Greeks Bearing Gifts The Public Use of Private Relationships in the Greek World, 435-323 BC

Mitchell, Lynette G.

ISBN 10: 0521554357 / ISBN 13: 9780521554350

Published by Cambridge University Press, 1997

About this Item

Minor shelf wear. Else a bright, clean copy. Using models from social anthropology as its basis, this book looks at the role of personal relationships in classical Greece and their bearing on interstate politics. It begins with a discussion of what friendship meant in the Greek world of the classical period, and then shows how the models for friendship in the private sphere were mirrored in the public sphere at both domestic and interstate level. As well as relations between Greeks (in particular those in Athens and Sparta), Dr Mitchell looks at Greek relations with those on the margins of the Greek world, particularly the state of Macedon, and with neighbouring non-Greeks such as the Thracians and the Persians. She finds that these other cultures did not always have the same understanding of what friendship was, and that this led to misunderstandings and difficulties in the relations between non-Greeks and Greeks.

Seller Inventory # 2040390

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Greeks Bearing Gifts The Public Use of Private Relationships in the Greek World, 435-323 BC
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication Date: 1997
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521554357
• ISBN 13: 9780521554350
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good
• Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Seller catalogs:
  • Ancient, Greece
  • Ancient & Classical Studies

About this title

Synopsis

Using models from social anthropology as its basis, this book takes a new look at the political role of personal relationships in classical Greece. It examines what friendship and exchange meant in classical Greece, how this differed from gift giving and exchange in non-Greek societies, and what the impact of friends and friendship was on domestic and interstate politics and how the differences in understanding affected Greek relations with their non-Greek neighbors.

Review

"Along with classical scholars, the book will be especially valuable for biblicists interested in the Persian Period and early Hellinism. It clarifies the Hellenistic moorings of what it meant to be a `friend of Caesal' or to call Abraham `the friend of God'." Religious Studies Review