Down from Olympus: Archaeology and Philhellenism in Germany, 1750-1970.

Aus der Bibliothek von Prof. Wolfgang Haase, langj�igem Herausgeber der ANRW und des International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT) / From the library of Prof. Wolfgang Haase, long-time editor of ANRW and the International Journal of the Classical Tradition (IJCT). - Schutzumschlag berieben, leichte Randl�ren, Buchr�cken ausgeblichen, Bleistifteintrag auf Schmutztitel, mit Rezension des Buches / dust jacket rubbed, light edgewear, spine faded, pencil entry on half title, with review of book. - Since the publication of Eliza May Butler�s The Tyranny of Greece over Germany in 1935, the obsession of the German educated elite with the ancient Greeks has become an accepted, if severely underanalyzed, clich�In Down from Olympus, Suzanne Marchand attempts to come to grips with German Graecophilia, not as a private passion but as an institutionally generated and preserved cultural trope. The book argues that nineteenth-century philhellenes inherited both an elitist, normative aesthetics and an ascetic, scholarly ethos from their Romantic predecessors; German �neohumanists� promised to reconcile these intellectual commitments, and by so doing, to revitalize education and the arts. Focusing on the history of classical archaeology, Marchand shows how the injunction to imitate Greek art, especially sculpture, was made the basis for new, state-funded cultural institutions. Tracing interactions between scholars and policymakers that made possible grand-scale cultural feats like the acquisition of the Pergamum Altar, she underscores both the gains in specialized knowledge and the failures in social responsibility that were the distinctive products of German neohumanism. Down from Olympus is unique in its synthetic reach and its diversity of source materials. Alternating chapters treat intellectual and institutional aspects of archaeology and philhellenism, while the history of prehistorical archaeology and German �orientalism� each receives an extensive chapter. Most important, Marchand traces the history of the study, excavation, and exhibition of Greek art as a means to confront the social, cultural, and political consequences of the specialization of scholarship in the last two centuries. Although it emphasizes the persistence of ancient models, Down from Olympus is very much a modern tale. / CONTENTS List of Illustrations Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction ONE The Making of a Cultural Obsession TWO From Ideals to Institutions THREE The Vicissitudes of Grand-Scale Archaeology FOUR Trouble in Olympus FIVE Excavating the Barbarian SIX The Peculiarities of German Orientalism SEVEN Kultur and the World War EIGHT The Persistence of the Old Regime NINE The Third Humanism and the Return of Romantic Aesthetics TEN The Decline of Philhellenism, 1933-1970 Selected Bibliography Index. ISBN 9780691043937