This thesis is an examination of how Greek tyranny in the fourth century and the early Hellenistic age was influenced by Achaemenid Persia and the Ancient Near East. The introduction lays out the problems of interpreting the Ancient Near East through Greco-Roman sources, via Ephippus' description of Alexander the Great, as well as discussing two important examples of Persianisation that have been examined in detail in the past: Pausanias of Sparta and Alexander the Great. The relevant Classical Greek and Achaemenid sources concerning Persian kingship are then considered, in order to establish four categories by which to examine the tyrannical dynasties chosen as case studies: Appearance, Accessibility, Dynasty and Military Function. Using these four categories, the dynasties of the Dionysii of Syracuse, the Clearchids of Heraclea Pontica, the Hecatomnids of Caria and Agathocles of Syracuse, chosen for their geographical and temporal variance, are examined individually over the next four chapters. Appearance concerns the ruler's dress and body presentation, the use of status items such as crowns and sceptres, and the display of luxury. Accessibility concerns the use of architecture and fortifications, as well as court protocol and bodyguards, in order to control access to the ruler. Dynasty concerns family trees, marriages and the role of women, and the role of close family and subordinates in important administrative positions. Military Function concerns the role of the ruler in warfare as well as power symbols, titles and epithets. The analysis of the tyrannies taken altogether using the same categories forms the basis of the subsequent chapter, and allows for comparison with the Achaemenid Persian evidence in order to determine whether there is any significant correlation. This chapter also examines the potential methods of transmission. The thesis concludes that there are significant similarities in some aspects of tyrannical rule with that of Achaemenid kingship, and demonstrates that tyrants were engaging in the political and philosophical discourse of the era. The 'royal nature' as demonstrated by Xenophon proves to be something that tyrants aspire to, without becoming kings in name. The thesis also concludes that thinking of Greek tyrants in rigid characterisation is no longer acceptable, whether temporally as alter and junger tyranny, or geographically as Greek rulers of Greek cities with no contextual influence.

In the following study I reappraise the nineteenth century Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt (1818-1897). Burckhardt is traditionally known for having served as the elder colleague and one-time muse of Friedrich Nietzsche at the University of Basel and so his ideas are often considered, by comparison, outmoded or inapposite to contemporary currents of thought. My research explodes this conception by abandoning the presumption that Burckhardt was in some sense "out of touch" with modernity. By following and significantly expanding upon the ideas of historians such as Allan Megill, Lionel Gossman, Hayden White, Joseph Mali, John Hinde and Richard Sigurdson, among others, I am able to portray Burckhardt as conversely inaugurating a historiography laden with elements of insightful social criticism. Such criticisms are in fact bolstered by virtue of their counter-modern characteristic. Burckhardt reveals in this way a perspicacity that both anticipates Nietzsche's own critique of modernity and in large part moves well beyond him. Much of this analysis is devised through a genealogical approach to Burckhardt which places him squarely within a cohesive branch of post-Kantian thought that I have called heterodox post-Kantianism. My study revaluates Burckhardt through the alembic of a "discursive" post-Kantian turn which reinvests many of his outré ideas, including his radical appropriation of historical representation, his non-teleological historiography, his various pessimistic inclinations, and additionally, his non-empirical, "aesthetic" study of history, or "mythistory," with a newfound philosophical germaneness. While I survey the majority of Burckhardt's output in the course of my work, I invest a specific focus in his largely unappreciated Greek lectures (given in 1869 but only published in English in full at the end of the twentieth century). Burckhardt's "dark" portrayal of the Greeks serves to not only upset traditional conceptions of antiquity but also the manner in which self-conception is informed through historical inquiry. Burckhardt returns us then to an altogether repressed antiquity: to a hidden, yet internal "dream of a shadow." My analysis culminates with an attempt to reassess the place of Burckhardt's ideas for modernity and to correspondingly reexamine Nietzsche. In particular, I highlight the disparity between Nietzsche's and Burckhardt's reception of the "problem of power," including the latter's reluctance - which was attended by ominous and highly prescient predictions of future large-scale wars and the steady "massification" of western society - to accept Nietzsche's acclamation of a final "will to power." Burckhardt teaches us the value of history as an active counterforce to dominant modern reality-formations and in doing so, his work rehabilitates the relevance of history for a world which, as Burckhardt once noted, suffers today from a superfluity of present-mindedness.

