Overview
This research strand investigates dynamics of deference and distinction in inter-personal and inter-class relations. We examine how class identities were constructed, performed, and contested through cultural practices and everyday social interactions.
The strand pays particular attention to popular culture and morality in their entanglement with religion, allowing for a more thorough investigation of the attitudes of the lower classes and the ideological weaponry at their disposal for restraining the powerful.
Embodied Class Markers
Class distinctions in ancient Greece were visible and embodied. This strand explores:
- Demeanour: How posture, gait, and bearing signalled social status
- Clothing: Dress codes and sumptuary practices across classes
- Grooming: Hair, beards, and bodily presentation as class markers
- Speech: Linguistic registers and rhetorical styles associated with different groups
Cultural Tastes and Practices
We investigate how cultural preferences structured and expressed class identities:
- Musical tastes: The social meanings of different musical forms and instruments
- Athletics: Gymnasium culture and athletic competition as sites of class negotiation
- Communal eating: Symposia, public dining, and the politics of commensality
- Religious participation: Festival culture and its class dimensions
Restraining the Powerful
A key focus is popular mechanisms for controlling elite behaviour:
- Challenges to notions of the “envy of the poor”
- Accusations of hybris against the wealthy
- Festival contexts (comedy and tragedy) as spaces for popular critique
- Religious and moral discourse as ideological resources for the non-elite
Team Members Involved
- Mirko Canevaro — Principal Investigator
- Douglas Cairns — Co-Investigator (Cultural History)