RETHINKING THE OTHER IN ANTIQUITY ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ MARTIN CLASSICAL LECTURES ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ The Martin Classical Lectures are delivered annually at Oberlin College through a foundation established by his many friends in honor of Charles Beebe Martin, for forty-fi ve years a teacher of classical literature and classical art at Oberlin. John Peradotto, Man in the Middle Voice: Name and Narration in the Odyssey Martha C. Nussbaum, The Therapy of Desire: Theory and Practice in Hellenistic Ethics Josiah Ober, Political Dissent in Democratic Athens: Intellectual Critics of Popular Rule Anne Carson, Economy of the Unlost: (Reading Simonides of Keos with Paul Celan) Helene P. Foley, Female Acts in Greek Tragedy Mark W. Edwards, Sound, Sense, and Rhythm: Listening to Greek and Latin Poetry Michael C. J. Putnam, Poetic Interplay: Catullus and Horace Julia Haig Gaisser, The Fortunes of Apuleius and the Golden Ass: A Study in Transmis- sion and Reception Kenneth J. Reckford, Recognizing Persius Leslie Kurke, Aesopic Conversations: Popular Tradition, Cultural Dialogue, and the Invention of Greek Prose Erich Gruen, Rethinking the Other in Antiquity RETHINKING THE OTHER IN ANTIQUITY ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ Erich S. Gruen p r i n c e t o n u n i v e r s i t y p r e s s p r i n c e t o n a n d o x f o r d Copyright 2011© by the Trustees of Oberlin College Requests for permission to reproduce material from this work should be sent to Permissions, Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxford- shire OX20 1TW press.princeton.edu All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gruen, Erich S. Rethinking the other in antiquity / Erich S. Gruen. p. cm. — (Martin classical lectures) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-691-14852-6 (hardcover : acid-free paper) 1. Greeks—Attitudes—History—To 1500. 2. Romans—Attitudes—History—To 1500. 3. Aliens—Greece—Public opinion—History—To 1500. 4. Aliens—Rome—Public opinion— History. 5. Greece—Civilization—To 146 B.C.—Foreign infl uences. 6. Rome—Civilization— Foreign infl uences. 7. Culture confl ict—History. 8. Civilization, Classical. I. Title. CB251.G78 2011 930.1—dc22 2010014739 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available This book has been composed in Janson Text Printed on acid-free paper. ∞ Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To the memory of Joan B. Gruen, who remains ever a vital part of my life This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ List of Illustrations xi Acknowledgments xiii Introduction 1 PART I. IMPRESSIONS OF THE “OTHER” CHAPTER ONE Persia in the Greek Perception: Aeschylus and Herodotus 09 Aeschylus’ Persae 09 Herodotus 21 Some Visual Representations 40 CHAPTER TWO Persia in the Greek Perception: Xenophon and Alexander 53 Xenophon’s Cyropaedia 53 Alexander and the Persians 65 CHAPTER THREE Egypt in the Classical Imagination 76 Herodotus 76 Diodorus 90 Assorted Assessments 99 Plutarch 111 CHAPTER FOUR Punica Fides 115 The Hellenic Backdrop 116 In the Shadow of the Punic Wars 122 The Manipulation of the Image 132 The Enhancement of the Image 137 CHAPTER FIVE Caesar on the Gauls 141 Prior Portraits 141 The Caesarian Rendering 147 viii CONTENTS CHAPTER SIX Tacitus on the Germans 159 Germans and Romans 159 Interpretatio Romana? 169 CHAPTER SEVEN Tacitus and the Defamation of the Jews 179 The Question 180 Tacitean Irony 187 CHAPTER EIGHT People of Color 197 Textual Images 197 Visual Images 211 PART II. CONNECTIONS WITH THE “OTHER” CHAPTER NINE Foundation Legends 223 Foundation Tales as Cultural Thievery 224 Pelops 227 Danaus 229 Cadmus 233 Athenians and Pelasgians 236 Rome, Troy, and Arcadia 243 Israel’s Fictive Founders 250 CHAPTER TEN Fictitious Kinships: Greeks and Others 253 Perseus as Multiculturalist 253 Athens and Egypt 265 The Legend of Nectanebos 267 Numidians and the Near East 272 CHAPTER ELEVEN Fictitious Kinships: Jews and Others 277 The Separatist Impression 277 The Bible’s Other Side 287 Ishmaelites and Arabs 299 Jews and Greeks as Kinsmen 302 CONTENTS ix CHAPTER TWELVE Cultural Interlockings and Overlappings 308 Jews and Greeks as Philosophers 308 Jewish Presentations of Gentiles 325 Phoenicians and Greeks 341 Roman Adaptation and Appropriation 343 Conclusion 352 Bibliography 359 Index of Citations 385 Subject Index 403