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This lecture addresses the question of how ancient peoples conceived or expressed a sense of their own national identity. In the polyglot and multicultural world of the Mediterranean, the values and features that gave identity to a group were constantly in flux and evolving. The construct of a collective identity depends on distinguishing one’s own nation or culture from that of the “Other,” a form of denigration or demonization of the “alien” in order to establish distinctiveness and superiority. Such conceptualizing and stereotyping led Greeks to disparage “barbarians,” Jews to deprecate gentiles, Egyptians to scorn lesser societies, and Romans to presume divine sanction for subordinating all inferior peoples to themselves. The lecture, however, endeavors to see another side to this story and to tease out of the texts signs of a more open-minded attitude in which ancient peoples saw themselves as part of a larger cultural heritage, in which they stressed links with others and even couched their own historical memories in terms of a past (often legendary) borrowed or appropriated from other societies. That is what I term “identity theft.”
About Programs at the Ancient Art Council
Programs are varied and include such activities as lectures by noted archaeologists, museum curators, and ancient art historians; exclusive tours of the Museum’s permanent collection and special exhibitions; fund-raising events; and travel programs to ancient sites and other museums. Members also receive invitations from related organizations to attend lectures ad exhibition openings. Your annual membership dues and contributions will assist in furthering the Ancient Art collection at the Fine Arts Museums.
PROGRAM
November 5, 2011 at 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Identity Theft in the Ancient Mediterranean
Florence Gould Theater, Legion of Honor
Presented by Dr. Erich Gruen Gladys Rehard Wood Professor of History and Classics Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley
Admission:
Lecture is free and open to the public: Donations are always welcome