Christoph Ulf
University of Innsbruck, Ancient History and Oriental Studies, Faculty Member
- Christoph Ulf graduated with MA (Mag. phil.) in German Philology and History, University of Innsbruck, in 1975; he ta... moreChristoph Ulf graduated with MA (Mag. phil.) in German Philology and History, University of Innsbruck, in 1975; he taught at school from 1975 to 1978 and received the Doctorate in Ancient History, University of Innsbruck, in 1978. He was Assistant Professor in Ancient History, University of Graz, 1978-83; Research Fellow, Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung, 1983-84 (held at Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich); Assistant Professor, University of Innsbruck, 1983-88; here Habilitation for Ancient History, 1988, and Associate Professor, 1988-2001. He declined a call for Full Professor at the University of Klagenfurt, 1998, and became full Professor of Ancient History, University of Innsbruck, 2002; Visiting Professor at University of Graz, 1989-90 and 1996; Visiting Fellow of Clare Hall College, Cambridge UK, 2005, and Life Member of Clare Hall since. After his retirement, he was Professor of Ancient History (Focus on the Formation of Socio-Political Systems in the Graeco-Roman World), University of Innsbruck, 2014-15.
He was Chairman of the Department of Ancient History, University of Innsbruck, 1993, 2001-04, 2013-14, Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and History, University of Innsbruck, 2004-08; Member of the Assembly of Delegates of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), 2005-12; Delegate to the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, 2007-11; Co-editor of “Nikephoros. Zeitschrift für Sport und Kultur im Altertum”, 2002 -14; since 2008, Member of the Advisory Board of the journal “Ancient West & East”, and “Colloquia Antiqua”; Member of the Academic Senate, University of Innsbruck, 2009-15; Speaker of the Research Platform “Cultural Encounters and Transfers” (CEnT), 2009-12, and of the Research Area “Cultural Contacts – Cultural Conflicts”, University of Innsbruck, 2012 –15.
Christoph Ulf currently works on the fields of Cultural Spaces – Cultural Encounters; (Re)Constructions of the Past in Ancient and Modern Historiography; Homer’s Worlds; Archaic Greece; Sport – Competition – Society.
List of publications at https://www.uibk.ac.at/alte-geschichte-orient/mitarbeiter/publikationen/ulf_publikationen.pdfedit
Recently it has been argued that mobility should be seen as a 'natural' phenornenon, observable everyw,here, also in Archaic Greece. In this view, the discussion of possible causes and motivations for migrations has lost rhe importance it... more
Recently it has been argued that mobility should be seen as a 'natural' phenornenon, observable everyw,here, also in Archaic Greece. In this view, the discussion of possible causes and motivations for migrations has lost rhe importance it had for so long. It is not the aim of this paper to resume this debate, but to prove the thesis of general human mobiliry by analysing the texts of Archaic Greece, from the Homeric poems to Solon. Focusing on cases of forced migration, three main positioas can be differentiated. They differ in their main causes for rnigration and can be arranged chronologically. Yet they could also represent three different perspectives on the various changes Greece undervent in the 7th and 6th cenuries BC. When taking into account the outcome of recent archaeologicai research on Archaic Greece, these perspectives can also relate to the view of the contemporaneous world of different kinds of settlements (and societies), compounds, dispersed settiements and settlements with an agora.
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Odysseus was not a hero, he was a loser to some extent. He lost all 'hetairoi', the Ithacesian believed he would bring back home after the siege of Troy. He could not resist to outlive his adventures. This was the situation when he came... more
Odysseus was not a hero, he was a loser to some extent. He lost all 'hetairoi', the Ithacesian believed he would bring back home after the siege of Troy. He could not resist to outlive his adventures. This was the situation when he came back. Therefore he invented lies to evade the accusations. On the other hand the young Ithacesian had crossed rules and became guilty. That's why Odysseus could murder them for some reason. The way out of this impasse could only lead (all)mighty Zeus, a receipt to be used in the emerging towns contemporay to the Odyssey.
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The Roman population liked sports as did other populations around the world. They did sports in their spare time and, throughout the year, they took part in various kinds of competition being elements of religious festivals. Yet at the... more
The Roman population liked sports as did other populations around the world. They did sports in their spare time and, throughout the year, they took part in various kinds of competition being elements of religious festivals. Yet at the big public festivals (ludi publici), hired athletes performed, not the Romans themselves. This peculiarity was explained by referring to ethnic characteristics, an approach that has been proven fundamentally wrong. Instead, recent research brought to light what makes the Roman ‘political culture’ special. It was in the assemblies where the populus Romanus decided who was to be elected to the magistrates. Therefore, Romans and Roman aristocrats avoided physical competition in order not to lose dignity in the public. This was decisive for the long-lasting stability of the Roman socio-political system. However, within the frame of the cultic festivals, different rules of behaviour continued to be valid.
