Diego De Brasi, Amphilochios Papathomas, Theofanis Tsiampokalos (eds.), Fake News in Ancient Greece. Forms and Functions of ‘False Information’ in Ancient Greek Literature, Berlin - Boston, 2025
Both the contemporaneity of fake news and the attention it has received in public and academic de... more Both the contemporaneity of fake news and the attention it has received in public and academic debate often feel unprecedented. However, while the term 'fake news' and the specific concept as we understand it today are modern, embedded in societies characterized by the existence of mass media, significant aspects of this phenomenon can be traced in various facets of ancient Greek society, aspects which even appear to have occasionally become objects of reflection, analysis, and further development by various ancient writers. By delving into the rich historical tapestry of ancient Greece, this volume seeks to uncover the history, mechanisms, and impacts of false information within a culture possessing a wide-ranging literary tradition that spans many centuries and genres. This collection of papers has its origins in a double conference that took place in June 2022 in Trier, Germany, and in September 2022 in Athens, Greece. These events provided a unique platform for classicists, historians, philosophers, and papyrologists from Trier University and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens to engage in fruitful discussions, share research findings, and together read and analyze various texts documenting or depicting the spread of false information in ancient Greece, always against the backdrop of what is nowadays known as 'fake news'. The entire project was generously funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) under the program "Hochschuldialog mit Südeuropa." We express our heartfelt gratitude to the DAAD for its financial support, which made this international collaboration possible. When reviewing the most recent output in the field of classics, it becomes evident that there has been a resurgence of interest in ancient information environments over the past few years. It is our hope that this volume will serve as a significant resource, inspiring further research and dialogue on the topic of misinformation in ancient contexts and its implications for understanding 'fake news' today.
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Books by Frank Daubner
The book examines themes such as the formation of Hadrian’s Hellenic self-fashioning, the use of Hellenism in imperial policy, the institutional logic of the Panhellenion, the religious and political significance of Antinous, and the reception of Hadrian’s Hellenism from late antiquity to the present. Throughout, it demonstrates that Hellenism under Hadrian was not a static inheritance or a matter of aesthetic preference alone, but a flexible and historically productive language of power, legitimacy, prestige, and memory.
By treating these themes within a single analytical framework, Hadrian and Hellenism offers a new interpretation of the emperor as a ruler who did not merely admire Greek culture but used it to imagine, organize, and memorialize an empire.
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Papers by Frank Daubner
This article examines how societies establishing maritime power often create narratives of maritime traditions and historical achievements. Using Euripides' Ion as a case study, it analyzes how Athens constructed its past to legitimize its hegemony over the Delian League. Written around 410 BCE during a critical phase of the Peloponnesian War, when Athens faced mass defections of allied cities, Euripides' play represents an attempt to reshape Ionian genealogical myth. The playwright made Ion—traditionally the son of the Thessalian Xuthos—into a legitimate Athenian, the son of Apollo and the Athenian princess Creusa. This "new myth" subordinated all Ionians and even Dorians to Athenian ancestry, portraying Athens as the mother city of the greatest colonization movement in the Aegean world and the oldest maritime power. However, this radical mythological innovation ultimately failed to gain acceptance. The article situates this case within the broader theoretical framework of "invented traditions" and intentional history, demonstrating how communities create or modify past narratives to respond to present crises, compensate for legitimacy deficits, and mobilize collective identity.