LFU:online

Critical assessment of different kinds of sources and key debates on colonization and Western Greek foundations; presentation of a seminar paper; development of analytical perspectives and own critical points of view

The notion of ‘Greek colonization’ has fallen into disrepute, as both parts of the term entail severe problems. As far as the noun is concerned, ‘colonization’ is misleading and conceptualizes the settlements along the shores of the Mediterranean in terms of modern colonialism. Regarding the adjective it is highly questionable that the settlers who took up residence in South Italy, Sicily or present-day Libya in the eighth and seventh centuries BC already subscribed to an overarching ‘Hellenic’ identity. When and under which circumstances did a feeling of commonality arise among the Western Greeks of later generations and how did they construct the origins of their settlements retrospectively? Which role did the experience of contact with non-Greek populations play in this process? To which extent were these Western Greek identities linked to the mother cities in the Greek homeland and how did they affect the quite tardy formation of a Panhellenic, i.e. overall Greek identity? These questions have stirred a lively debate among scholars, and we want to tackle them with several case studies, e.g. the foundation of Cyrene and Naxos as well as the significance of the Panhellenic sanctuary of Olympia for the Western Greek cities. On the basis of literary, epigraphic, and archaeological sources, we will explore the potentials as well as the limitations of the extant sources. Moreover, we will discuss more recent key literature on colonization and the Western Greek foundations.

Combination of lecture, reading tasks, and presentations of the participants 

Evaluation of participation in discussions, presentation of seminar paper and final essay

To be announced in the first lesson

Online registration required (registration limit of 25 participants)