The "Greek Miracle": Exceptionalism in the Ancient World
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- čas přidán 19. 06. 2024
- The explosion of culture in Greece during the classical period was so impressive, it's been called the "Greek Miracle", but that doesn't mean anything supernatural was going on. Find out what inspired the Greeks to be so adventurous in all aspects of life as we explore the circumstances that forced the Greeks to always be thinking of solutions to real world problems in today's episode!
For more videos on Greek Culture check out this playlist:
• Greek Culture
Full interview with Edith Hall:
www.greece-is.com/news/curios...
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00:00 Introduction
01:32 A Scholar's Perspective
03:55 Greek Culture
05:15 Why People Focus on Ancient Greece
08:19 Outro
Your approach is very interesting. I like the notion of cultural mestizaje as at least a major driver in the Greek "exception" at least in terms cultural/philosophical. Most (non-Socratic) philosophers were from various colonies, especially Asia Minor, also Italy. Thales is a great example.
It's also true that Greece has a geography prone to seafaring, however Crete was not that influential early on, Cyprus and the coasts of Syria-Lebanon were surely much more important in the Copper and even early Bronze ages. I base this claim on the archaeology of Southern Iberia, which shows no Cretan contacts but does have Syrian ones instead (most clearly Copper Age ivory in Andalusia was from Syrian elephants, while in Portugal was from North African ones instead).
It's only with the consolidation of Mycenaean Greece c. 1550 BCE when we begin observing Aegean (and very specifically Greek) influences in SE Iberia (pithos burials in El Argar B, but not in the older A phase) and also some feedback (tholoi burials in Greece, the tholos being a Western megalithic development in spite of the Greek name, with major tradition in Copper and Bronze Age South Iberia but probably even older Breton roots: oldest tholos seems to be at Carnac).
In this sense, I have recently realized that even before reaching Greece the early Indoeuropean Greeks must have been seafarers, something absolutely exceptional in the Indoeuropean tradition, especially so early on. They clearly invaded Greece in the Early Helladic from the sea (southern and coastal sites only, no traces of any land-based invasion) and that they probably did so from the Mala Gruda facies of Vucedol culture, which was in coastal Montenegro.
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I really appreciate that, thanks for watching!
This is a great channel, hope the algorithm picks you up soon
Like your vid it’s ironic considering what considered Europe arose many different cultures like the idea that it all came from Greek is rooted in some colonial era ideas about history
To realise the influence of Greek in your life, take out all the Greek words and ideas from your vocabulary. You will not be able to say much. The very words "idea", "history" and "ironic" are Greek, not to mention just about anything that makes your life worth living.
"Just about anything that makes your life worth living"...καλά κατέβα λίγο από το καλάμι.
interesting as always.. 🙂
+1 for using Boards of Canada
You know what's up 😎
Interesting, however modern scholars don't hold greeks invented everything civilized, this why they study about civilizations, in my opinion, in some matters the ancient greeks were exceptional.
saying that they didnt define their identity through blood seems very ignorant
Here's a good article that goes into more detail: nationalhellenicmuseum.org/greek-identity-white-paper/
"Greek identity was something that a person could aspire to and obtain through the adoption of Greek language and cultural practices and beliefs. This idea was largely unique in the ancient world (and one might say the modern one) where ethnicity was exclusively matters of ancestry, an immutable characteristic based on descent not personal belief or preference.
The idea that Greek identity (and perhaps Greek identity alone) was uniquely obtainable would persist and grow as the Greek city-states were incorporated into the Hellenistic empires and then into the Roman Empire. Thus, by the 1st century C.E., it was possible for Paul of Tarsus to claim to be Greek, Roman, and Jewish. While he was Roman and Jewish as a matter of descent, his claim to Greekness was purely linguistic and cultural."
@@NOTHINGNEWYT ..αὖτις δὲ τὸ Ἑλληνικόν, ἐὸν ὅμαιμόν τε καὶ ὁμόγλωσσον, καὶ θεῶν ἱδρύματά τε κοινὰ καὶ θυσίαι ἤθεά τε ὁμότροπα, τῶν προδότας γενέσθαι Ἀθηναίους οὐκ ἂν εὖ ἔχοι. ἐπίστασθέ τε οὕτω, εἰ μὴ καὶ πρότερον ἐτυγχάνετε ἐπιστάμενοι·...
the writer seems to forget Herodotus , the real question is what happened to city states when the greek identity became obtainable by anyone.