The Dance of the Islands: Insularity, Networks, the Athenian Empire, and the Aegean World (Oxford Classical Monographs)

Christy Constantakopoulou examines the history of the Aegean islands and changing concepts of insularity, with particular emphasis on the fifth century BC. Islands are a prominent feature of the Aegean landscape, and this inevitably created a variety of different (and sometimes contradictory) perceptions of insularity in classical Greek thought. Geographic analysis of insularity emphasizes the interplay between island isolation and island interaction, but the predominance of islands in the Aegean sea made island isolation almost impossible. Rather, island connectivity was an important feature of the history of the Aegean and was expressed on many levels. Constantakopoulou investigates island interaction in two prominent areas, religion and imperial politics, examining both the religious networks located on islands in the ancient Greek world and the impact of imperial politics on the Aegean islands during the fifth century. This book examines the history of the Aegean islands and the changing concepts of insularity in the late archaic and classical period, with particular emphasis on the 5th century and the period of Athenian imperial control over the Aegean world. The predominant presence of islands in the Aegean geographic landscape inevitably created a variety of different and sometimes even conflicting perceptions of insularity. Using the theoretical concept of network, the book examines the religious networks of the insular world of the Aegean (Calauria and Delos) and their later transformation into networks of imperial control for 5th-century Athens. Athenian control over the islands transformed the concept of insularity in Greek thought and even provided powerful imagery for Athenian self-representation, exemplified in the metaphor of the ‘island of Athens’. Imperial Athens may have strengthened some aspects of the concept of insularity, such as ‘weak island’ or ‘safe island’, but beyond imperial politics, there also lay a world of frequent interaction outside the sphere of mainstream political narrative. The book examines the cases of island-networking on a micro-political and economic level, as well the interaction between islands and their mainland dependencies, the peraiai A study of the history of the Aegean islands and changing concepts of insularity, with particular emphasis on the fifth century BC. Island connectivity was expressed on many levels - Constantakopoulou investigates island interaction in the areas of religion and imperial politics in particular. - ;Christy Constantakopoulou examines the history of the Aegean islands and changing concepts of insularity, with particular emphasis on the fifth century BC. Islands are a prominent feature of the Aegean landscape, and this inevitably created a variety of different (and sometimes contradictory) percepti This Is A Study Of The History Of The Aegean Islands And Changing Concepts Of Insularity, With Particular Emphasis On The 5th Century Bc. Island Connectivity Was Expressed On Many Levels - Constantakopoulou Investigates Island Interaction In The Areas Of Religion And Imperial Politics In Particular. Christy Constantakopoulou. Revision Of The Author's Thesis (dphil--oxford University, 2002) Presented Under Title: The Dance Of The Islands: Perceptions Of Insularity In Classical Greece. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [264]-309) And Indexes.