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Although Greek and Roman economic history has received an expansion of interest in recent decades, particularly buoyed by New Institutional Economics (NIE), the archaic period (c. 700-450 BCE) has been largely left out of this process. This is an unfortunate state of affairs, because the study of the archaic period offers valuable insights into why the Greek polis behaved as it did. The archaic period represents the key juncture in which the institutions that characterize the Greek city state as a historical phenomenon developed. Scholars in recent decades have explored how state authority overtook individual authority in the fields of politics and law, but have not considered the problem from the standpoint of economic history.This dissertation investigates the extent, definition, and use of sacred wealth, particularly in moveable forms, in the archaic Argolid, Corinthia, and Saronic Gulf. I argue that sacred wealth provided a means to build consensus as the city-state began to take on an increasingly abstract existence not tied to any one individual or magistrate. Because sacred wealth was neither privately controlled nor wholly public, it provided an important middle ground that facilitated consensus over the idea of an abstracted sphere of communal wealth. I suggest that this conceptual step was an essential point in the creation of robust stores of public wealth in the hands of the magistrates of the Greek city state.Chapter 1 lays out my orientation towards archaic history and outlines the problems that the study of the archaic economy raises. Chapter 2 studies the terminology for sacred and public wealth across the Greek-speaking world and concludes that archaic public organization is more complex than a survey of any one city would suggest. Chapters 3 and 4 address the archaeological evidence for sacred wealth through studies of temple construction (Chapter 3) and extra-urban sanctuaries (Chapter 4). Temple construction has long raised the question of who was responsible for these vast undertakings. The assumption has long been that private sponsorship was essential to these infrastructural projects, but a reexamination of the epigraphic and literary sources suggests that construction actually attests to a dynamic process of centralizing public, sacred, and private holdings, which provided a concerted shared project that bolstered the sense of the polis as an entity. At the same time, the constructions in the study area are relatively modest in size and elaboration, suggesting limits on the appropriate scope of the public sphere. Chapter 4 examines the phenomenon of public investment in the specific case of extra-urban sanctuaries and finds that shared sanctuaries offered another opportunity for the polis to present itself as a unitary entity with the ability to promote an agenda, despite the complex internal dynamics underlying the history of these sanctuaries. Chapter 5 returns to the epigraphic evidence and examines how moveable sacred wealth was transferred between different physical statuses (as cash, objects, and dedications) and argues that movement between these categories reflects historically contingent anxieties about cash reserves. It is suggested that this pattern informed the polis’ cautious approach to sacred and public wealth in subsequent centuries. Chapter 6 concludes by suggesting that features of the Greek polis that have been seen as economically uninformed or irrational may stem from the social needs of the archaic period as institutions were becoming more complex. Rather than poorly attested predecessor to Classical Greece, the archaic period may hold the key to understanding the peculiar paths along which Greek economic institutions developed.

International audience; Title: A study of individual identity and social change in Archaic Kamiros (Rhodes) based on the necropolises Investigating social changes in Archaic contexts through the lens of mortuary archaeology can be particularly effective, especially in the case of sites where only cemeteries have been explored. This is the case of Kamiros (Rhodes), which yielded little or no evidence of the Archaic city but several necropolises, chronologically ranging from the PG to the Hellenistic period. The crucial moment that I will analyse in this paper is the passage between the Geometric and the Orientalizing periods (8th to 7th cent. BC), when it is possible to observe several transformations in the composition of grave goods and in the spatial distribution of burials. If the G period was characterised by a great variety of necropolises and a strong affirmation of individual identities, the scenario changed radically in the early 7th cent. BC. The aim is to illustrate the funerary customs of an important Archaic Greek site at the moment of polis’ nucleation, in order to define the social changes, choices and actions of specific social groups.; L’étude des changements sociaux dans les contextes archaïques à travers le prisme de l’archéologie mortuaire peut être particulièrement efficace, surtout dans le cas de sites où seuls les cimetières ont été explorés. C’est le cas de Kamiros (Rhodes), qui n’a livré que peu de traces de la ville archaïque, mais plusieurs nécropoles, dont la chronologie va de la période PG à l’Hellénisme. Dans cet article, je me concentrerai plus particulièrement sur le passage entre l’époque géométrique et la période orientalisante (VIIIe - VIIe siècle av. J.-C.). En effet, durant cette période, il est possible d’observer plusieurs modifications dans la composition des assemblages d’objets funéraires ainsi que dans la répartition spatiale des sépultures. Si la période G se caractérise par une grande variété de nécropoles et une affirmation forte des identités individuelles, ce scénario change radicalement au début du VIIe siècle av. J.-C. L’objectif est d’illustrer les coutumes funéraires d’un important site grec archaïque au moment de la formation de la polis, afin de définir les changements sociaux, les choix et les actions de certains groupes sociaux.

