Se trata de un artículo para una enciclopedia anglosajona donde se explica el surgimiento de la etnografía en la antigua Grecia y su relación con la historia antigua

Albaladejo Vivero, Manuel

Repositori d'Objectes Digitals per a l'Ensenyament la Recerca i la Cultura

Ethnography and ancienthistoryMANUEL ALBALADEJO VIVERORomanticism is the starting point of modernscientific historiography in the field of Greekethnography. Mu¨ller, steeped in the intellectualclimate of his time, wrote of the “spiritualnature of a people,” in reference to the Dorians,and attempted an approach to the literarysources that in certain respects foreshadowedthe positivist school (Mu¨ller 1824).The publication by Mu¨ller of the GeographiGraeci Minores constituted a milestone inGreek ethnography. In these secondary geo-graphic works, there is a large amount ofethnographic material, very much to the tasteof the Hellenic tradition. Riese performeda similar job with the minor Latin geographers(Mu¨ller 1855–61).The second half of the nineteenth centurywasthe high point of the positivist approach to theclassical texts. In this context, the contributionsby Bunbury (1879) in regard to ancient geog-raphy and McCrindle (1901) in regard to theimage of India in the classical authors standout. The work of Berger (1880, 1903) on themythical cosmography of the Greeks, on theirscientific discoveries and, especially, his studyof ERATOSTHENES’ geographical fragments weremore in keeping with scientific criteria anda philological underpinning. In this period,Nissen’s work on Italic ethnography was alsoimportant (Nissen 1883).In the early twentieth century, Detlefsen’swork on the sources employed by Pliny andthe work done by Tru¨dinger, who made a goodattempt to summarize the development ofethnography in Greece and Rome, were twooutstanding contributions (Detlefsen 1908,1909). On the other hand, Schroeder wrotea brief study of ethnography in Rome(Schroeder 1921). Shortly afterwards, Jacobymade his major contribution with the projectof publishing all the surviving accounts andfragments of the Greek historians togetherwith his commentaries (Jacoby 1923–58).In particular, the first part of Die Fragmenteder griechischen Historiker was devoted togenealogy and mythography, the secondto chronological history, and the third tohorography and ethnography. In spite of aspace having been specifically dedicated to eth-nography in this third part, there is actuallyethnographic information in a large number ofthe authors included, beginning with the firstof them, the logographer Hecataeus. Alongsidethe huge task undertaken by Jacoby, Diller’scompilation of minor geographers shouldalso be remembered (Diller 1952).In regard to the first half of the twentiethcentury in Germany, mention must be made,first of Aly (1921, 1957), author of a majormonograph on HERODOTUS and various studieson Strabo, and second, Schulten (1955–57),who studied ancient ethnography in theIberian Peninsula. Schulten’s work was carriedon after his death by Tovar (1974–89) andopened up the way for subsequent generationsof historians of ancient HISPANIA.In the English-speaking world, theground-breaking work of Lovejoy and Boas(1935), which was part of a research projectinto the history of primitivism and the ideaslinked to it, must also be highlighted. Boththese authors distinguished between descrip-tions of a “soft” way of life, not far removedfrom the concept of the “noble savage” avant lalettre, and a “hard” one connected with theideas of barbarism and the struggle for survival.After the Second World War, Nenci preparedan edition of the fragments of Hecataeus thatwas very widely used, together with Jacoby’s(Nenci 1954; Jacoby 1923–58). In Germany,the work carried out by the researcher Dihle,author of numerous articles about Greekethnography, which he summarized in avolume that appeared in 1994, was particularlyimportant.In the late 1960s, at a time of inter-racialconflicts in the United States, Snowden (1970)published a monograph on the perception ofblack people in the classical world, in which heThe Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,and Sabine R. Huebner, print pages 2531–2534.