Money and the Early Greek Mind: Homer, Philosophy, TragedyCambridge University Press, 11 mar 2004 - 370 pagine How were the Greeks of the sixth century BC able to invent philosophy and tragedy? In this book Richard Seaford argues that a large part of the answer can be found in another momentous development, the invention and rapid spread of coinage, which produced the first ever thoroughly monetised society. By transforming social relations monetisation contributed to the ideas of the universe as an impersonal system, fundamental to Presocratic philosophy, and of the individual alienated from his own kin and from the gods, as found in tragedy. |
Sommario
Introduction | 1 |
THE GENESIS OF COINED MONEY | 21 |
Homeric transactions | 23 |
Sacrifice and distribution | 48 |
Greece and the ancient Near East | 68 |
Greek money | 88 |
The preconditions of coinage | 102 |
The earliest coinage | 125 |
Did politics produce philosophy? | 175 |
Anaximander and Xenophanes | 190 |
The many and the one | 217 |
Heraclitus and Parmenides | 231 |
Pythagoreanism and Protagoras | 266 |
Individualisation | 292 |
Appendix was money used in the early Near East? | 318 |
References | 338 |
Parole e frasi comuni
abstract Achilles Aeschylus Agamemnon Anaximander Anaximander's ancient animal sacrifice apeiron Aristotle associated Athenian Athens booty bronze Burkert century BC chrēmata circulation coin-mark coinage coins commodities communal contrast cosmology cosmos Creon currency dedication deity Dionysus distribution drachmas earliest early Near East economic electrum embodied epic equivalent evidence exchange factor gifts gods gold Greek Greek money Haarer Heraclitus Hesiod Homer homogeneous humankind impersonal implies important individual inscriptions invisible Kanish kind Kraay limit logos Lydian means measure of value Mesopotamian Milesian moira monetary value monetisation money functions monism myth nomisma objects Odysseus opposites ousia Parmenides payment Philolaus philosophy Plato Plut polis political power of money precious metal premonetary presocratic Protagoras Pythagorean reciprocity redistribution refers ritual sanctuaries Seaford seal seal-mark seems self-sufficiency sense silver sixth century social Solon soul spits staters symbolic temple things trade tradition transactions transcendent transformation tyrant unlimited various wealth word Xenophanes Zeus