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In the course of the development of modern historiography, the concept of peoples (and also nations) as basic and primordial human units was criticized for the underlying essentialism and therefore widely replaced by culture(s) at the... more
In the course of the development of modern historiography, the concept of peoples (and also nations) as basic and primordial human units was criticized for the underlying essentialism and therefore widely replaced by culture(s) at the turn of the 19th century. However, also the use of the term culture was often not free of essentialism and the ensuing valuing of cultures as superior or inferior. To counter this dilemma, often the term identity was chosen. Yet similar objections were raised against identity: the term would assume the shape of a reification, or identity were not precisely enough to define. When considering these questions, one should bear in mind that behind general terms like identity always lies a concept of one or another form of a collective, set aside the problem of personal identity. The paper discusses frequently used concepts in history and archaeology, as are ethnic units, states, collective memory equating identity with tradition, and social groups.
To counter this mostly not reflected connection of term and concept, then the paper introduces the term discourse, as developed by Foucault, to obtain a tool that allows for better comprehension of the various kinds of identity from an emic point of view. This is exemplified by short case studies to prove the thesis that human units, for long taken as collectives, in reality are internally split along different small-scale identities. Examples are eighth-century compound-structures and the settlement of the Monte Iato in Sicily, Thucydides’ problems to define who the Hellenes are, different and contradicting judgements in Roman historiography who the first Caesar was. They make clear how tricky it is to speak of right or true identities and the necessity to consider this problem when writing history.
To counter this mostly not reflected connection of term and concept, then the paper introduces the term discourse, as developed by Foucault, to obtain a tool that allows for better comprehension of the various kinds of identity from an emic point of view. This is exemplified by short case studies to prove the thesis that human units, for long taken as collectives, in reality are internally split along different small-scale identities. Examples are eighth-century compound-structures and the settlement of the Monte Iato in Sicily, Thucydides’ problems to define who the Hellenes are, different and contradicting judgements in Roman historiography who the first Caesar was. They make clear how tricky it is to speak of right or true identities and the necessity to consider this problem when writing history.
Research Interests: Discourse Analysis, Ancient History, Cultural Studies, Classical Archaeology, Roman Historiography, and 13 moreSocial Identity, Historiography, Cultural Theory, Identity (Culture), Collective Memory, Thucydides, Ancient Greek History, Ethnicity, Collective Identity, Collective Identities, Julius Caesar, Emic and etic, and Ethnicity and National Identity
The debate on Heinrich Schliemann too often focuses on his competence as archaeologist. This paper asks a different question: why is it that even today Schliemann linked with the excavation of Troy in the “collective” memory? The question... more
The debate on Heinrich Schliemann too often focuses on his competence as archaeologist. This paper asks a different question: why is it that even today Schliemann linked with the excavation of Troy in the “collective” memory? The question arises since this is not the case for other excavators, for example like Ernst Curtius and others who did excavations at famous place like Olympia. It is argued that it is not the place of excavation but the story which is connected with the place that makes the difference. Only when people are interested in the story of the Trojan War, did (and does) Schliemann keep his position as an outstanding figure. The proof is in the story of the appreciation and the damnation of Trojan War from the 19th to the 20th centuries up to today. But the question remains why Homer’s Iliad is reduced to a war story and the various other messages transmitted by the epic are played down.
Research Interests: Ancient History, Peace and Conflict Studies, Historiography, War Studies, Memory Studies, and 10 moreGreek Archaeology, Epic poetry, Classical Reception Studies, Ancient Greek History, Reception of Antiquity, Nazi Propaganda, Erwin Piscator, Cultural Memory Studies, Heinrich Schliemann, and Troy Studies
Cultural contact and cultural change are not possible without the movement of people and objects. For this reason, it makes good sense to look at the corresponding models that help explain both phenomena also from the perspective of... more
Cultural contact and cultural change are not possible without the movement of people and objects. For this reason, it makes good sense to look at the corresponding models that help explain both phenomena also from the perspective of migration. This has the added advantage that the explanations and rationales for migration explicitly operate with such models. If these models are systematically placed in relation to one another, a background emerges which highlights that the various rationales and explanations for cultural contacts in the ancient world are based on similar, if not the same, models.
