| Abstract [eng] |
The doctoral dissertation addresses the question of Panhellenic identity, which reveals itself in the works of Greek historiographers of Classical period: Herodotus’ Histories; Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War; and numerous works of Xenophon: History of Greece, Anabasis, Education of Cyrus, Agesilaus, and Constitution of the Spartans. Although the Greeks did not have a term for what we now refer to as “Panhellenism”, there is one mention of the term Panhellenes (Πανέλληνες), which is used to include all the Greek oikoumene with its geographical, ethnical, and cultural spaces. However, the biggest problem concerning the question of Panhellenic identity is the fact that it emerges not as formed and clearly defined, but as being in a state of continuous formation. That is to say, various models of Panhellenic identity do not allow for a clear expression of the grounds on which the Greeks formed their identity, and which features and qualities they considered to be the essence of their Greekness (τὸ Ἑλληνικόν). Different models of identity – whether a genealogical model based on mythology, a cultural model construed by the opposition of what is Greek against what is barbarous, a polis-model, or a values-based model – all express an implicit idea of Panhellenic identity that is not as clearly defined, which in turn is extrapolated from the works of Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon. |
