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Society and contemporary culture seem forever fascinated by the topic of time. In modern fiction, Ian McEwan (The Child in Time) and Martin Amis (Time's Arrow) have led the way in exploring the human condition in relation to past, present and future. In cinema, several cultural texts (Memento, Minority Report, The Hours) have similarly reflected a preoccupation with temporality and human experience. And in the sphere of politics, debates about the 'end of history', prompted by Francis Fukuyama, indicate that how we live is deeply determined by our relationship not only to place but also to the passing of time. But what did the ancients think about time? Is our interest in chronology a relatively recent phenomenon? Or does it go further back? In his major new work, Duncan Kennedy indicates that our own fascination with time-reckoning is by no means unique. Discussing a number of key texts (such as Homer's Odyssey; Sophocles' Oedipus Rex; Virgil's Aeneid; and Ovid's Metamophoses) and imaginatively setting these side-by-side with modern works (such as Sterne's Tristram Shandy and Joyce's Ulysses), he shows that, from era to era, and in different ways, human beings have uniformly striven to understand the unfolding of history and their relationship to it.
This study examines how cities have become an area of significant historical debate about late antiquity, challenging accepted notions that it is a period of dynamic change and reasserting views of the era as one of decline and fall.
This collection of articles is an important milestone in the history of the study of time conceptions in Greek and Roman Antiquity. It spans from Homer to Neoplatonism. Conceptions of time are considered from different points of view and sources. Reflections on time were both central and various throughout the history of ancient philosophy. Time was a topic, but also material for poets, historians and doctors. Importantly, the contributions also explore implicit conceptions and how language influences our thought categories.
Time in Antiquity offers a detailed survey of the science of time and its measurement in the Greek and Roman worlds, including Babylon and Egypt where many of the first advances were made. Robert Hannah focuses on the physical aspects of time measurement, locating the means of measurement, and the astronomers who developed these mechanisms, within their scientific context for the first time. This is a unique contribution to the understanding of the ancient world and its thinking, and is of interest to classicists, historians of the ancient world and of science, philosophers, and anthropologists.
Greek and Roman stories of origin, or aetia, provide a fascinating window onto ancient conceptions of time. Aetia pervade ancient literature at all its stages, and connect the past with the present by telling us which aspects of the past survive "even now" or "ever since then". Yet, while the standard aetiological formulae remain surprisingly stable over time, the understanding of time that lies behind stories of origin undergoes profound changes. By studying a broad range of texts and by closely examining select stories of origin from archaic Greece, Hellenistic Greece, Augustan Rome, and early Christian literature, Time in Ancient Stories of Origin traces the changing forms of stories of origin and the underlying changing attitudes to time: to the interaction of the time of gods and men, to historical time, to change and continuity, as well as to a time beyond the present one. Walter provides a model of how to analyse the temporal construction of aetia, by combining close attention to detail with a view towards the larger temporal agenda of each work. In the process, new insights are provided both into some of the best-known aetiological works of antiquity (e.g. by Hesiod, Callimachus, Vergil, Ovid) and lesser-known works (e.g. Ephorus, Prudentius, Orosius). This volume shows that aetia do not merely convey factual information about the continuity of the past, but implicate the present in ever new complex messages about time.
Time stands at the heart of human experience. In this book, new investigations illuminate the gamut of human engagement with time in antiquity.
"Clock time", with all its benefits and anxieties, is often viewed as a "modern" phenomenon, but ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern cultures also had tools for marking and measuring time within the day and wrestled with challenges of daily time management. This book brings together for the first time perspectives on the interplay between short-term timekeeping technologies and their social contexts in ancient Egypt, Babylon, Greece, and Rome. Its contributions denaturalize modern-day concepts of clocks, hours, and temporal frameworks; describe some of the timekeeping solutions used in antiquity; and illuminate the diverse factors that affected how individuals and communities structured their time.
Many cultures embrace the elderly; revering them as wise sources of experience and wisdom. In the United States however, youth, vitality and the ability to be independent are largely the greater prize. In our endless effort to retain all that embraces the attributes of younger generations, those who have grown older are often pushed aside; perceived as a hindrance and even an inconvenience. Our hectic lives often leave us feeling intolerant of those we once depended upon. This societal impatient attitude has aided in the ever growing production of retired communities and elderly housing where those who require assistance are cared for by paid staff. Once placed in these facilities, daily activity typically coupled with one's earlier years often slip away and with it, wisdom and knowledge achieved through years of life experience are lost, not shared. Of course there are many situations where continual medical assistance in a controlled environment is necessary; however, there are also many competent souls longing to be included in the activity of life. Unfortunately group or convalescent homes are usually isolated from residential neighborhoods and the general population. Yet it is well documented that to maintain sound mind and body is to remain interactive. The visual deception of a body no longer capable can lead to the conclusion that the mind is of the same. In this process of removal and separation, knowledge, wisdom and years of experience are gathered under one roof with little chance of their valued information reaching younger generations. Of course there are also those folks in their later years who simply want to retreat from main stream society, lose their watch and get away from the hustle of the modern day clock. That's a personal choice I wouldn't challenge, but equally, there are many left isolated in a room, longing for interaction more often than the annual Girl Scout Christmas carolers visit. Rather than separating older populations, imagine elderly establishments incorporated into the fabric of youthful communities where both paid and volunteer job opportunities are readily accessible. Within mainstream society, older employees are often replaced by younger opportunities bearing 'fresh ideas' touting technical superiority. This often leads to a sense of uselessness followed by inactivity and deterioration. Yet older people sometimes acquire attributes that cannot be graded and framed, but can only be realized through time and experience. Patience and understanding of life's struggles can be shared with the young and inexperienced. Older residents can become resources of assistance and insight through various job opportunities throughout the community. Local educational facilities may tap into their life skill talents to be shared with those wanting and needing to learn. Physical exercise associated with holding a job would naturally strengthen the body and mind. Studies on the oldest people living in various cultures throughout the world share a common denominator; daily work activity and social interaction carried on consistently just as they had in their youth. Integrating physical work and education stimulates the human state increasing longevity while sharing wisdom for younger generations preparing to embark on life. The benefit of integration over isolation is not only extended life, but the fact that they can contribute as active members in society offering an exchange of information for preceding generations. By interlacing generations a newfound respect may ensue, resulting in a 'tightening of the infamous gap' between young and old which can only enrich our society.