Kinship Diplomacy in the Ancient World

Heroic figures such as Heracles, Perseus, and Jason were seen by the Greeks not as mythical figures but as real people who in a bygone age traveled the world, settled new lands, and left descendants who, generation after generation, could trace their ancestry back to the "time of heroes." From the Homeric age to Byzantium, peoples and nations sharing the same fictive ancestry appealed to their kinship when forging military alliances, settling disputes, or negotiating trade connections. In this intriguing study of the political uses of perceived kinship, Christopher Jones gives us an unparalleled view of mythic belief in action.

About the author

Christopher P. Jones is George Martin Lane Professor of the Classics and of History, Emeritus, at Harvard University.

Summary

In this study of the political uses of perceived kinship from the Homeric age to Byzantium, Jones provides an unparalleled view of mythic belief in action and addresses fundamental questions about communal and national identity.

Product details

• Authors: C. P. Jones, Christopher P. Jones
• Publisher: GB Gardners Books
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 01.01.1999
• EAN: 9780674505278
• ISBN: 978-0-674-50527-8
• No. of pages: 202
• Weight: 334 g
• Illustrations: w. 5 figs.
• Series: Revealing Antiquity; Revealing Antiquity; Revealing Antiquity (HUP)
• Subject: Humanities, art, music > History > General, dictionaries