Class in Archaic Greece - Softcover

Rose, Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1108459269 ISBN 13: 9781108459266

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2018

Synopsis

Archaic Greece saw a number of decisive changes, including the emergence of the polis, the foundation of Greek settlements throughout the Mediterranean and Black Sea, the organization of panhellenic games and festivals, the rise of tyranny, the invention of literacy, the composition of the Homeric epics and the emergence of lyric poetry, the development of monumental architecture and large scale sculpture, and the establishment of 'democracy'. This book argues that the best way of understanding them is the application of an eclectic Marxist model of class struggle, a struggle not only over control of agricultural land but also over cultural ideals and ideology. A substantial theoretical introduction lays out the underlying assumptions in relation to alternative models. Material and textual remains of the period are examined in depth for clues to their ideological import, while later sources and a wide range of modern scholarship are evaluated for their explanatory power.

About this title

Review:

'A serious, reasoned, economic analysis.' London Review of Books

'... a critical review of the scholarly literature on the emergence of Archaic political institutions ... Rose's admonition to classicists to make the study of antiquity relevant to contemporary social and political concerns is imperative.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Book Description:

Provides a fresh and unapologetically Marxist approach to the history of one of the formative periods of Western civilization, which saw the invention of politics, the spread of Greek culture over most of the Mediterranean, the invention of literacy, epic, lyric, highly influential architecture, sculpture and painting.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1108459269
• ISBN 13: 9781108459266
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 454