the historicity of the societies portrayed in the epics.

Ce glossaire expliquant les réalités de l'Antiquité grecque, destiné avant tout aux étudiants d'histoire et de lettres classiques, a été élaboré à partir de diverses références bibliographiques et ressources didactiques. Un répertoire géographique ainsi qu'une chronologie succincte de l'histoire grecque sont aussi donnés à la fin de ce fichier.  Document révisé et mis en ligne le 23 août 2022.

Among the different burial customs existing in the necropolis of Orthi Petra, including pyres with tumuli, chamber tombs, rock-cuts, and open-air graves, the use of burying within big pithoi or into smaller vessels is not of secondary relevance. The presence of enchytrismoi is not heterogeneously widespread at the entire excavated area of the necropolis. A vast concentration of pithos burials is located in the North area, lesser at the North-East and increasing to the North-West, where the terracing land slopes. Few others are situated towards South as well. An amount of around fifty enchytrismoi comprises pithoi and other wares in little number. A good quantity is well-preserved, some are in situ not excavated yet and few more are not possible to be properly examined due to their delicate conditions. Moreover, it is worth mentioning the so-called ‘pseudotholos’, an area featured by a series of three pithoi partially sheltered in a rock-cut, oriented East-West and flanked by worked stones at its westernmost side, as a way of access.
This paper examines some preliminary aspects of these burials, as a start of my Ph.D. research, where I try to focus on their typological aspects, aiming at delineating the shapes of the pithoi and other vessels, decorations, production techniques, and eventually, further specific characteristics to determine their classification. Additionally, another objective is to find comparanda within the Cretan island and in the rest of the Greek world.

This volume is the edited collection of the papers from a conference we hosted in Oxford in 2017, drawing together specialists from the United Kingdom, continental Europe and the United States, to examine afresh the relationship between early Greece and the civilisations of the ancient Near East. This is one of the most controversial and rapidly developing research topics in Classics, and the aim of the conference was to bring together Classicists and non-Classicists in a truly interdisciplinary environment, in which specialists from several different fields could observe and draw upon one another’s discoveries and knowledge. It was the first time that all major scholars who have so far contributed to the debate were assembled at a conference, a fact that was reflected by large crowd of over seventy participants at the Ioannou Centre in Oxford, over two full days. Our hope was that the resulting interchange would reflect on the disparate methodologies which have developed in these distinct fields, and move towards a new consensus. In order to achieve this, we limited the papers to the presentation of narratives to do with the gods; this led to a clear cross-fertilisation between papers (both in the general discussion and in the presentations), and a movement away from a narrow concern with the question of direct influence towards a more truly comparative perspective, in which the individual dynamics of the Greek and Near Eastern traditions help to illuminate what is distinctive about each of them. This represents a paradigm shift in a field once concerned solely with collecting literary parallels and letting them ‘speak for themselves’ (in Martin West’s famous words), and this is one of the major reasons why we think the resulting volume will cohere both thematically and as articulating a crucial moment in the history of scholarship on this question.

The volume serves two interconnected purposes. The first is that the book is an illustrative, handbook-like overview of the history and current state of the discussion, an aspect to be supported by an extensive Introduction to the volume, to be written by the editors. The second is that it offers new material and fresh approaches formulated by the leading scholars in the field. The volume will thus capture the state of the current discussion and shape the future debate. In keeping with the theme and discoveries of the conference, the chapters are not simply lists of parallels, but attempts to consider the processes of interaction and their significance for the texts being discussed.

The cast list of contributors is, as one should expect in a volume with this kind of ambition, international: Angus Bowie (Oxford), Yoram Cohen (Tel Aviv), Bruno Currie (Oxford), Andrew George (SOAS), Amir Gilan (Tel-Aviv), Johannes Haubold (Durham), Adrian Kelly (Oxford), Andre Lardinois (Nijmegen), Carolina Lopez-Ruiz (Ohio State), Christopher Metcalf (Oxford), Bernardo Petrella (Oxford), Fran Reynolds (Oxford), Ruth Scodel (Michigan), Robert Rollinger (Innsbruck), Ian Rutherford (Reading), Sylvie Vanséveren (Brussels), and Mark Weeden (SOAS).

