Megarian Moments. The Local World of an Ancient Greek City-State

Abstract

Situated near the main traffic artery in Central Greece and surrounded by poleis that were more powerful, the ancient city-state of Megara was often a punching bag of others. In neighbouring Athens in particular, the Megarians were subject to all sorts of slander and expressions of chauvinism. The people of Megara, by default, had their own assessment of the world and their role in it. A highway to others, the Megarid, was a rich source of meaning and orientation to its inhabitants. This local backdrop, often misunderstood as petty or irrelevant, constituted a unique local discourse environment. Rather than telling a narrative history of Megara – unravelling its local history, as it were –, this volume delves into the local discourse of this ancient city. The various contributions all shed light on the prevailing identity of place, on what it meant to be from Megara. In doing so, the book unpacks the vibrant local life in a Greek city-state. In their endeavour to break the code of a local discourse and recreate its environment, the editors and authors also invite readers to rethink approximations toward the pluriverse of poleis in Greek Antiquity.