© 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah081761reached the conclusion that in that periodcolor had not been an element of segregationor racial prejudice.Moving on to the 1970s, mention must bemade of various monographs, such as the oneby Mu¨ller (1972–80), who sought to updateand extend the study by Tru¨dinger. For hispart, Momigliano (1975) published a work inhis mature years, in which he condensed a largepart of his thoughts on the geographical devel-opment of Greek culture and its contacts withCelts, Hebrews, and Iranians. Mention alsodeserves to be made of the critical edition ofthe fragments of POSEIDONIOS by Edelstein andKidd (1972–99); in the present context, histreatment of Poseidonios in regard to Celticethnography is important. Dion (1977) dealtwith the political aspects of ancient geography,while Ramin investigated the points of contactbetween mythology and geography. Janni(1978) wrote a monograph on the pygmies inclassical literature. Lastly, Desanges (1978)produced an influential study exploring thecontact between Mediterranean and Africanpeoples, in which he reviewed all the ancientsources concerning this, particularly the eth-nographic accounts (see EXPLORATION).The 1980s beganwith awork ofmajor impor-tance: Hartog’s analysis of Herodotus’ descrip-tion of the Scythians. In this book, he explainshow this people were cast in the role of thereverse image of Greek reality. A few yearslater, also in France, Pe´dech (who also wrotea general work on the geographical imaginaryof the Greeks) devoted a monograph to Alexan-der’s historians, who compiled a large amountof ethnographic material on the regions knownto those who accompanied the Macedonianking in the course of his campaign (Pe´dech1984). For his part, Ballabriga (1986) madea study of the image of the universe (heaven,earth, and hell) in Greek mythology.Studies of the figure and work of Strabowere given a fresh boost in the latter decadesof the twentieth century by the work done inPerugia by Prontera (1992) (who also wrote animportant study of peripli), and Prontera andMaddoli (1984–86) and Biraschi (1994), towhich should be added the monograph by theIsraeli Dueck (2000).As for Mela, Parroni (1984) and Silberman(1988), each published commentated editionsof his Chorographia.The Finnish scholar Kartunnen (1989, 1997)began his project of publishing various mono-graphs on the conception of India in Greece andRome; so far, his well-documented studies havecovered the period up until the Hellenistic era.In 1988, a meeting took place at the HardtFoundation on Herodotus and the non-Greekpeoples, and two years later the subsequentvolume, edited by Burkert (1990), waspublished, in which some of the world’sleading specialists dealt monographicallywith various issues present in this author’sethnography.In the 1990s, following the collapse of theSoviet bloc and the emergence of phenomenasuch as nationalism in eastern Europe, severalstudies looked at ethnic identity in ancientGreece. Hall (1997, 2002) attempted to dem-onstrate the dynamic operation of the anthro-pological and cultural mechanisms employedin shaping a given ethnic group.Romm (1992, 1998) published a work on theouter confines of the world in ancient thought,in which his diachronic treatment of regionssuch as India and Ethiopia, and fabulouspeoples such as the Hyperboreans, is of specialnote. He also showed how Greeks and Romansregarded geography (and, within it, ethnogra-phy)more as a literary genre than as a branch ofscience. A few years later, this author broughtout a monograph on Herodotus.The interest in analysing Greek ethnographyin the twenty-first century is plain to see in theproject of publishing volume V of the newedition of FGrHist by an international teamunder the direction of Gehrke.SEE ALSO: Genealogy (Greece); Historiography,Greek and Roman; Orality, oral culture, andhistoriography.2REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGSAly, W. (1921) Volksma¨rchen, Sage und Novelle beiHerodot und seinen Zeitgenossen: eineUntersuchung u¨ber die volkstu¨mlichen Elementeder altgriechischen Prosaerza¨hlung. Go¨ttingen.Aly, W. (1957) Strabon von Amaseia:Untersuchungen u¨ber Text, Aufbau und Quellender Geographika. Bonn.Ballabriga, A. (1986) Le soleil et le tartare: L’imagemythique du monde en Gre`ce archaı¨que. Paris.Berger, H. (1880) Die geographischen Fragmentedes Eratosthenes. Leipzig.Berger, H. (1903) Geschichte der wissenschaftlichenErdkunde der Griechen 2. Leipzig.Biraschi, A. M. (1994) Strabone e la Grecia. Naples.Bunbury, E. H. (1879) A history of ancientgeography, vols. I–II. London.Burkert, W. (1990) He´rodote et les peoples nongrecs: Neuf expose´s suivies des discussions. Geneva.Desanges, J. (1978) Recherches sur l’activite´ desMe´diterrane´ens aux confins de l’Afrique. Rome.Detlefsen, D. (1908) Die Geographie Afrikas beiPlinius und Mela und ihre Quellen. Die Formulaeprovinciarum, eine Hauptquelle des Plinius. Berlin.Detlefsen, D. (1909) Die Anordnung dergeographischen Bu¨cher des Plinius und ihreQuellen. Berlin.Dihle, A. (1994) Die Griechen und die Fremden.Munich.Diller, A. (1952) The tradition of the minor Greekgeographers. Lancaster, PA.Dion, R. (1977) Aspects politiques de la ge´ographieantique. Paris.Dueck, D. (2000) Strabo of Amasia. A Greek manof letters in Augustan Rome. London.Edelstein, L. and Kidd, I. G. (1972–99) Posidonius.Cambridge.Hall, J. M. (1997) Ethnic identity in Greekantiquity. Cambridge.Hall, J. M. (2002) Hellenicity: between ethnicityand culture. Chicago.Hartog, F. (1980) Le miroir d’He´rodote: essaie surla repre´sentation de l’autre. Paris.Jacoby, F. (1923–58) Die Fragmente dergriechischen Historiker, vols. I–III. Leiden.Janni, P. (1978) Etnografia e mito: la storia deipigmei. Rome.Karttunen, K. (1989) India in early Greekliterature. Helsinki.Karttunen, K. (1997) India and the Hellenisticworld. Helsinki.Lovejoy, A. O. and Boas, G. (1935) Primitivismand related ideas in antiquity. Baltimore.McCrindle, J. W. (1901) Ancient India as describedin classical literature. Westminster.Momigliano, A. (1975) Alien wisdom: the limits ofHellenization. Cambridge.Mu¨ller, K.O. (1824) Die Dorier, vols. I–II. Breslau.Mu¨ller, K. E. (1855–61) Geographi Graeci Minores,vols. I–II. Paris.Mu¨ller, K. E. (1972–80) Geschichte der antikenEthnographie und ethnologischen Theoriebildungvon den Anfa¨ngen bis auf die byzantinischenHistoriographen, vols. I–II. Wiesbaden.Nenci, G. (1954) Fragmenta/Hecataei Milesii.Florence.Nissen, H. (1883) Italische Landeskunde. Berlin.Parroni, P. (1984) Pomponii Melae Dechorographia libri tres/introduzione, edizionecritica e commento. Rome.Pe´dech, P. (1976) La ge´ographie des grecs. Paris.Pe´dech, P. (1984) Historiens compagnonsd’Alexandre: Callisthe`ne, One´sicrite, Ne´arque,Ptole´me´e, Aristobule. Paris.Prontera, F. (1992) “Periploi: sulla tradizionedella Geografia nautica presso i greci.” In L’uomoe il mare nella civilta` occidentale: da Ulisse aCristoforo Colombo: 26–44. Genoa.Prontera, F. and Maddoli, G. (1984–86) Strabone:contributi allo studio della personalita`e dell’opera, vols. I–II. Perugia.Ramin, J. (1979) Mythologie et Ge´ographie.Paris.Riese, A. (1878) Geographi latini minores.Heilbronn.Romm, J. S. (1992) The edges of the Earth inancient thought: geography, exploration, andfiction. Princeton.Romm, J. S. (1998) Herodotus. New Haven.Schroeder, A. (1921) De ethnographiae antiquaelocis quibusdam communibus observationes. Halle.Schulten, A. (1955–57) Iberische Landeskunde,vols. I–II. Strasbourg.Silberman, A. (1988) Chorographie/PomponiusMela. Paris.Snowden, F. M. (1970) Blacks in antiquity:Ethiopians in the Greco-Roman experience.Cambridge, MA.Tovar, A. (1974–89) Iberische Landeskunde, vols.I–III. Baden-Baden.Tru¨dinger, K. (1918) Studien zur Geschichteder griechisch-ro¨mischen Ethnographie.Basel.3

Ethnography and Ancient History

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Repositori d'Objectes Digitals per a l'Ensenyament la Recerca i la Cultura