3.1 Greece at war

The Greek world during the archaic and the classical period was mainly characterized by independent city states at the centre of small territories, often fighting one against the other. War had a huge role in people’s identities, as free born male citizens were also the soldiers fighting for the safety of their cities. During the Hellenistic period, with the development of big states ruled by a monarch, things changed, and mercenary forces were increasingly employed as subsidiary forces by the rulers. The concept and notion of conflict changed accordingly and is reflected in both the literary and the visual sources. The way in which conflict and military victory were and are depicted today change according to the social and cultural context in which conflict takes place and reflects notions and ideas about power and identity. Understanding the role of written and visual representation in the past can help us getting a better understanding of the ways in which conflicts are portrayed today.

EPQ Suggested Questions

In your EPQ essay you may want to discuss the following questions:

How is conflict discussed in ancient Greek literature and how was it represented on Greek material and visual culture?
How were enemies portrayed in the Greek world and how far did classical representations of conflict influence Nineteen century celebrations of the British Empire?
How far examples of victorious generals such as Alexander the Great have influenced the way in which conflict was represented in Western recent colonial past?

Ancient sources about conflict

Homer: The Iliad
Archilocus: Tyrtaeus
Aeschilus: The Persians
Herodotus, Histories
Tucydides, Histories
Aristophanes, The Acharnians

Material culture

Architecture

The Parthenon, Athens
Temple of Athena Nike on the Acropolis, Athens

Artefacts

The Darius Vase, Red figure Apulian Crater, from Canosa di Puglia, Italy (Naples, Museo Archaeologico Nazionale,) (open 3.1 Darius pdf)
Red figure volute crater depicting the battle between Greeks and Amazons (Boston, Metropolitan Museum) (open link)
Bronze statue of Alexander the Great (open 3.1 Alexander pdf)

References

References on conflict

Bakogianni, A. and Hope, V.M. eds., 2015. War as spectacle: ancient and modern perspectives on the display of armed conflict. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Bridges, E., Rhodes, P.J. and Hall, E., 2007. Cultural responses to the Persian wars: antiquity to the third millennium. Oxford University Press.
Champion, M. and O'Sullivan, L. eds., 2017. Cultural Perceptions of Violence in the Hellenistic World. Taylor & Francis.
Delijani, C.F., 2017. Watching War on the Twenty-First Century Stage: Spectacles of Conflict. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Foster, E. and Lateiner, D. eds., 2012. Thucydides and Herodotus. Oxford University Press.
Francis, E.D., 2005. Image and idea in fifth century Greece: art and literature after the Persian wars. Routledge.
Hobbs, A., 2007. Plato on war. Burnyeat, M. (ed.). Maieusis: essays in ancient philosophy in honour of Myles Burnyeat. Oxford University Press, pp.176-94.
Moloney, E.P. and Williams, M.S. eds., 2017. Peace and Reconciliation in the Classical World. Taylor & Francis.
Sabin, P., Van Wees, H., Whitby, M.J. and Whitby, M. eds., 2007. The Cambridge history of Greek and Roman warfare (Vol. 2). Cambridge University Press.
Samons II, L.J. ed., 2007. The Cambridge companion to the age of Pericles. Cambridge University Press.
Sage, M., 2002. Warfare in ancient Greece: a sourcebook. Routledge.
Tsakmakis, A. and Rengakos, A. eds., 2006. Brill's companion to Thucydides. Brill.

References on peace

Moloney, E.P. and Williams, M.S. eds., 2017. Peace and Reconciliation in the Classical World. Taylor & Francis.

References on reception

Bradley, M. (Ed.), Classics and Imperialism in the British Empire: Oxford University Press.
Butler, S.J., 2014. Britain and Its Empire in the Shadow of Rome: The Reception of Rome in Socio-political Debate from the 1850s to the 1920s. Bloomsbury Publishing.
Hardwick, L. and Stray, C. eds., 2011. A companion to classical receptions. John Wiley & Sons.
Moore, K.R., 2018. Brill's Companion to the Reception of Alexander the Great. Brill.
Wyke, M. ed., 2008. Julius Caesar in western culture. John Wiley & Sons.

Online resources

Perseus digital library: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/
The Grove Art Online: http://www.oxfordartonline.com/groveart/