Foundation Myths and Politics in Ancient Ionia [Hardcover]

Considers foundation myths in ancient Ionia, exploring issues of identity, ethnicity and the negotiation of cultural differences.Uses the stories of their foundation circulating among the populations of the Greek cities of Ionia to argue that they conceptualised cultural differences in a much more fluid, flexible and heterogeneous way than the Athenians, whose model of binary oppositions has tended to dominate subsequent scholarship on the Greeks.Uses the stories of their foundation circulating among the populations of the Greek cities of Ionia to argue that they conceptualised cultural differences in a much more fluid, flexible and heterogeneous way than the Athenians, whose model of binary oppositions has tended to dominate subsequent scholarship on the Greeks.This book examines foundation myths told about the Ionian cities during the archaic and classical periods. It uses these myths to explore the complex and changing ways in which civic identity was constructed in Ionia, relating this to the wider discourses about ethnicity and cultural difference that were current in the Greek world at this time. The Ionian cities seem to have rejected oppositional models of cultural difference which set in contrast East and West, Europe and Asia, Greek and Barbarian, opting instead for a more fluid and nuanced perspective on ethnic and cultural distinctions. The conclusions of this book have far-reaching implications for our understanding of Ionia, but also challenge current models of Greek ethnicity and identity, suggesting that there was a more diverse conception of Greekness in antiquity than has often been assumed.1. Introduction: identity and the construction of cultural difference; 2. Foundation myths and politics; 3. Ionia; 4. Miletus: violence and bloodshed; 5. Chios and Samos: land and island; 6. Colophon and Ephesus: founding mothers; 7. Being Ionian: the Ionian League, Ionian migrations, and Smyrna; 8. Conclusions.