Viajes y nuevas armas en la Grecia clásicaaspectos de un debate tecnológico y cultural

  1. Fernando Echevarría Rey 1
  1. 1 Universidad Complutense de Madrid
    info

    Universidad Complutense de Madrid

    Madrid, España

    ROR 02p0gd045

Book:
Lo viejo y lo nuevo en las sociedades antiguas: homenaje a Alberto Prieto
  1. Jordi Cortadella (coord.)
  2. Oriol Olesti Vila (coord.)
  3. César Sierra Martín (coord.)
  4. Alberto Prieto (hom.)

Publisher: Presses Universitaires de Franche-Comté ; Université de Franche-Comté

ISBN: 978-2-84867-629-6

Year of publication: 2018

Pages: 73-86

Congress: Groupe international de recherches sur l'esclavage dans l'antiquité (GIREA). Congreso Internacional (36. 2013. Barcelona)

Type: Conference paper

Abstract

The question os the transformation of military technology in ancient Greece is commonly addressed from a deterministic perspective and presented as a chain of quick and revolutionary changes: weapons are assumed to play a crucial role in Greek warfare and society, favouring the idea "revolution". Alternatively, technological change in the Ancient World can be claimed to be slow and gradual, emphasizing the idea of "evolution". Adaptation is a key concept in this second approach, not only on the technological but also on the psychological level, implying various attitudes and responses to military technology. Innovation commonly entailed for ancient Greeks a look to the past as a permanent source of onspiration, which, in practice, resulted in a clash between innovation and conservatism, and the possibility either to reject or to adapt any technological development.