Description
Festivals of all types, including athletic and religious festivals, contribute to a sense of belonging and identity at a local level and are a way of creating connectivity at a regional and trans-regional level. The Hellenistic period sees a spectacular rise of festival culture in the Greek world. In the region of Thessaly this involved the creation of new festivals and evidence for the involvement of more people competing from around the Mediterranean. Victor lists from the region, however, indicate that certain events are only won by Thessalians. Does this point to inequality for who could compete in these events, or does this indicate something else? This paper studies the victor lists from Thessaly to discuss these possible inequalities in the festivals and how this may have been an indication of identity formation among the people of Thessaly. I examine these various inscriptions, to determine familial ties and social status, as well as to perform network analysis where possible to determine if particular areas were represented more strongly at the games.My analysis of victors in Thessaly demonstrates the complexities of equality at these games, and how identity formation in the region may have been impacted as a result. The victors in these games may have originated from a variety of locations, but the complexities of social status seem to indicate that not every victor was in fact equal and may indicate why only Thessalians were winning these equestrian events.
| Periode | 11-jul.-2023 → 14-jul.-2023 |
|---|---|
| Evenementstitel | Celtic Conference in Classics |
| Evenementstype | Conference |
| Conferentienummer | 14 |
| Locatie | Coimbra, PortugalToon op kaart |
| Mate van erkenning | International |