Fun fact: I actually bought my copy of Dover's Greek Homosexuality at a street market in Dar es Salaam in 2006. There must have been a vogue for the classics in Swahili-speaking lands at that time...
Having just read Henrich's book 'The Weirdest People in the World,' I wonder if the way the West broke up kinship networks and traditional clans has something to do with this. We're less likely to define ourselves through genealogy - and perhaps that applies to cultural as well as genetic relationships, to our identity as a culture as well as individuals.
It may be, in any case, that most other cultures just don't construct strange mythical narratives about how they don't descend from the ancients.
A great read. I'll be checking out your book. Do you see the Arabic translation movement under the Islamic Empire as being a continuation of the pre-Islamic education/scholarship efforts of the Sasanian kings?
I like your emphasis on the cross-pollination of ideas sparking intellectual resurgences in areas where the embers of learning had previously died out. Modern framing often makes it seem like these things happened in a vacuum.
Fun fact: I actually bought my copy of Dover's Greek Homosexuality at a street market in Dar es Salaam in 2006. There must have been a vogue for the classics in Swahili-speaking lands at that time...
Having just read Henrich's book 'The Weirdest People in the World,' I wonder if the way the West broke up kinship networks and traditional clans has something to do with this. We're less likely to define ourselves through genealogy - and perhaps that applies to cultural as well as genetic relationships, to our identity as a culture as well as individuals.
It may be, in any case, that most other cultures just don't construct strange mythical narratives about how they don't descend from the ancients.
Very interesting. I feel as though I'm missing out, not having read Henrich's book!
A great read. I'll be checking out your book. Do you see the Arabic translation movement under the Islamic Empire as being a continuation of the pre-Islamic education/scholarship efforts of the Sasanian kings?
I like your emphasis on the cross-pollination of ideas sparking intellectual resurgences in areas where the embers of learning had previously died out. Modern framing often makes it seem like these things happened in a vacuum.
Yes, exactly. In my book, I argue that the Sasanian example inspired the translation movement. Thanks very much for reading!