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The task of surveying the forms of society and authority observed in the Mediterranean world is complicated not only by the coexistence of many different societies within that world, but also by the sometimes profound changes that those... more
The task of surveying the forms of society and authority observed in the Mediterranean world is complicated not only by the coexistence of many different societies within that world, but also by the sometimes profound changes that those societies underwent during the period under scrutiny. The presentation of interpretations of archaeological findings, which sometimes vary in the criteria underpinning them, therefore requires a kind of template that make it possible to correlate the descriptions of particular societies in this volume. Since ‘ethnic’ entities can no longer form the basis for a description of the societies existing in the Mediterranean world or the forms of authority that characterized them, it is necessary to devise a concept or at least coordinated conceptual terms that can reflect both different societies and the changes they undergo. Although the discussion of the degree to which the terms used in the anthropological analysis of societies and early states may be generalized has not yet concluded, they appear suited to establishing this kind of typology. The ongoing debate has at least yielded the result that the various forms of societies sketched below need not be understood as an evolutionary sequence, but rather may be presented as dependent on a variety of conditions, the stability or instability of which were could be influenced by the societies themselves only to a limited extent.
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Surveying the forms of society and authority within the ancient Mediterranean world is complicated by the coexistence of many different societies within that world and by the changes that those societies underwent. Therefore a kind of... more
Surveying the forms of society and authority within the ancient Mediterranean world is complicated by the coexistence of many different societies within that world and by the changes that those societies underwent. Therefore a kind of template is required that makes it possible to correlate the descriptions of particular societies. The description of societies and relations between them often relies on assumptions about human behaviour that are taken for granted, often derived from classical economic theory and referring to psychological assumptions regarding the thought and actions of individuals within their social contexts. This kind of assumptions tends to reduce historical diversity to simple basic categories.
Therefore it is necessary to propose a concept that can reflect different societies and the changes they undergo. Though always being a theoretical ideal to a certain extent, such a concept has the advantage of an ‘analytical construct’. Although the discussion of the degree to which the terms used in the anthropological analysis of societies and early states may be generalized has not yet concluded, they appear suited to establishing this kind of typology. There is no need to understand the various forms of societies, sketched in this paper, as an evolutionary sequence, a reproach sometimes made to play down the advantage which can be gained from the analogy of ancient societies and those observed by ethnology/anthropology.
Therefore it is necessary to propose a concept that can reflect different societies and the changes they undergo. Though always being a theoretical ideal to a certain extent, such a concept has the advantage of an ‘analytical construct’. Although the discussion of the degree to which the terms used in the anthropological analysis of societies and early states may be generalized has not yet concluded, they appear suited to establishing this kind of typology. There is no need to understand the various forms of societies, sketched in this paper, as an evolutionary sequence, a reproach sometimes made to play down the advantage which can be gained from the analogy of ancient societies and those observed by ethnology/anthropology.
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In the ancient written sources contradicting views are held as to who the Etruscans were and from where they originated. Modern scholarship has been content to pick out one of the ancient concepts and to support it with historical,... more
In the ancient written sources contradicting views are held as to who the Etruscans were and from where they originated. Modern scholarship has been content to pick out one of the ancient concepts and to support it with historical, archaeological or linguistic arguments. As a result, there is still no consensus in this matter. An important reason for this is that the opinions held in modern scholarship are also closely linked to the ideological environments in which they are set. In an attempt to render these correlations as transparent as possible, this chapter attaches more importance to contextualizing the ancient written sources and the positions taken by modern scholarship than to mentioning and describing them as "exhaustively" as possibie.
The chapter also draws attention to the interferences between the ancient written sources, the hypotheses regarding the Etruscan language and the interpretations of archaeological findings. To avoid the circular reasoning so frequent in academic debates, it is argued, one must follow the fundamental call in the methodological debate in archaeology to contextualize and interpret archaeological findings initially on their own. The archaeological settings, local and trans-regional correlations between findings can only be given meaning in a scientifically transparent manner, where specifically defined and clearly described analogical cases from the fields of anthropology and history are used. This, in fact, forms the basis for the more recent reflections on the possible internal structures of the settlements and cities and the connections between them. These reflections become all the more compelling , the less they depend upon the alleged knowledge of the "Etruscans" in the ancient written sources.
The chapter also draws attention to the interferences between the ancient written sources, the hypotheses regarding the Etruscan language and the interpretations of archaeological findings. To avoid the circular reasoning so frequent in academic debates, it is argued, one must follow the fundamental call in the methodological debate in archaeology to contextualize and interpret archaeological findings initially on their own. The archaeological settings, local and trans-regional correlations between findings can only be given meaning in a scientifically transparent manner, where specifically defined and clearly described analogical cases from the fields of anthropology and history are used. This, in fact, forms the basis for the more recent reflections on the possible internal structures of the settlements and cities and the connections between them. These reflections become all the more compelling , the less they depend upon the alleged knowledge of the "Etruscans" in the ancient written sources.
