Archaic Poetry

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Kinyras: The Divine Lyre is also available online through the CHS website: http://chs.harvard.edu/CHS/article/display/6329. The web version, however, does not have page numbers, so that internal cross-references cannot be easily followed. Hence the PDF here.

The alleged testimony of Alcaeus about the mercenary service of his brother Antimenidas in the Neo-Babylonian army has long served as the inspiration for a range of theories concerning the possible employment of Greek mercenaries in Near Eastern armies and their assumed role in the transfer of eastern influences to Greece during the Archaic period. A careful reassessment of Alcaeus' fragments and Strabo's testimony as well as the historical and archaeological evidence at hand suggests that there is little reason to believe that Antimenidas served Nebuchadnezzar II as a mercenary, and the evidence is certainly insufficient to conclude that Greek mercenaries were routinely employed in the Neo-Babylonian army.

The study of the iron smith’s craft and its productive
process has attracted little interest in the context of
Ancient Greece. Although many pioneering studies were
conducted, both on literary evidence and limited archaeological
data, the rest remain practically unknown. The
earliest iron objects in the Aegean appear in the 2nd millennium,
but the beginnings of this metallurgical production
raises many questions, both in terms of chronology
and of the material and cultural conditions of his development.
Numerous regions across the Aegean are rich in
raw materials, but the presence of archaeometallurgical
remains suggests two pioneering areas: firstly the northern
Aegean, especially Thasos, and secondly the Peloponnese
(Laconia, Argolid, etc.). The major role of Sparta seems to
be confirmed by the existing archaeometallurgical studies,
but the question of exchanges in raw materials remains
crucial. We hope that our concise synopsis, on the basis
of the existing data, would stimulate the development of
further research.
La recherche sur la Grèce ancienne s’est peu préoccupée
de l’artisanat du fer et de ses procédés de production.
Même si plusieurs études pionnières ont été réalisées,
aussi bien sur les textes que sur des données archéologiques
limitées, tout reste pratiquement à faire. Si les objets en fer
apparaissent dans l’Égée dès le IIe millénaire, les débuts de
la métallurgie du fer posent de nombreuses questions, tant
pour leur date que pour les conditions matérielles et culturelles
de son évolution. De nombreuses régions de Grèce
sont riches en matières premières mais les vestiges archéométallurgiques
montrent pour l’instant deux grandes
zones pionnières : d’une part le Nord de l’Égée, surtout
Thasos, et, d’autre part, le Péloponnèse (Laconie, Argolide
etc.). Le rôle majeur du fer laconien semble confirmé par
l’archéométallurgie, tandis que la question des échanges
de matières premières reste cruciale. Nous espérons qu’un
premier tableau, à partir des éléments connus par les travaux
en cours, pourra stimuler le développement de nouvelles
recherches.