Resumo O presente artigo analisa a narrativa do Hino Homérico IV: a Hermes, composto durante o período arcaico (séculos VIII-VI a.C.) sob a luz da Antropologia de Victor Turner, ou seja, como drama social. Destarte, procuramos demonstrar como o hino - um documento religioso - pode ser útil ao estudo do desenvolvimento do pensamento político e jurídico heleno, uma vez que serve de metáfora aos conflitos sociais que ocorriam no arcaísmo, oferecendo uma possibilidade de resolução pacífica dos mesmos através da arbitragem e negociação no espaço público. Abstract This article analyses the narrative Homeric Hymn IV: to Hermes, composed during the Archaic period (8th-6th centuries BC), according to Victor Turner's Anthropology -in other words, as a social drama. In doing so, it portraits how the hymn -a religious document- can be useful to study the development of Hellenic juridical and political thought since it serves as a metaphor to social conflicts that occurred in Archaic Greece and offers them a possibility of pacific resolution by means of arbitration and negotiation in a public setting.

International audience; Out of the 1500 graves brought to light in the archaic cemeteries of the Greek colony of Megara Hyblaea (Sicily), the small sarcophagus T.760 is an exception. Indeed, it yielded a unique moulded aryballos shaped as masculine genitalia. Starting from this atypical discovery, this paper offers a typological and interpretative study of this category of vases often called aidoion. It presents the whole corpus of currently known vases from the 6th century BCE Greek and Etruscan world, both found in graves and sanctuaries. It concludes that they are above all characterized by polysemy, since they appear to be both symbols of masculine nudity and feminine fertility.; Sur plus de 1500 tombes fouillées à ce jour dans les nécropoles archaïques de Mégara Hyblaea (Sicile), le sarcophage d’enfant T.760 constitue une exception : il contenait le seul exemplaire connu sur tout le site d’un vase plastique original, représentant des organes génitaux masculins. Partant de cette découverte atypique, cet article propose une réflexion d’ensemble, à la fois typologique et interprétative, sur cette catégorie de vase à caractère sexuel souvent qualifié d’aidoion, présente de manière très ponctuelle dans les mondes grec et étrusque du vie siècle av. J.-C. en contextes funéraires et votifs. C’est finalement leur nature polysémique qu’il convient de souligner, associée tant au domaine symbolique de la nudité masculine qu’à celui, peut-être davantage féminin, de la fertilité.

The study of early Greek sacrificial rituals is an under-researched field, as previous scholarship has focused in Late Archaic and Classical Greece to understand and reconstruct Greek sacrifice. This thesis is an attempt to complement our knowledge of early Greek sacrificial practices, which are defined here as thysia, holocaust and moirocaust, focusing in the 8th and 7th century Peloponnese. To achieve this goal, all available archaeological and zooarchaeological evidence from the sanctuaries at Olympia, Isthmia, Nikoleika, Mt. Lykaion and Asea, is incorporated. It is argued that the reconstructed sacrificial norm of thysia is not reflected in the early Peloponnesian evidence and a re-evaluation of Greek sacrifice, at least for the Late Geometric–Early Archaic period, is suggested. The second aspect this thesis is to explore social competition in the given chronological and geographical framework through Greek sacrificial rituals. A new theory based on the notion of visibility is applied, according to which the sacrificer aims to promote themself and earn social capital through direct and indirect visibility achieved from the regular performance of sacrificial rites. It is suggested that the level of visibility in sacrifice is dependent on four parameters: sacrificial ritual and meals, sacrificial investment, sacrificial installation and the status of the sanctuary. Tidig grekisk offerritual är ett understuderat område, då forskare framför allt fokuserat på det senarkaiska och klassiska Grekland för att förstå och rekonstruera grekisk offerpraktik. Denna uppsats är ett försök att utöka vår kunskap om tidiga grekiska offer, som här definieras som thysia, holokauster och moirokauster, med fokus på 700- och 600-talen på Peloponnesos. För att uppfylla detta syfte studeras all tillgängligt arkeologiskt och animalosteologiskt material från helgedomarna i Olympia, Isthmia, Nikoleika, Lykaionberget och Asea. Uppsatsen hävdar att den antagna normen för djuroffer i form av thysia inte återspeglas i det tidiga materialet från Peloponnesos och att det därför bör det ske en omvärdering av grekiskt offerbruk, åtminstone vad gäller den sengeometriska och tidigarkaiska perioden. Vidare utforskar uppsatsen hur social konkurrens uttrycktes genom offerritual inom samma period och geografiska område. Här appliceras en ny teori baserad på visibilitet. Enligt denna strävar den som offrar att framhäva sig själv och förvärva socialt kapital genom den direkta eller indirekta visibilitet som erhålls från att regelbundet genomföra offerritualer. Fyra parametrar avgör visibilitetens genomslagskraft: ritualen och de efterföljande måltiderna, investeringen i själva offret, installationer för offrets praktiska genomförande och helgedomens status.

As many scholars have long made clear, the subject of the birth of the polis is intimately related to the question of its very nature. A great variety of diverging models have been proposed. One of these models focuses on the rationality of the Greeks, leading to the idea of a 'city of reason'. This paper explores the implications of this historiographical choice, which has set reason at the core of the development of Greek cities, both for historians and archaeologists. In distancing itself from such an approach, this paper also presents an alternative model by setting competition at the core of the making of early Greek communities.

Funerals in Greece have been a topic of some academic studies. However, these studies did not resolve the question to know whether the funeral practices have been evolved in the archaic and classical era. Through the textual, epigraphic, archaeological and iconographic sources, the article analyzes and shows the evolution of the main funeral rituals. Despite the fragmentary and the discontinuity of the sources, the article concludes that, if it is not all, some funeral practices are not stable during one era and from one era down the other., Les funérailles en Grèce ancienne ne manquent pas d’intérêt au regard des études qui ont été consacrées sur le sujet. Néanmoins, force est de constater que ces travaux ne se sont pas penchés sur la question de l’évolution des rites funéraires privés. En s’appuyant sur les données textuelles, archéologiques, épigraphiques et iconographiques, l’article présente l’essentiel des rites funéraires tout en mettant l’accent sur leur évolution pendant une époque ou d’une époque à une autre. Malgré la discontinuité et le caractère parcellaire des sources, l’article aboutit à la conclusion selon laquelle ces pratiques funéraires privées ne sont pas restées figées durant la période étudiée., Aka Adou Marcel. Pratiques et évolution des rites funéraires privés en Grèce aux époques archaïque et classique. In: Dialogues d'histoire ancienne, vol. 47, n°2, 2021. pp. 149-185.