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"This paper offers a critical evaluation of the debate on agency and personhood in archaeology. Despite some very interesting and sharp discussions, the debate has suffered from the projection of anachronistic definitions of the person... more
"This paper offers a critical evaluation of the debate on agency and personhood in archaeology. Despite some very interesting and sharp discussions, the debate has suffered from the projection of anachronistic definitions of the person and an over reliance on specific ethnographic readings. In addition, little attempt is made to bridge the abstract theoretical discussions with close analyses of empirical data. I would like to suggest that this should be our priority: to integrate theoretical discussions with careful contextual analysis of different types of evidence.
In the second part of the paper, an attempt will be made to apply these ideas, and to examine notions of personhood and agency held by the inhabitants of the southern Greek mainland between ca. 1800 and 1600 BC. The analysis will be based on the mortuary practices and imagery of the period.
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Personhood; agency; relationality; Mycenaean; burial practices; imagery"
In the second part of the paper, an attempt will be made to apply these ideas, and to examine notions of personhood and agency held by the inhabitants of the southern Greek mainland between ca. 1800 and 1600 BC. The analysis will be based on the mortuary practices and imagery of the period.
Keywords
Personhood; agency; relationality; Mycenaean; burial practices; imagery"
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Am Beispiel der Arbeiten von Peter Haider wird verfolgt, wie sich das theoretische Konzept einer Universalgeschichte durch die praktische historische Forschung zu einer Kulturtransferanalyse verändert - ohne dass der Autor das selbst... more
Am Beispiel der Arbeiten von Peter Haider wird verfolgt, wie sich das theoretische Konzept einer Universalgeschichte durch die praktische historische Forschung zu einer Kulturtransferanalyse verändert - ohne dass der Autor das selbst bemerkt. Das zeigt sich darin, dass überholte Konzepte wie Volk oder Kultur als essentialistisch verstandene Einheiten nach wie vor das Denken bestimmen.
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There is no common agreement about the relationship between the Homeric epics, i.e. texts, and historical reality. This results from a few, commonly held general assumptions, founding a lot of secondary assumptions used in the analysis of... more
There is no common agreement about the relationship between the Homeric epics, i.e. texts, and historical reality. This results from a few, commonly held general assumptions, founding a lot of secondary assumptions used in the analysis of the Homeric texts. The basic term Heroic Poetry is inseparably connected with the assumption of a people, existing from a priori. It is shown in this paper that this situation causes on the one hand the use of “modernistic” terms like king, state, institution or commerce, and on the other hand the rejection of the concepts of ethnicity and ethnogenesis and the results of oral tradition research in anthropology. Archaeological data used to confirm this modernistic picture rely on, and are flawed by, the infiltration of the reading of the remains by the terms named above. The neglection of how the interpretation of the texts is dependent on the named general assumptions has led the current disputes over Troy and Homer to secondary battlefields. To get out of this dilemma, this paper proposes a new characterization of the Homeric epics.
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Obwohl llias und Odysee keine historiographischen Texte sind, sondem 'Heldenepik', also eine spezielle Form von Literatur, werden diese Texte häufig mit dem bzw. einem Troianischen Krieg in Verbindung gebracht. Wer das tut, setzt voraus,... more
Obwohl llias und Odysee keine historiographischen Texte sind, sondem 'Heldenepik', also eine spezielle Form von Literatur, werden diese Texte häufig mit dem bzw. einem Troianischen Krieg in Verbindung gebracht. Wer das tut, setzt voraus, daß die Homer zugeschriebenen Texte brauchbare historische Informationen enthalten. Kann und will aber Heldenepik Wissen über die Vergangenheit bewahren und weitergeben? Die Antwort hängt davon ab, was unter 'Heldenepik', zu verstehen ist. Das ist keineswegs so klar, wie es erscheinen mag. Der Stand der Forschung wird in vier Abschnitten besprochen: erstens in einer Skizze des Bildes, das man als das traditionelle bezeichnen kann; zweitens in Hinweisen auf die inneren Widersprüche in dieser Auffassung; drittens in der Beschreibung der in diesem Bild nicht berücksichtigen jüngsten Forschungsergebnise, und schließlich in einem vierten Abschnitt, in dem die Argumente dafür genannt werden, daß 'Heldenepik', keine Form von Literatur ist, die in die Vergangenheit blickt, um diese zu bewahren, sondern die den Blick in die Vergangenheit für ein Plädoyer benüzt, wie die Gegenwart und die Zukunft gestaltet werden sollen.
