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1 results

  • 3 - A Less Problematic Canon

  • Reviel Netz, Stanford University, California
  • Book:
    Why the Ancient Greeks Matter
    Published online:
    06 February 2025
    Print publication:
    06 February 2025, pp 85-150

  • Summary

    Literary canons are neither the embodiment of transcendent values nor the artificial construct of gatekeepers. They are produced by deep social and poetic forces. The Greek emphasis on performativity meant that the new Athenian democracy became hyper-performative with its drama and speeches and outspoken figures such as Socrates. This riveted attention in the Greek world and, as Athenian political power disappeared, Athens’ soft power could not be replaced (since new sites of power were not as publicly performative). This created a Greek model of culture as a sphere autonomous from the state, predicated on the internal friction of the democratic city. This made possible a science based on debate. Replicated by later cultural traditions, it provided the model for Roman otium, for scientific debates from the Islamic world onward and for the rise of modern European civil society.