The Cultures within Ancient Greek Culture

This book challenges the conventional perception of ancient Greece as the paradigm for unified models of culture.

Originally published in 2003, The Cultures within Ancient Greek Culture challenges the conventional perception of ancient Greece as the paradigm for unified models of culture. It offers an alternative view of archaic and classical Greece, one in which the contact, conflict and collaboration of a variety of 'sub-cultures' combine to comprise what we understand as 'Greekness'. This volume argues for the recognition and analysis of cultural contact within Greece, focussing on the micromechanics of cultural exchange, the permeability of cultural boundaries, and the significance of Delphi's geographically marginal, yet symbolically central location as an 'internal contact zone'. Through attention to everyday practices and professions, the essays reveal important ways of conceiving of diversity within Greek culture, ranging from the non-elite culture of athletic trainers to the competing musical cultures at work in fifth-century Athens.