Am Ende des 8. Jhs. v. Chr. richtete ein elitärer Zirkel Athens bei der Bestattung seiner Angehörigen in der Kerameikos-Nekropole ein neues Ritual ein: die "Opferrinnen-Zeremonie". Sie stellt allerdings entgegen dieser Bezeichnung keinen Opfer- oder Beigabenbrauch dar, sondern einen Akt der Status-Inszenierung am Grab, wie eine Revision des archäologischen Befundes zeigt. Die Vernetzung der "Opferrinnen-Zeremonie" mit der übrigen materiellen Hinterlassenschaft der damaligen Lebenskultur in Athen und mit relevanten Homer-Passagen als mentalitätsgeschichtlichen Zeugnissen soll im weiteren helfen, ihre kulturhistorische Bedeutung zu erfassen.

Desde Escitia a la Península Ibérica, de la Edad de Bronce -si no antes- a los primeros siglos de nuestra Era, diversos seres antropomorfos, humanos o mitológicos, han sido representados luchando contra el grifo -id est, la grifomaquia- a lo largo de milenios y kilómetros con distintos significados, muchos de los cuales aún suponen una incógnita para la arqueología...

Dionysus was thought until recently to be a foreign god in the Greek pantheon; a result of trade contacts with Thrace and Phrygia, a late acquirement connected with the renewed prosperity of Greece after the “Dark Age.” According to the classical myth, he was just another illicit son of Zeus. He presided over frenzy, drunkenness, wilderness and everything concerning the chaotic forces of nature. But why was his name already in the Mycenaean pantheon? Why did the Orphics know a completely different myth and his name was found accompanying the dead? New studies seem to challenge the classical image of a tipsy Bacchus and lead us to a different, darker and more ancient scenario, helping us to shed some light on a still unclear prehistory of Greek religion.

Με την κατάρρευση του αρχαίου κόσμου πολλά φημισμένα αρχιτεκτονήματα καταστράφηκαν, λεηλατήθηκαν και τελικά χάθηκαν, είτε ολοσχερώς είτε εν μέρει, αφήνοντας ένα κενό που πολλές φορές πυροδοτεί σε μεγάλο βαθμό την ιστορική περιέργεια και αναζήτηση. Μια τέτοια περίπτωση είναι και ο Θρόνος του Απόλλωνα στις Αμύκλες. Στο άρθρο παρουσιάζονται αφενός τα δεδομένα σχετικά με το πρόβλημα της αναπαράστασης των κατασκευών που συνέθεταν το ιερό και αφετέρου η μεθοδολογία που ακολουθείται για την επίλυσή του. Στο πλαίσιο της περιορισμένης έκτασης του άρθρου σχολιάζονται βασικά θέματα που προκύπτουν τόσο από την ανάγνωση του κειμένου του Παυσανία, όσο και από τη σημερινή νέα θεώρηση της εικόνας του ερειπίου.

There is a lot of eating and drinking in the epic of Homer. In this survey it is being discussed, to which era of greek history the diet in the odyssey refers: Does it pertain to the Mycenaean Age, in which the action takes place, to the dark ages, through which the story is transmitted, or does it show the alimentation of Homers own era, the beginning of the archaic age in Greece?

An archaic dedication from Samos known as the Geneleos Group is considered by scholars to be one of the first family dedications in Greek art, or, to be more precise, the first archaeological record showing an elite family in form of life size round sculpture in a sanctuary. Furthermore, it is one of very few archaic sculptures attributable to a certain artist – Geneleos. It is generally assumed that the persons shown are part of a family extending over two generations with the iconography highlighting the different social role models of its members: mother, father, son, and daughters. In this paper, I will try to question this common reading by proposing alternatives, triggered by the ambiguous iconography of the figures and by the placement of the inscriptions related to them.

Feels free to ask me for a pdf.

