The Value of the Past Challenged

History is bunk. What difference does it make how many times the ancient Greeks flew their kites?' pronounced Henry Ford. 1 Fortunately, not everybody subscribes to the apodictic comments on life that American entrepreneurs sometimes make, but Ford's disavowal of history, in particular of ancient history, is representative of a general feeling. The past, many contemporaries would agree, is not of much help concerning the problems of the present. As Koselleck demonstrated, the topos of historia magistra vitae has lost much of its plausibility since 1800. 2 The Greeks, it seems, thought differently. They were, as van Groningen aptly put it, in the 'grip of the past'. 3 Particularly the distant past was in high regard. To take an example from the Iliad, Phoenix adduces the story of Meleager when he tries to persuade Achilles to return to the battlefield: 'For I remember this action of old, it is not a new thing, / and how it went; you are all my friends, I will tell it among you.' (' , , / , .' 9.527-8). A look at epic genealogy reveals that Meleager is only one generation older than the heroes of the Trojan War. 4 Nonetheless, Phoenix qualifies Meleager's refusal to defend Calydon as 'of old time'. Whilst Ford evokes the ancient Greeks to debunk history, Phoenix' presentation of the Meleager story implies that temporal distance heightens the authority of exempla

Archaeology · Art · Attic · Literature · Mythology · Classical Antiquity Studies · Computer Science · Historical, Religious, and Philosophical Studies · History · Organic Chemistry Synthesis Methods

• The Origins of Mythography as a Genre

  Jordi Pàmias•The Oxford Handbook of Greek and…•2022

  Incluir item

• The Art of Mythical History and the Temporality of the Athenian Epitaphioi Logoi

  Avi Kapach•Trends in Classics•2020

  Incluir item

• Le temps qui passe. Présence et représentations du temps dans les tribunaux athéniens

  Open Access•Nicolas Siron•Dialogues d histoire ancienne•2022

  Incluir item

• La dynamique de mémoire dans le discours démosthénien au milieu du IV e siècle – ou comment conseiller les Athéniens pour qu’ils redeviennent eux-mêmes

  Open Access•Anne Queyrel Bottineau•Dialogues d histoire ancienne•2017

  Incluir item

• Acquitted/Convicted by a Single Vote

  Open Access•Jakub Filonik•Mnemosyne•2024

  Incluir item

• The ancient concept of progress

  E R Dodds•The ancient concept of progress•1985

  Incluir item

• The Past is a Foreign Country

  David Lowenthal•The Past is a Foreign Country•1999

  Incluir item

• The invention of Athens

  Nicole Loraux•The invention of Athens•1986

  Incluir item

• Cults, myths, oracles and politics in ancient Greece

  Martin Nilsson, Martin P Nilsson•Cults, myths, oracles and…•1951

  Incluir item

• Greek Inscriptions as Historical Writing

  Robin Osborne•The Oxford history of historical…•2011

  Incluir item

• Die Entstehung des Politischen bei den Griechen.

  Christian Meier•Die Entstehung des Politischen…•1983

  Incluir item

• Oral Tradition and Written Record in Classical Athens

  Open Access•Rosalind Thomas•Oral Tradition and Written Record…•1989

  Incluir item

• Ancient Rome as a museum

  Steven H Rutledge, Steven Rutledge•Ancient Rome as a museum•2012

  Incluir item

• Homer between History and Fiction in Imperial Greek Literature

  Open Access•Lawrence Kim, Lawrence Young Kim•Homer Between History and Fiction…•2010

  Incluir item

• Authority and Tradition in Ancient Historiography

  Open Access•John Marincola•Authority and Tradition in…•1997

  Incluir item

• A Commentary on Thucydides, Vol. 3

  Thucydides Thucydides, Simon Hornblower•A commentary on Thucydides•2008

  Incluir item

• The Archaeology of Nostalgia

  A A Donohue, J Boardman•The Classical World•2005

  Incluir item

• Herodotus' Epigraphical Interests

  Open Access•Stephanie West•The Classical Quarterly•1985

  Incluir item

• Das Geschichtsbild der Ilias

  Jonas Grethlein•Das Geschichtsbild der Ilias•2006

  Incluir item

• In the Grip of the past

  E L Highbarger, B A Van Groningen•The Classical Weekly•1954

  Incluir item

• Money and the Corrosion of Power in Thucydides

  Thomas J Figueira, Lisa Kallet•The Classical World•2003

  Incluir item

• Mythe et rhétorique

  Open Access•Sophie Gotteland•Mythe et rhétorique•2001

  Incluir item

• In the Grip of the Past

  B A Van Groningen•In the Grip of the Past•1953

  Incluir item

• The Lapis Primus and the Older Parthenon

  Margaret M Miles, Margaret M Miles Margaret M Miles•Hesperia The Journal of the…•2011

  Incluir item

• Livy's Exemplary History

  Alessandro Barchiesi, Jane D Chaplin•The Classical World•2002

  Incluir item

• Theopompus and Fifth-Century Athens

  Frank J Frost, W Robert Connor•The Classical World•1969

  Incluir item

• Hellenism and Empire

  Simon Swain•Hellenism and empire•1996

  Incluir item

• The Idea of Progress in Classical Antiquity

  Open Access•Ludwig Edelstein•Idea of Progress in Classical…•2019

  Incluir item

• Brill's Companion to Thucydides

  Antōnios Renkakos, Antōnēs Tsakmakēs et al.•Brill's Companion to Thucydides•2006

  Incluir item

• The Lindian Chronicle and the Greek Creation of their Past

  Carolyn Higbie•The Lindian chronicle and the…•2003

  Incluir item

• Livy’s Exemplary History

  Jane D Chaplin•Livy's Exemplary History•2000

  Incluir item

• Art As Plunder

  Jennifer Anglim Kreder•American Journal of Legal History•2010

  Incluir item

• Greeks and Their Past in the Second Sophistic

  E L Bowie•Past & Present•1970

  Incluir item

• Kinship Diplomacy in the Ancient World

  A J S Spawforth, Antony Spawforth et al.•Phoenix•2000

  Incluir item

• Herodotus

  Frances Pownall, Michael A Flower et al.•Phoenix•2004

  Incluir item

• Rhetoric in Classical Historiography

  T J Luce, A J Woodman•Rhetoric in Classical Historiograph…•2003

  Incluir item

• Contra Leocratem" and "de Corona

  Edmund M Burke•Phoenix•1977

  Incluir item

• Isokrates

  J A Philip, Eino Mikkola•Phoenix•1956

  Incluir item

• Money and the Corrosion of Power in Thucydides

  Martha C Taylor, Lisa Kallet et al.•Phoenix•2003

  Incluir item

• Il Problema del Decreto di Temistocle

  Gordon Shrimpton, Lorenzo Braccesi•Phoenix•1968

  Incluir item