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SUMMARY:Spitting in your (monumental) face: political infighting at the ce
 ntre of the ancient Greek world -  Michael Scott
DTSTART:20080304T131500Z
DTEND:20080304T140000Z
UID:TALK10069@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:T.S. Thompson
DESCRIPTION:In the ancient Greek world\, the sanctuary site of Delphi was 
 often spoken of as the mythical centre of the world. But a centre for what
 ? Ancient literature\nspeaks of a place in which individuals\, cities and 
 states could come together from across a fractured and conflictual Greek w
 orld and achieve a panhellenic\nunity. But is that the truth? In this talk
 \, I examine the material evidence from the sanctuary which suggests a ver
 y different picture. Far from being a place of harmonious interaction\, De
 lphi actively encouraged strong and vicious opposition and in-fighting amo
 ngst its visitors. They jostled for prime position in front of the god Apo
 llo\, the ruler of the sanctuary\, and struggled to out-do one another in 
 the lavish nature of their gifts to the god. The\nsanctuary was awash with
  gold\, silver\, marble and ivory\, but it was precious material forged in
  the heat of monumental combat rather than philanthropic\ntogetherness. Th
 e question now becomes - if not peace and goodwill to all men\, what can D
 elphi teach us all today?
LOCATION:Entertaining Room\, Darwin College
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