Βασιλείου-Δαμβέργης, Αλέξανδρος-Νεκτάριος, Ιω. «Η σημασία των θαλάσσιων περασμάτων προς τον Β. Ευβοϊκό κόλπο (Δίαυλος Τρικερίου, Δίαυλος Κνημίδας) από τους μυθικούς χρόνους μέχρι τα μέσα του 5ου αι. π.Χ.», στο: Πρακτικά Ε΄ Συνεδρίου Αλμυριώτικων Σπουδών, επιμ. Βίκτωρ Κοντονάτσιος, Χρυσούλα Κοντογεωργάκη, Αλυρός Βόλου 14-16 Οκτωβρίου 2016, Αλμυρός 2019, σ. 179-212.

This study focuses on a particular group of architectural stone works which were found in the ancient Aeolian settlement of Larisa (Buruncuk) in the 20th century excavations. 12 architectural pieces are currently preserved in the Izmir Archeology Museum. In addition, a smaller group of architectural elements on site has also been studied in the same framework.
The first archaeological excavations at Larisa began in 1902. In 1932, a second excavation campaign was conducted as a continuation of the earlier work of 1902. And from 1932 to 1934, final campaigns took place. Larisa excavations were conceived as a Swedish-German joint work. Since 2010, an architectural field survey has been proceeding in Larisa under the direction Prof. Dr. Turgut Saner (ITU). The correspondence between the excavators and the Istanbul Archaeological Museums in the 20th century includes information on the transfer of finds made in Larisa. It helps determining when the architectural stone works found during the excavations in Larisa were sent to the Izmir Archaeology Museum. In 1902, the museum in Izmir was not opened yet, so that only those Larisaean pieces which were found in the later excavations (i.e. 1932 1934) should have been transferred to the Izmir Archaeology Museum. Yet, another -less likely- possibility would be that the stone works from Larisa have been sent at a later date from the Istanbul Archaeological Museums to the Izmir Museum. Transferring artifacts from one museum to another is a well known practice.
In the second part of the study, twelve architectural stone works from the storage of the Izmir Archaeology Museum and eight on the field at Larisa are presented and described in their current conditions with the help of visual documentation. Architectural stone works have been displayed in the thesis regarding their location at the architectural structure from bottom to top. In other words, their places in the architectural order have been taken into consideration. The descriptions are followed by comparisons with similar examples found in other ancient cities. The architectural elements’ functions, datings and probable contexts have been discussed based on different sources, and recent proposals have been introduced. At certain cases reconstructions and completion drawings have been accomplished. For the special group of architectural pieces, on which traces of paint were found, reconstructions have been developed.
The immediate source regarding the history and architecture of Larisa is the publication in three volumes titled “Larisa am Hermos” (1940-1942). In the first volume, architectural works are catalogued and described in detail. At the end of the text a catalogue of architectural stone pieces is given. Some of the pieces are described with both photographs and drawings, and for some others only drawings are available.
Ionic capitals present one of the most important architectural stone works preserved in Izmir Archaeology Museum. The Ionic capitals which reveal fine workmanship compared to other pieces are dated to the late archaic and early classical period. Similar examples from the middle of 6th century to the middle of the 5th century have been considered. The Ionic capital from Larisa, despite its “traditional” polster design with three deep carved canals, the concave volute canal of the both sides may be considered as “modern”. The similarities with the examples from Kavala, Salonika, Thasos and especially concave channels may indicate Northern Greece influence, however, it seems that Larisa capital should be dated to an earlier period than the Northern works. There is not an exact parallel for this concave worked capital design, but the proportions and details help us date it around the first quarter of the 5th century B.C. That only the two volute parts without the central portion have survived, may also refer to the existence of two different capitals. However, the surviving parts have been considered as parts of the same capital, and the reconstruction proposal has been developed according to this assumpltion.
