Cultural Identity within the Northern Black Sea Region in Antiquity: (De)constructing Past Identities

The book examines the cultural identity of the northern Black Sea

poleis. The broad chronological perspective used explains the

complex process of the creation of local identities in Greek

apoikiai, examined by a thorough analysis of the self-definition

of the citizens. As the book shows, the self-definition of Black Sea

poleis was expressed through local myths and cults, the

connection to a wider Panhellenic tradition and the relationship with

the local ‘Others’, whose imaginary view was an integral part of the

Greek ‘barbarian repertoire’ that was used creatively in Greek

literature, poetry, theatre and art. This study deconstructs out-dated

approaches that are based on the culture-history tradition, according to

which an ethnos is a stable and continuous unit that can be

described by clear ethnic markers visible in the archaeological

material, offering instead a new approach to the study of multicultural

encounters in the North Pontic region, one that pays attention to

flexibility and the situational nature of ethnic groups and their

boundaries. The picture of North Pontic society that emerges is more

complex and multi-layered than in many previous studies. The hybrid

nature of this society allowed for the creation of local collective

identities that were based on dynamic interaction, conscious strategies

and investment in mutual benefits by the members of the ‘collective’.

The book integrates a significant amount of material published by

Eastern European archaeologists, classicists and historians that is not

readily available to non-Russian speaking Western European scholarship.

A wide range of material for researching ancient societies, literary,

epigraphic, numismatic and archaeological, has been incorporated into

the study.