The Multiple Antiquities of Greek Modernity (19th–21st Century)

This volume explores the multiple perceptions of Hellenic antiquity in modern Greece, a central yet contested aspect of modern Greek national identity ever since the foundation of the Greek state in 1830. How did the various disciplines of modern Greek classical scholarship cultivate conceptions of Hellenic antiquity that suited the national narrative of the continuity of Greek history? In what ways did modern Greeks engage with and adapt Western European ideas about ancient Greece? How were the dominant views of Hellenic antiquity reinforced or challenged by alternative perspectives appearing within scholarship, but also in the arts and the public sphere? And how was Hellenic antiquity turned into a commodity that could be consumed and exploited in the tourism industry as well as in Greece’s relations with other countries? By bringing together specialists from a wide spectrum of disciplines to address such questions, the volume aims to shed light on the diversity of modern Greek perceptions of ancient Greece and their usages from the 19th to the 21st century.