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

This book casts light on a wide range of evidence for novelty and innovation in ancient Greece. It embraces disciplines ranging from music to warfare, and ideas spanning pluralism and competitive advantage. Evidence from Greek thought, art and history is examined to illuminate novelty in ancient Greece and beyond.

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.