International audience

International audience

Este trabalho visa analisar fragmentos elegíacos de poetas gregos do período Arcaico que evocam a narrativa de mitos e acontecimentos históricos de modo preponderante. Nesse sentido, busca-se avaliar o papel que a elegia poderia ter na transmissão de conteúdo histórico e tradicional nesse período da Grécia Antiga. Essa investigação é motivada em grande parte pelas relativamente recentes descobertas e edições de papiros contendo fragmentos elegíacos de Simônides de Ceos – obtidos a partir do Papiro de Oxirrinco 3965, editado pela primeira vez em 1992 por Peter Parsons; e de Arquíloco de Paros – obtido a partir do Papiro de Oxirrinco 4708, editado por Dirk Obbink (2006). O papiro de Simônides de Ceos, em especial, reacendeu a perspectiva de que a elegia grega arcaica poderia conter seções narrativas mais extensas do que se imaginava anteriormente. Essa possibilidade havia sido expressa de modo mais incisivo por Ewen Bowie, no artigo “Early Greek Elegy, Symposium and Public Festival” em 1986, que considerava o festival público como um contexto próprio para a apresentação de elegias, no qual poderiam ser apresentadas elegias longas e narrativas. Sua proposta, porém, era baseada apenas em fontes secundárias da antiguidade, não havendo até então nenhum exemplo concreto de uma elegia ou de um fragmento elegíaco claramente narrativo. Porém, o fr. 11 W de Simônides – um dos encontrados no Papiro Oxirrinco 3965 – traz o princípio de uma elegia aparentemente abordando a Batalha de Plateias, um evento decisivo para os gregos nas Guerras Médicas. Esse fragmento contém ainda uma invocação a Aquiles, às Musas e o que parece ser o início de uma narrativa relatando essa batalha. Já o fr. 17(a) Swift de Arquíloco – obtido a partir do Papiro de Oxirrinco 4708 – apresenta uma narrativa mais incerta em relação à sua inserção na economia geral do poema, tratando do episódio mítico do desembarque dos aqueus na Mísia. Esse episódio se daria antes da Guerra de Troia em um momento em que os gregos, desviados de seu caminho para Troia, desembarcam na Mísia – reinada então por Télefo, filho de Héracles – e atacam a região, pensando se tratar de Troia. Esses dois fragmentos abrem, portanto, a possibilidade de reler outros fragmentos elegíacos que poderiam estar inseridos em poemas narrativos. Apoiando-se nos conteúdos dos fragmentos ou em fontes secundárias, são abordados neste trabalho fragmentos que poderiam compor obras como a Esmirneida de Mimnermo, o Hino a Zeus de Calino de Éfeso e a Eunomia de Tirteu. Além disso, são abordados também poetas cuja evidência de autoria de elegias narrativas é mais incerta, como Xenófanes, Sacadas de Argos, Paníassis de Halicarnasso, Íon de Quios, Semônides de Amorgos, Clonas de Tegeia, Árdalo e Meles de Cólofon. Assim, a partir da tradução e do comentário desses fragmentos, propõe-se uma síntese das possibilidades temáticas da elegia narrativa e das ocasiões de performance em que esses poemas poderiam ser apresentados. This work seeks to analyze elegiac fragments of Greek poets of the Archaic period that evoke the narrative of myths and historical events in a preponderant manner. In this way, it aims to evaluate the role that elegy might have had in the transmission of historic and traditional content in this period of Archaic Greece. This investigation is motivated, in a great extent, by the relatively recent discoveries and editions of papyri containing elegiac fragments of Simonides of Ceos – obtained through the Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 3965, edited for the first time by Peters Parsons in 1992 – and Archilochus of Paros – obtained through the Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 4708, edited by Dirk Obbink (2006). The papyrus of Simonides, in particular, revived the perspective that Archaic Greek elegy might contain narrative sections longer than what was previously conceived. This possibility had been expressed in a more incisive manner by Ewen Bowie, in the article “Early Greek Elegy, Symposium and Public Festival” of 1986, which considered the public festival as a genuine context for the performance of elegies, and that long narrative elegies could be performed in it. Bowie’s proposition, however, was based solely on secondary sources, as there was no concrete example of an elegy or an elegiac fragment with clear narrative content. Nonetheless, the fr.11 W – one of those obtained through the Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 3965 – contains the beginning of an elegy apparently detained on the Battle of Plataea, a decisive event for the Greeks in the Greco-Persian Wars. This fragment also has an invocation to Achilles, the Muses, and what seems to be the beginning of a narrative of the battle. The fr. 17(a) Swift – obtained through the Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 4708 – has a narrative section more uncertain in relation to its insertion in the general economy of the poem, which presents the mythical episode of the landing of the Achaeans on Mysia. This episode occurs before the Trojan War when the Greeks, deviated from their path to Troy, land on Mysia – then governed by Telephus, son of Herakles – and attack the locals supposing it was Troy. These two fragments, thus, open the possibility of reading other elegiac fragments that could also be within narrative poems. Based on the content of these fragments and secondary sources, fragments are studied in this work that could be part of works such as the Smyrneis of Mimnermus, the Hymn to Zeus of Calinus of Ephesus, and the Eunomia of Tyrtaeus. Besides, poets whose evidence of authorship of narrative elegies are also considered, such as Xenophanes, Sacadas of Argos, Panyassis of Halicarnassus, Ion of Chios, Clonas of Tegea, Ardalos and Meles of Troezen. Hence, by the translation and the commentary of these fragments, a synthesis of the thematic possibilities of the narrative elegy is proposed, as well as of the occasions of performance in which these poems might have been presented.