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Der Zusammenhang von Vorerwartung und wissenschaftlicher Analyse ist der Wissenschaftstheorie gut bekannt, er begleitet bis zu einem gewissen Grad jede wissenschaftliche Untersuchung. Man kann diesen Zirkel dadurch lösen, dass man sich... more
Der Zusammenhang von Vorerwartung und wissenschaftlicher Analyse ist der Wissenschaftstheorie gut bekannt, er begleitet bis zu einem gewissen Grad jede wissenschaftliche Untersuchung. Man kann diesen Zirkel dadurch lösen, dass man sich der Prämissen bewusst wird, auf denen die eigenen Fragen und Antworten beruhen. Die aktuellen Debatten über Homer tragen eine Geschichte in sich, die bis zur Entstehung im ausgehenden 18. Jh. zurückreichen. Es ist nötig, sich mit dieser Geschichte zu beschäftigen, um Spielraum für die Erarbeitung neuer Ansätz zu gewinnen.
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For a long time the premise has been dominant among Homerists that the Iliad and also the Odyssey were the outcome of an oral tradition which was handed down by singers. This premise is often accompanied by the notion that the... more
For a long time the premise has been dominant among Homerists that the Iliad and also the Odyssey were the outcome of an oral tradition which was handed down by singers. This premise is often accompanied by the notion that the performances of the singers took place at the court of aristocrats or even kings. It is also assumed that the posited oral compositions were, formally and in content, part of a long tradition going back in a far distant past. Against this concept it was argued that it has never been defined what tradition is. Therefore the presupposed tradition seems to be a reification (R. Scodel). The doubts about its existence are enhanced by the fact that the epics themselves offer a different picture. They know various narrators within the narration who tell different publica stories at different places. That makes the question ‘Who is the audience of Homer’ change into the question ‘What makes a narration attractive to the listeners?’ To give a convincing response to this question presupposes insights into the intention of the epics. Obviously, the stories of the Iliad and the Odyssey revolve around various forms of strife and negotiations to resolve them. As the first half of the 7th century BC as date of the epics is increasingly accepted, these topics seem easily to be connected with the ‘real’ world of the emerging urban settlements (A. Duplouy, M. Mohr) where conflict and the complex processes of negotiations must have been daily experience. The narratological analysis of how the gods of the Iliad came to terms with each other and established the Olympian order supports this argument as does the embedding of the Homeric art of narration (D. Elmer) and narrative motives (T. Itgenshorst) in the context of the formation of political consent.
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Interpretations of material remains often use written sources to describe and explain what the meanings of the archaeological record might be. But mostly there is a chronological gap between how the findings are dated and the written... more
Interpretations of material remains often use written sources to describe and explain what the meanings of the archaeological record might be. But mostly there is a chronological gap between how the findings are dated and the written texts which are deployed to lighten up what the use of these findings was. The necessity to bridge this chronological gap is but one reason that makes this kind of research for meanings of material remains difficult to follow. Additionally, it presupposes that written texts are clear by themselves. But, as to the Homeric epics, the question how to read them adequately has been differently responded to. This paper highlights the poetic character of the Homeric epics, and it builds on this ground the argument that these first poetic texts in Greek history represent a well-considered whole. To make this point clear, the Iliad is singled out. It is well known that the Iliad combines various strands which are independent narratives but correspond to each other at the same time. The different narratives eventually meet in the last book, when Achilles gives Hector's corpse back to his father Priamos so that Hector can be buried properly. From this perspective , it becomes clear that the Iliad is more than mere oral poetry; it is a thoughtful texture where the motif of strife drives gods and men in all layers of the text. The poet's intention contains more than that. His purpose is not to provide a textbook example of aristocratic conduct of excellence in a profoundly competitive world. By the contrary , he wants to give deep insights by which means one can solve strife, or better, avoid it to the common benefit. Therefore, the Iliad does not depict a single historic society ; it draws its examples, narratives and motifs from different societies and cultures, including Near Eastern ones, to give a lesson to his own world. In consequence, actually the Iliad is a text that aims at the topic 'beyond elites', but is no safe ground to apply its content as an analogy to any archaeological record.
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In a conscious or unconscious continuation of thought patterns that regards historical development as an evolutionary sequence of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, the “beginning” of Greek history was usually presented as a form of... more
In a conscious or unconscious continuation of thought patterns that regards historical development as an evolutionary sequence of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, the “beginning” of Greek history was usually presented as a form of monarchy, an interpretation based on Homer’s and Hesiod’s texts. Expanding on the critical approaches to this view of ancient history, this article employs narratological techniques to avoid the circular argument which assumes that a merely postulated historically world may be regarded as a basis for the interpretation of these texts. Through an analysis of basic narrative structures, it is possible to illustrate that in these texts, debates can be discerned in different discourses; debates on rightful leadership, on rule, force, and power; on how to deal with conflicts, on justice, social standing, and inter-generational relationships. By reference to these discourses, Homer and Hesiod establish a fresh, but idealizing discourse on political leadership in which the negative and violent aspects of the pre-existing discourses are eliminated. In the final part of the article, this Homeric and Hesiodic discourse on the proper leadership of society is situated within the context of the developing polis. The polis’ shape is derived from the latest findings of archaeological studies on the development of urban-like structures from rural settlements in the period from 7th to 6th centuries BC.