Cette thèse cherche à mettre en évidence les raisons qui ont amené une large part des ateliers grecs à orientaliser leurs productions durant la "période orientalisante" (VIIe siècle avant J.-C.). La méthode déployée pour répondre à cet objectif consiste en une contextualisation sociale des artisanats orientalisants, laquelle s'effectue par le biais de l'analyse d'un certain nombre de contextes archéologiques et de textes. Une fois le rôle des objets orientalisants dans la société proto-archaïque mis en évidence, leurs raisons d'être apparaissent plus clairement.<p>Le développement de la citoyenneté en Grèce à partir de la seconde moitié du VIIIe siècle avant J.-C. a donné lieu à une extension du pouvoir politique et militaire à une part plus importante de la population des cités. La propagation de ce qui constituait autrefois les principaux modes de reconnaissance a amené les élites à développer de nouvelles façons de se distinguer dans le paysage social. Dans un même temps, les citoyens de chaque cité ont développé des institutions communales, telles que les cultes civiques et les repas en commun, afin d'unifier le groupe qu'ils formaient et de renforcer le fossé qui séparait celui-ci du reste de la société. Le travail de contextualisation entrepris dans cette thèse a montré que l'art orientalisant constituait un outil facilitant la mise en place de ces deux évolutions.<p>D'une part, parce qu'ils faisaient explicitement allusion aux cultures du Proche-Orient, dont les richesses exerçaient une réelle fascination sur les Grecs de cette époque, les objets orientalisants permettaient de rehausser le prestige de leurs propriétaires. Autrement dit, ils constituaient des modes de reconnaissance sociale particulièrement efficaces. De nombreuses données archéologiques et textuelles ont permis de confirmer ce point de vue, mettant en évidence que les objets orientalisants étaient utilisés lors de banquets prestigieux, comme offrandes ostentatoires aux dieux et aux morts, ou encore pour contenir de précieux parfums. <p>D'autre part, en tant qu'esthétique nouvelle, complètement libérée des formes géométriques utilisées durant les siècles précédents, l'art orientalisant figurait également au rang des pratiques censées unifier la citoyenneté. Cette seconde conclusion a été mise en évidence au travers de l'étude du cas de la Crète, où, au VIIe siècle, l'art orientalisant a en grande partie été utilisé dans le cadre d'institutions civiques :les banquets publics, les cultes civiques, et les guerres.<p><p><p><p>This dissertation aims at the understanding of the reasons lying behind the orientalization of artefacts in Greece during the so-called "Orientalizing period" (i.e. the 7th cent. BC). In order to achieve this goal, the author focused on archaeological contexts and textual information. They allowed him to replace the orientalizing objects back in their original social context and to understand their initial purposes. <p>The birth of the citizenship in Greece at the end of the 8th cent. BC gave rise to the extension of the political and military power to a wider part of the population. This created a need for the former elite to develop other means of social distinction. Conversely, the communities of citizens developed communal institutions, like civic cults, communal dinners, etc. meant to cement and to level the group, and to reinforce the gulf that separated it from the rest of the society. This thesis showed that orientalizing art contributed to the setting up of these changes. <p>On one hand, because Greek orientalizing artefacts explicitly alluded to Near Eastern cultures, that were indeed perceived as being particularly rich at that time by the Greeks, they could enhance the individual prestige of the people using them. Archaeological research confirmed this hypothesis, showing that Greek orientalizing objects were used during conspicuous banquets, as lavish offerings for the dead and the gods, and for containing precious perfumes. <p>On the other hand, as artefacts decorated in a new style, completely freed from the geometric aesthetics displayed in the previous centuries, orientalizing objects also figured among the practices developed for strengthening the citizens’ corps. This second conclusion was reached through the study-case of Crete, where orientalizing art of the 7th cent. seems nearly exclusively used in a context of civic institutions :public banquets, civic cults and festivals, and wars.<p><p> / Doctorat en Histoire, art et archéologie / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished