The Greeks and the New : Novelty in Ancient Greek Imagination and Experience

"The Greeks have long been regarded as innovators across a wide range of fields in literature, culture, philosophy, politics and science. However, little attention has been paid to how they thought and felt about novelty and innovation itself, and to relating this to the forces of traditionalism and conservatism which were also present across all the various societies within ancient Greece. What inspired the Greeks to embark on their unique and enduring innovations? How did they think and feel about the new? This book represents the first serious attempt to address these issues, and deals with the phenomenon across all periods and areas of classical Greek history and thought. Each chapter concentrates on a different area of culture or thought, while the book as a whole argues that much of the impulse towards innovation came from the life of the polis which provided its setting"-- Provided by publisher Cover 1 Title 5 Copyright 6 Dedication 7 Contents 9 Acknowledgements 11 Introduction 13 Chapter 1 New, new, new 23 Novelty in Greek culture 24 'New’: word and concept 31 The psychology of novelty 39 Dimensions of novelty 44 Chapter 2 Loosening the grip of the past 48 The grip of the past 53 Novelty and time 55 Novelty and multiplicity 61 Nothing new 64 Songs new chariot? 69 Conclusions 73 Chapter 3 The transformations of Kaineus 76 Two words for new 78 The emergence of kainos 83 The myth of Kaineus 86 The mark of qāyin 91 Chapter 4 Old and new 97 The Pythagorean table 102 Old and young 110 Old versus new 114 Kaina kai palaia 116 Chapter 5 Nothing new under the sun 120 What's new under the sun 121 Cycles of novelty 124 Cycles of nature 128 Ex arkhēs 131 Thinking new thoughts (1) 134 Thinking new thoughts (2) 138 Ex oriente novitas 141 Chapter 6 The birth of Athena 146 The brainchild of Zeus 150 The radiance of the new 153 Novelty and wonder 160 The shock of the new 162 Birth into the new 169 Chapter 7 Inventions of Eris 174 Serious play 178 The gleam of glory 182 Innovation in battle 185 Inventions of war 189 Inventions of peace 191 Conclusions 193 Chapter 8 The newest song 196 The discourse of novelty 202 Prin and nūn - then and now 207 A tradition of innovation 210 New music, new sounds 214 Chapter 9 Constructions of novelty 219 Novelty in the air 223 The innovationist turn 228 chapter 10 So what's new? 237 References 245 General index 259 Index of Greek terms 265 Index locorum 267 Machine generated contents note: 1. New, new, new; 2. Loosening the grip of the past; 3. The transformations of Kaineus; 4. Old and new; 5. Nothing new under the sun; 6. The birth of Athena; 7. Inventions of Eris; 8. The newest song; 9. Constructions of novelty; 10. So what's new?