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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... more
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.
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.
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The very notion of the immigration of ‘the Greeks’ to the southern Balkans from the north has been called into question for good reason. In tandem with this debate on ‘becoming Greek’ as opposed to the ‘coming of the Greeks’,... more
The very notion of the immigration of ‘the Greeks’ to the southern Balkans from the north has been called into question for good reason. In tandem with this debate on ‘becoming Greek’ as opposed to the ‘coming of the Greeks’, archaeological findings have demonstrated that settlement design after the Sub-Mycenaean period was totally different from what went before. Compounds, scattered settlements and dense settlements with or without an agora emerged and coexisted over centuries. Against this backdrop, interpreta¬tions of the Homeric epics as reflexions of big man-societies appear even more convincing. Like the lyric poets, the epics also seem to be commenting on changes in contemporary society. Taking the concept of the aggrandiser as proposed by Brian Hayden as starting point, this paper highlights the tendency of the big men in Archaic Greece, i. e. basileis and hegemones, to distance themselves from the demos by loosening their social bonds and com¬mitments. This effort to establish a segregated social group of big men goes hand in hand with the ongoing reduction of the formerly intense competition between them. These pro¬cesses are best understood as the emergence of an aristocracy (‘aristocratisation’).
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Die soziale Landschaft des archaischen Griechenlands wird häufig ohne Einschränkung mit einer Oberschicht, Adel bzw. Elite versehen. Diese Anschauung beruht in ihrem Kern auf Vorstellungen, die im 19. Jh. entwickelt wurden. Eine... more
Die soziale Landschaft des archaischen Griechenlands wird häufig ohne Einschränkung mit einer Oberschicht, Adel bzw. Elite versehen. Diese Anschauung beruht in ihrem Kern auf Vorstellungen, die im 19. Jh. entwickelt wurden. Eine Kontextualisierung, die auch die archäologischen Befunde einbezieht, führt zu dem Ergebnis, dass die Desintegration Einzelner oder einzelner Gruppen ein grundlegendes Thema während der gesamten Archaik (von den Epen bis Pindar) war und zur Forderung der Integration führte.
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Der nicht nur auf die Nutznießung materieller Güter zu beschränkende Begriff der Konsumption wird außerhalb der Altertumswissenschaften seit längerem erfolgreich dazu benutzt, um unterschiedliche Lebensstile mit ihren jeweiligen... more
Der nicht nur auf die Nutznießung materieller Güter zu beschränkende Begriff der Konsumption wird außerhalb der Altertumswissenschaften seit längerem erfolgreich dazu benutzt, um unterschiedliche Lebensstile mit ihren jeweiligen Lebenssituationen kausal in Verbindung zu bringen. In diesem Artikel wird der Begriff auf den Umgang mit Texten, Prestigegütern und sozialen Regeln angewandt. Als Beispielsfälle dienen die in die Ilias eingegangenen ‚orientalischen‘ Texte, die von Sappho und Xenophanes unterschiedlich bewerteten lydischen Güter und das Verständnis sozialer Regeln bei Theognis, um ausgehend von der in den homerischen Epen festzustellenden ‚Relativität des Besten‘ Typen von Konsumption voneinander abzugrenzen und dabei auch den jeweiligen Spielraum für die Gestaltung von Lebensstilen zu umschreiben.
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According to the ancient sources the Hellenes were – unlike the Dorians or Ionians – never an ethnic unit. This leads to the assumption that that intrahellenic identities existed prior to their subsumption under an overarching sense of... more
According to the ancient sources the Hellenes were – unlike the Dorians or Ionians – never an ethnic unit. This leads to the assumption that that intrahellenic identities existed prior to their subsumption under an overarching sense of Hellenicity. For this reason, Thucydides struggles to tell his readers who the Hellenes and what their “inherited” customs were. Though he makes an attempt in the speech of Hermocrates in Gela to develop a concept of how to create a common (Hellenic) identity, he makes no use of the example of the Olympian order as firstly organized in the Iliad, since he almost completely excludes from his narrative gods and religion as driving forces for human actions. Even though he wanted to show a way out of the violent conflicts of his day, he had no convincing tool with which to persuade his contemporaries not to hope for external support and thus believe in their superiority and ability to defeat the opponent.
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Konzepte sind offensichtlich Teile eines Zeichensystems mit dem Zweck, eine als sinnvoll empfundene Orientierung zu vermitteln. Das gilt auch für die Konzepte 'Wasser' und 'Raum' als soziokulturelle Konstrukte.
