Racism In Ancient Greece Essay
What role did racism and tribalism play in Ancient Greece?
Abstract:
This essay sets out to investigate the types and extent of racism and tribalism that existed in Ancient Greece. This is a topic over which there has been considerable debate. Most modern scholarship converges around the belief that racism in its modern form, which is largely concerned with biological, physiological and physiognomic factors, did not have much of a place in Ancient Greece. By way of method, this essay considers some of the main arguments put forward by scholars alongside several of the most important contemporary sources, such as Plato’s ‘Republic’ and ‘Laws’, and Aristotle’s ‘Politics’. The findings of this essay suggest that racism in the modern sense did not exist in Ancient Greece, but that there was …show more content…
It is a strong position, supported by figures such as Max Weber, who pointed to the systematic exclusion, on cultural grounds, of those Greeks and non-Greeks who were not ‘urban, clan-associated, and militarily trained warriorship’ (Weber 1922: 1285-90, cited in Bakaoukas 2005). Beard (2007) also adopts a cultural argument, claiming the ancient Greeks had ‘no general idea of social, cultural or intellectual inferiority based on the colour of a person’s skin’, but rather on cultural practices such as speech, hygiene, and diet. This is why the ‘Greeks painted a contemptuous picture of the Persians as trousered, decadent softies who wore far too much perfume’, all of which are cultural manifestations of inferiority (Beard 2007). It is pertinent that in its early form the Greek word ‘barbarian’ (‘barbarous’) meant ‘speaking another language’, a cultural rather than biological marker (Bakaoukas 2005: 10). In short, it seems likely that what has often been called racism among the ancient Greeks was actually cultural discrimination, or something akin to
Abstract:
This essay sets out to investigate the types and extent of racism and tribalism that existed in Ancient Greece. This is a topic over which there has been considerable debate. Most modern scholarship converges around the belief that racism in its modern form, which is largely concerned with biological, physiological and physiognomic factors, did not have much of a place in Ancient Greece. By way of method, this essay considers some of the main arguments put forward by scholars alongside several of the most important contemporary sources, such as Plato’s ‘Republic’ and ‘Laws’, and Aristotle’s ‘Politics’. The findings of this essay suggest that racism in the modern sense did not exist in Ancient Greece, but that there was …show more content…
It is a strong position, supported by figures such as Max Weber, who pointed to the systematic exclusion, on cultural grounds, of those Greeks and non-Greeks who were not ‘urban, clan-associated, and militarily trained warriorship’ (Weber 1922: 1285-90, cited in Bakaoukas 2005). Beard (2007) also adopts a cultural argument, claiming the ancient Greeks had ‘no general idea of social, cultural or intellectual inferiority based on the colour of a person’s skin’, but rather on cultural practices such as speech, hygiene, and diet. This is why the ‘Greeks painted a contemptuous picture of the Persians as trousered, decadent softies who wore far too much perfume’, all of which are cultural manifestations of inferiority (Beard 2007). It is pertinent that in its early form the Greek word ‘barbarian’ (‘barbarous’) meant ‘speaking another language’, a cultural rather than biological marker (Bakaoukas 2005: 10). In short, it seems likely that what has often been called racism among the ancient Greeks was actually cultural discrimination, or something akin to