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Document Details : Title: Rehabilitating Homer's Phoenicians Subtitle: On Some Ancient and Modern Prejudices against Trade Author(s): PEACOCK, Mark Journal: Ancient Society Volume: 41 Date: 2011 Pages: 1-29 DOI: 10.2143/AS.41.0.2129562 Abstract : Trade in Homeric society is held to be dishonourable. Its disreputable nature allegedly explains Homer’s unfavourable portrayal of Phoenicians, the main purveyors of trade in the epics. I examine six aspects of trade which scholars cite as explanations for Phoenicians’ poor standing. None provides a convincing explanation because Greek wealth acquisition shares many of the allegedly disreputable characteristics of its Phoenician counterpart. Rather than accept a Homeric ‘double standard’ (the same activities being judged positively when carried out by Greeks, negatively when carried out by Phoenicians), I argue that Homer does not disapprove of the Phoenicians. |
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