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A.H. L. Heeren, E. Curtius, H. Berve - jeder der drei Historiker gibt eine Antwort, weshalb die Beschäftigung mit dern Antike sinnvoll ist. Doch anders als Heeren sprechen Curtius und Berve das Problem nicht an, das auch die... more
A.H. L. Heeren, E. Curtius, H. Berve - jeder der drei Historiker gibt eine Antwort, weshalb die Beschäftigung mit dern Antike sinnvoll ist. Doch anders als Heeren sprechen Curtius und Berve das Problem nicht an, das auch die Rekonstruktion des historischen Gegenstandes von Interesse bestimmt ist, in dem diesem zugeschriebenen 'Wert' sich ausdrückt.
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Das in der wissenschaftlichen Literatur gebräuchliche Vokabular zur Charakterisierung der homerischen Gesellschaft wird an wichtigen Ausdrücken (time, arete, agathos usw.) exemplarisch auf seine Kongruenz mit Text und Aussagen der Epen... more
Das in der wissenschaftlichen Literatur gebräuchliche Vokabular zur Charakterisierung der homerischen Gesellschaft wird an wichtigen Ausdrücken (time, arete, agathos usw.) exemplarisch auf seine Kongruenz mit Text und Aussagen der Epen selbst überprüft. Von hier ausgehend werden deren ethische und sozialorganisatorischen Vorstellungen einschließlich ihrer ökonomischen Basis zu rekonstruieren versucht. Die so eruierten Grundzüge der homerischen Welt(en) werden mit Ordnungskategorien in Parallele gesetzt, die in der ethnologisch-anthropologischen Forschung zur Analyse prästaatlicher und staatlicher Gemeinschaften erarbeitet wurden. Die 'homerische Gesellschaft' erweist sich als eine offene und kaum von vorrechtlichen Institutionen geprägte politische Einheit. Sie wird in den Epen so gezeichnet, als ob sie sich in einem Übergangsfeld zwischen einer auf Desezendenzgruppen gebauten Gesellschaft (mit Big Men) und einer festere Strukturen kennenden Gesellschaft (Ansätze von chiefdom bzw. prästaatliche Züge) befände. Von hier lässt sich ein Bezug zu den offenen Verhältnissen der spätgeometrischen Zeit herstellen mit den hier zu verortenden Prozessen von sich aus Weilern formenden städtische Siedlungen und den damit verbundenen Problemen der Herstellung einer gemeinsamen Identität.
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Die Aktualität der Vergangenheit belegen nicht nur die Argumente 'mit der Geschichte', sondern auch die vielen lieux de mémoire - in der Gegenwart wie in der Antike. Wenn das so ist, stellt sich die Frage, in welchem Verhältnis die... more
Die Aktualität der Vergangenheit belegen nicht nur die Argumente 'mit der Geschichte', sondern auch die vielen lieux de mémoire - in der Gegenwart wie in der Antike. Wenn das so ist, stellt sich die Frage, in welchem Verhältnis die angestrebte Aktualisierung von Vergangenheit zu dem wissenschaftlichen Bemühen steht, Vergangenheit 'objektiv' darzustellen. Jeder der Beiträge macht auf einen Aspekt der Antike aufmerksam, dessen Betrachtung es leichter macht, sich zu aktuellen Fragen zu äußern.
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Research Interests: Classics, Homer, Historical Linguistics, Classical philology, History of Cyprus, and 9 moreAegean Prehistory (Archaeology), Cilicia, Ancient Greek History, Homeric poetry, Ancient Anatolia, Hethitology (Ancient Anatolia), Political and cultural history of Ancient Egypt, the contacts between the Mycenaean world and Egypt, history of religions of the Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean, Homeric epic, and Homeric Archaelogy Trojan War Troia
Based on the concepts of intentional history, ethnicity and ethnogenesis, and drawing on an examination of archeological and written sources, this book outlines the emergence of a "feeling of belonging" to “the Hellenes”, from the Homeric... more
Based on the concepts of intentional history, ethnicity and ethnogenesis, and drawing on an examination of archeological and written sources, this book outlines the emergence of a "feeling of belonging" to “the Hellenes”, from the Homeric epic to the solidification of Greek identity in the early empire period, as Greeks looked back on their past.
