• « Histoire de la poikilia, un mode de reconnaissance sociale dans la démocratie athénienne »

    Author(s):
    Noémie VILLACEQUE (see profile)
    Date:
    2008
    Group(s):
    Ancient Greece & Rome
    Subject(s):
    Greece, History, Ancient, Economic history, Economics and literature
    Item Type:
    Article
    Tag(s):
    Athens, Democracy, Elites, Athenian Society, Greek economy, Ancient Greek history, Ancient history, Literature and economics
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/M65S6W
    Abstract:
    During the Persian wars, poikilia refers to the gaudy fabrics worn by the Persians ; however, these were not rejected by the Athenian society, since, among the elite’s imported oriental luxury goods, were the heavily embroidered garments they had adopted. Their democratization at the end of 5th c. BC was more concerned with civic imagination than reality. If poikilia in the next century became progressively conceptualized, referring mainly to the idea of « variety » from then on, however, it remained for the elite a means of social recognition. La notion de poikilia renvoie, à l’époque des guerres médiques, aux étoffes bariolées des Perses ; elle n’est cependant pas rejetée par la société athénienne, car, entre autres produits de luxe orientaux, l’élite importe ces vêtements chamarrés et s’en approprie l’esthétique. Leur démocratisation, à la fin du Ve siècle avant J.-C., relève davantage de l’imaginaire civique que de la réalité. Et si, au siècle suivant, la poikilia se conceptualise progressivement, renvoyant désormais surtout à la notion de « variété », elle demeure, pour l’élite, un mode de reconnaissance sociale.
    Metadata:
    Published as:
    Journal article    
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    6 years ago
    License:
    Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives

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