Down from Olympus: Archaeology and Philhellenism in Germany, 1750-1970

Suzanne L. Marchand

Published by Princeton University Press 1996

Down from Olympus

Archaeology and Philhellenism in Germany, 1750-1970

Suzanne L. Marchand

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400843688

Overview
Contents

About this book

Since the publication of Eliza May Butler's Tyranny of Greece over Germany in 1935, the obsession of the German educated elite with the ancient Greeks has become an accepted, if severely underanalyzed, cliché. In Down from Olympus, Suzanne Marchand attempts to come to grips with German Graecophilia, not as a private passion but as an institutionally generated and preserved cultural trope. The book argues that nineteenth-century philhellenes inherited both an elitist, normative aesthetics and an ascetic, scholarly ethos from their Romantic predecessors; German "neohumanists" promised to reconcile these intellectual commitments, and by so doing, to revitalize education and the arts. Focusing on the history of classical archaeology, Marchand shows how the injunction to imitate Greek art was made the basis for new, state-funded cultural institutions. Tracing interactions between scholars and policymakers that made possible grand-scale cultural feats like the acquisition of the Pergamum Altar, she underscores both the gains in specialized knowledge and the failures in social responsibility that were the distinctive products of German neohumanism.

This book discusses intellectual and institutional aspects of archaeology and philhellenism, giving extensive treatment to the history of prehistorical archaeology and German "orientalism." Marchand traces the history of the study, excavation, and exhibition of Greek art as a means to confront the social, cultural, and political consequences of the specialization of scholarship in the last two centuries.

Author / Editor information

Suzanne L. Marchand is Associate Professor of History at Louisiana State University. She is the author of numerous essays on the history of anthropology, archaeology, and classical scholarship in Germany and Austria and is the coauthor of the world history textbook Worlds Together, Worlds Apart (W. W. Norton).

Reviews

"Superb. . . . A sobering book, one marked by its scholarly care and narrative brilliance."

"A rich and welcome contribution to German cultural history. . . . A must-read for anyone interested in . . . the history of philhellenism and archaeology in Germany."---Spencer Moore, American Anthropologist

"Impressive. . . . Marchand's work will fascinate historians, philosophers, literary theorists, and . . . Humanists. . . . It provides . . . the definitive study of the historical decline of German 'institutional philhellenism.'"---Josef Chytry, American Historical Review

"An enormously rich and stimulating book. . . . It is a masterly study of an important chapter of the classical Greek bearings on the modern world."---Craige Champion, Classical World

"One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 1997"

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Publicly Available Download PDF	xv
INTRODUCTION Publicly Available Download PDF	xvii
ONE. The Making of a Cultural Obsession Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
TWO. From Ideals to Institutions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	36
THREE. The Vicissitudes of Grand-Scale Archaeology Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	75
FOUR. Trouble in Olympus Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	116
FIVE. Excavating the Barbarian Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	152
SIX. The Peculiarities of German Orientalism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	188
SEVEN. Kultur and the World War Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	228
EIGHT. The Persistence of the Old Regime Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	263
NINE. The Third Humanism and the Return of Romantic Aesthetics Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	302
TEN. The Decline of Philhellenism, 1933-1970 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	341
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	377
INDEX Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	391

Language: English
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;College/higher education;
Pages
- Main content: 424
Illustrations
- Other: 35 halftones
Keywords: Althoff; Friedrich; Aristotle; Bersu; Gerhard; Bildung; Brunn; Heinrich; cast collections; Catholicism; Delbriick; Richard; Djemal Pasha; Dorpfeld; Wilhelm; Egyptology; excavation agreements; George; Stefan; Gerhard; Eduard; Freytag; Hermann; Gymnasium; Hamdi Edhem; Herder; J. G.; Homer; Ishtar Gate; Jaspers; Karl; Koldewey; Robert; Lachmann; Karl; Lebensphilosophie; museums; natural sciences; neohumanism; Pausanias; Plato; Reichslimeskommission; Schede; Martin; Troeltsch; Ernst; Weber; Max

eBook

Published: June 30, 2020
ISBN: 9781400843688