Das zentrale Element der Meistererzählung über den Anfang Griechenlands, die Einwanderung von Stämmen des Volks der Griechen aus dem Norden, wird in diesem Buch mit Hilfe der analytischen Instrumente der intentionalen Geschichte,... more
Das zentrale Element der Meistererzählung über den Anfang Griechenlands, die Einwanderung von Stämmen des Volks der Griechen aus dem Norden, wird in diesem Buch mit Hilfe der analytischen Instrumente der intentionalen Geschichte, Ethnizität und Ethnogenese als problematisch erwiesen. Die in den letzten Jahrzehnten erzielten Ergebnisse der Siedlungsarchäologie sowie der Analysen der homerischen Epen und der Erzählungen über die ‚Anfänge' in der Historiographie weisen demgegenüber auf eine nur in Schritten vor sich gehende Herausbildung eines Gemeinschaftsgefühls als Hellenen, das zwar mit den Perserkriegen eine Beschleunigung erfuhr, aber sich erst im Rückblick der Texte der augusteischen Zeit auf die hellenische Vergangenheit zur Vorstellung einer ethnisch-kulturellen Einheit der Griechen verfestigte. Die Nachzeichnung dieser Entwicklung inkludiert den Rückgriff auf Analogien aus der Ethnologie und die Auseinandersetzung mit Konzepten wie Tradition/Gedächtnis, kulturellen Kontaktzonen oder der Bildung von Identität über die Aktualisierung von Vergangenheit und/oder die Erfahrung von Alterität.
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Was sind Kulturen? - diese Frage beschäftigt nicht erst seit dem Cultural Turn alle Wissenschaften, die das Denken, Verhalten und Produzieren von Menschen zum Gegenstand haben. Wie kann man von Kulturbegegnungen und Transfers zwischen... more
Was sind Kulturen? - diese Frage beschäftigt nicht erst seit dem Cultural Turn alle Wissenschaften, die das Denken, Verhalten und Produzieren von Menschen zum Gegenstand haben. Wie kann man von Kulturbegegnungen und Transfers zwischen Kulturen sprechen, wenn seit der Postmoderne der Konstruktivismus darauf drängt, den 'Kulturen' einen inneren (essentialistischen) Kern abzusprechen? Die Beiträge in diesem Band gehen auf theoretisch-methodischen, analytischen und anwendungsorientierten Wegen an diese Fragen heran. Sie kreuzen sich in einem Punkt: Kultur wird von kulturellen Akteurinnen und Akteuren produziert, von ihnen aber meist auch als eine abgrenzbare Einheit wahrgenommen. Diese agieren innerhalb von Figurationen, einem Rahmen, der sich aus dem kulturellen Raum und Regeln, der Welt der Sprache und der Welt der Dinge zusammensetzt.
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To mark the occasion of Youth Olympic Games 2012 in Innsbruck, an array of sports academics and historians, together with authors of the Nikephoros Journal, provide not only academic and topical, but also eminently readable insights into... more
To mark the occasion of Youth Olympic Games 2012 in Innsbruck, an array of sports academics and historians, together with authors of the Nikephoros Journal, provide not only academic and topical, but also eminently readable insights into both sports in general and more specifically into the ancient and present Olympic Games.
It becomes apparent that sport is a phenomenon that can be traced back to well before the ancient Greek culture. Some light is shed on other subject too, such as the organization of the games, the status of the athletes or physical disability in ancient times.
It becomes apparent that sport is a phenomenon that can be traced back to well before the ancient Greek culture. Some light is shed on other subject too, such as the organization of the games, the status of the athletes or physical disability in ancient times.
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... Kurt A. Raaflaub, Brown University (Greek and Latin sources) Prof. Abdul Massih Saadi, Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago (Syriac sources) Prof. ... Dr. Rainer Albertz (University of Münster) Prof. Sarah lies Johnston (Ohio State... more
... Kurt A. Raaflaub, Brown University (Greek and Latin sources) Prof. Abdul Massih Saadi, Lutheran School of Theology, Chicago (Syriac sources) Prof. ... Dr. Rainer Albertz (University of Münster) Prof. Sarah lies Johnston (Ohio State University) Prof. ...
The two volumes contain more than sixty chapters, proof for the remarkable influence the Austrian historian had on the scientific community. The contributions are organised according to what cultural history can be called, the mutual... more
The two volumes contain more than sixty chapters, proof for the remarkable influence the Austrian historian had on the scientific community. The contributions are organised according to what cultural history can be called, the mutual relations between human agency and the various kinds of frameworks human beings have to live in.
Research Interests: Ancient History, Cultural History, Cultural Studies, Classical Archaeology, Classics, and 13 moreRoman History, Reception Studies, Research Methodology, Sports History, History of Slavery, Classical philology, Ancient Sports/Athletics, Ancient Near East, Ancient myth and religion, Ancient Greek History, Ancient Civilization (Archaeology), Olympic Games, and Classical Antiquity
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Roxana Kath / Michaela Rücker (Hrsg.), Die Geburt der griechischen Weisheit oder: Anacharsis, Skythe und Grieche. Mitteilungen des SFB „Differenz und Integration“ 13. (Orientwissenschaftliche Hefte, H. 29.) Halle, Zentrum für Interdisziplinäre Regionalstudien Vorderer Orient, Afrika, Asien der Ma...more