The vocabulary used by Parmenides in fragment 2 is for the most part inherited from the Homeric lexicon which shows a practical nature and which logic and syntax it retains. In order to turn this “lexicon of action” into a “lexicon of knowledge”, Parmenides doesn’t operate a resemantisation of each word but changes the level of abstraction of the object of the discourse, the ἐόν, thanks to a metalinguistic reflection on the Homeric text., Cet article se propose de montrer que le lexique utilisé par Parménide dans le fragment 2 DK est pour la plupart tiré d’un vocabulaire déjà homérique, tout à fait «pratique », dont il conserve la cohérence logico-syntactique originelle. La transformation de ce « lexique de l’agir » en « lexique de la connaissance » , que Parménide met en oeuvre, n’est pas réalisée par une resémantisation de chacun des mots, mais en changeant, grâce à une réflexion métalinguistique sur le texte homérique, le niveau d’ abstraction de l’objet du discours, l’ἐόν., Stella Fabio. Parménide, fragment 2 DK : du lexique de l’agir au lexique de la connaissance. In: Dialogues d'histoire ancienne, vol. 46, n°2, 2020. pp. 51-73.

Throughout the history of classical scholarship, the research into the presupposed historical testimonial value of the Homeric poems – Iliad and Odyssey, has been founded upon the need to empirically confirm the contents of the epics, or at least some of their elements, as a historical reality; the archaeological study has been geared towards the confirmation through material evidence. The first part of the paper lays out the circumstances and research trends that caused this approach to Homer as a historic source. Apart from archaeology, an important role in the formulation of the problem of Homeric epics was played by Milman Parry’s anthropological approach, establishing the oral character of Homer’s language. Although this conclusion remains key to understanding Homer as a historical source, other important conclusions of the study in oral tradition have remained largely unexplored from the perspective of archaeological research. Therefore, in the second part of the paper the proposition is put forward to approach the testimonial value of the Homeric poems from a more general anthropological perspective, leading to alternative paths to the archaeological understanding of Homer. The epics will be presented as an historical source for understanding the cultural change indicated by the fact that the relatively long continuity of oral transmission of the poems entered a new chapter during the Archaic period, when due to the new technology of writing, they were translated from the oral to written medium of communication.