Seven pilaster capitals have been found in Larisa and they are now kept in the Izmir Archeology Museum. They are attributed to the so-called “Southwestern Building" and dated to the end of the 6th century B.C. by the excavators. These capitals have been studied under three “groups” according to their slight differences of design details. The best preserved one, “Type 1” has on its front a Lesbian kymation, an Ionic kymation and at the top of these two, flat fasciae, which continue wall-wards on either side. Both sides are decorated with two volutes and a palmette with seven leaves. On the upper part, a canal (groove) is carved along the front side, which is not to be seen frontally. “Type 2” differs from the “Type 1” only with the lack of the canal (groove). One of the Type 2 capitals displays traces of color according to the excavation publication; which is yet not seen today. “Type 3”, a single capital fragment, also with volute and palmette decoration, has no profile on the front side. According to the statement in the Larisa publication, this block must have belonged to “an inner corner”. The pilaster capitals from Larisa have similar aspects with the pilaster or anta capitals from Melanpagos and Chios Emporio. Other similar examples are from Samos and Didyma which are dated earlier than the pilaster capitals from Larisa. These capitals have three overlapping volutes on sides and triple half round mouldings at the front. The capitals from Samos and Didyma are defined as “Ionic” anta/pilaster capitals.
“Aeolic” anta/pilaster capitals, on the other hand, show two volutes and a palmette in between at the sides. However, there are only a few exmaple known of the Aeolic type. Comparisons with these examples have yielded that the pilaster capitals from Larisa should be dated to the end of the 6th century B.C.
Another essential group of pieces from Larisa includes an architrave and a dentil frieze block with a Lesbian kymation without any carved decoration on it. The Lesbian kymation are similar to the pilaster capitals’ Lesbian kymation profile, and also their material is identical. Because of this reason, pilaster capitals, architrave and dentil frieze blocks are all attributed to the same building, that is the “Southwestern Building” and dated to the end of the 6th century B.C. Not so many entablatures of Archaic Ionic buildings are recorded. One of earliest and most important studies and restitutions was made for the Archaic Temple of Apollo in Didyma. However, recent studies in ancient sites of Labraunda, Daskyleion and Metapontum regarding Ionic temples have provided new insight about Ionic entablature design especially for the usage of architrav and dentil frieze. There are very few examples of dentils survived from the Archaic period. It is significant that Larisa, Labraunda and Daskyleion examples have all a 1:1 ratio between the width of the dentil’s space and dentil’s façade. The finds of Larisa are considered significant since they present a group of late Archaic examples.
The fragment with Ionic and Lesbian leaves are considered as part of the podium temple in Larisa which was reconstructed in the 4th century. Dating is based on the Ionic kymation which is better preserved. Numerous examples with Ionic egg-and-dart ornament have been found from the time span from the Archaic to the Classical period. The form of the Ionic leaves changed throughout the periods. The parallel or similar examples of the Ionic kymation moulding point to early 4th century B.C.
The geison group without any particular ornament could be compared to only a few known examples from other ancient sites. But the geison group bears striking similarities with the first Doric and Ionic geison examples in simplicity of design. These blocks, too, are attributed to the Southwestern Building which itself is dated to the end of the 6th century BC. It is quite possible that geisa with no ornamentation were used in the building.
This study aims at presenting the up-to-date existing data on Larisa’s archaic (late archaic) stone architecture by a group of publications, in which the remains of this ancient site have been mentioned. It also tries to provide new suggestions regarding the dating, reconstruction and placement of the stone pieces via both the evaluation of 20th century data and recent research. It should rather be considered as a starting point for the re-evaluation of the stone architecture of Larisa.
The majority of architectural stone works from Larisa included in this study is dated to the late Archaic period. They emerge with their quality of workmanship among the few known examples of the period.

At the time of its creation, ca. 610 B.C., the roof of the Temple of Hera at Mon Repos was the most ambitious project of its kind yet attempted. On the basis of excavation records and a new analysis of the fragments, the author restores the monumental architectural terracottas to a single roof of this Archaic temple, rather than to separate subphases or buildings. The reconstruction drawings reveal a hybrid gabled system that incorporates features of hipped roofs, resulting in a proto-pedimental space at the front. Drawing broadly from other Mediterranean styles, the artisans also developed techniques for replicating large and brightly painted lions, gorgoneia, and Daedalic maidens.