Valuing Goods: The Development of Commensurability in Archaic Greece

To be monetised, a society requires a unit which measures the values of a wide range of goods. Being thus measurable, the values of goods are mutually commensurable, a point which Aristotle theorised in the Nicomachean Ethics (Book V). But whereas Aristotle gives rise to the impression that the stipulation of a currency unit suffices to make goods commensurable, societies themselves must undergo a process of commensurabilisation whereby people become habituated to valuing goods in terms of a unit of value. This essay examines the development of practices of valuation and commensurability in ancient Greece, paying particular attention to the rule of Solon and his division of the citizenry into census classes according to their yearly income. The assessment of citizens’ income presupposes a unit for measuring income. The stipulation of this unit, it is argued, had a decisive influence in developing practices of valuation and commensurability.

The Primacy of Ownership and the Problem of Plunder in Archaic Greece

<p>The goal of this thesis is to extract from the Homeric and Hesiodic poems Archaic Greek thought on the concept of personal ownership and its interrelation with plunder. As is often the case when working with the Iliad and Odyssey, the discussion is broader in focus than is currently the norm for academic theses. In this instance a wide-ranging scope is necessary, since the purpose is to identify patterns concerning ownership and plunder in the epics. The process of extrapolating the depictions of life in the Homeric epics to the conditions and realities of Archaic Greece is achieved most effectively by ascertaining unified portrayals of concepts as opposed to minutely analyzing singular occurrences in the works...</p>

The Primacy of Ownership and the Problem of Plunder in Archaic Greece

<p>The goal of this thesis is to extract from the Homeric and Hesiodic poems Archaic Greek thought on the concept of personal ownership and its interrelation with plunder. As is often the case when working with the Iliad and Odyssey, the discussion is broader in focus than is currently the norm for academic theses. In this instance a wide-ranging scope is necessary, since the purpose is to identify patterns concerning ownership and plunder in the epics. The process of extrapolating the depictions of life in the Homeric epics to the conditions and realities of Archaic Greece is achieved most effectively by ascertaining unified portrayals of concepts as opposed to minutely analyzing singular occurrences in the works...</p>

THE RETURN OF THE PIPERS: IN SEARCH OF NARRATIVE MODELS FOR THE AITION OF THE QVINQVATRVS MINVSCVLAE

The article argues that the famous story about the strike, exile and return of the Roman aulos players, which is recorded in the sixth book of Ovid's Fasti and referred to by other Latin and Greek sources, is based on a narrative model that already existed in Greece in the Archaic period. The study draws parallels between the tale of the pipers and the myth of the return of Hephaestus to Olympus, suggesting that, apart from similar plots, the two stories share many motifs, such as references to themes derived from comedy and satyr drama. Searching for a possible channel of transmission of the story from Archaic Greece to Augustan Rome, the study explores the presence of satyric motifs in Etruscan vase-painting and Roman processional rites. It is furthermore emphasized that many of these motifs, which also appeared in lost satyr-plays, are echoed in Augustan poetry.

Letter Forms and Distinctive Spellings

As a contribution to further study of the remarkable 'New Festival Calendar from Arkadia' jointly published in Kernos 2016 by James Clackson and Jan-Mathieu Carbon, this chapter proposes a comparative analysis of the letter forms on this bronze and on the most ancient Arcadian inscriptions already known, in accordance with the method developed by Jeffery in Local Scripts of Archaic Greece. The aim is to clarify the dating of the new inscription. The study of a set of specific spellings (in particular for [ts]) allows their geographical distribution to be highlighted. Confrontation with other dialectal specificities then allows the origin of the inscription to be established more clearly, as well as the conditions of writing what may be seen as rules regulating animal sacrifices and the calendar of local religious festivals. A note discusses the interpretation of Κορυνίτιον‎, LL. 3, 7.

The Early Greek Alphabets

Regional variation, a persistent feature of Greek alphabetic writing throughout the Archaic period, has been studied since at least the late nineteenth century. The subject was transformed by the publication in 1961 of Lilian H. (Anne) Jeffery's Local Scripts of Archaic Greece (reissued with a valuable supplement by A. Johnston in 1990), based on first-hand study of more than a thousand inscriptions. Much important new evidence has emerged since 1987 (Johnston's cut-off date), and debate has continued energetically about all the central issues raised by the book: the date at which the Phoenician script was taken over and filled out with vowels; the priority of Phrygia or Greece in that takeover; whether the takeover happened once, and the resulting alphabet then spread outwards, or whether takeover occurred independently in several paces; if the takeover was a single event, the region where it occurred; if so again, the explanation for the many divergences in local script. The hypothesis that the different scripts emerged not through misunderstandings but through conscious variation has been strongly supported, and contested, in the post-Jeffery era; also largely post-Jeffery is the flourishing debate about the development and functions of literacy in Archaic Greece. Dialectology, the understanding of vocalization, and the study of ancient writing systems more broadly have also moved forwards rapidly. In this volume a team of scholars combining the various relevant expertises (epigraphic, philological, historical, archaeological) provide the first comprehensive overview of the state of the question 70 years after Jeffery's masterpiece.

The Genesis of the Local Alphabets of Archaic Greece

This chapter stresses the importance of the series of letters people actually learnt and taught in the different 'local scripts', together with the series of letter names they learnt by heart. The physical manifestation of this tradition is in abecedaria. The differences between these local alphabets can be explained by three types of reform that took place while the alphabet spread, viz. the adding, reinterpreting, or abolishing of letters. Attention to chronology allows quite precise 'predictions' about the otherwise hidden first years of the alphabet in Greece. Some common views will therefore have to be given up, for instance that the three islands, Thera, Melos, and Crete, which use a particularly archaic type of alphabet, are therefore plausible candidates for particularly early writing. The takeover of the alphabet was a single event, but we will very likely never be able to specify either where or when precisely it took place.

Classical Art

As Panhellenic and local hero, semidivinity or god, Heracles received reverence across Greece and served as patron divinity in many locales. The frequency and survival of his images from across the Greek and Roman worlds unsurprisingly surpasses that of all other mythic figures. After all, he appealed to all genders and strata of society, ranging from slaves to rulers, for example, Pisistratus, tyrant of Athens; the kings of Pontus; and Caracalla. While Heracles’ role in Classical art (archaic Greece through the Roman Empire) is therefore immense, this chapter surveys his appearances in three diverse spheres of activity, namely sport, politics, and the private realm, including music and sexuality.