The Department of Maritime Civilizations and the Haifa Center for Mediterranean History (HCMH) are glad to invite you to a lecture given by Eleonora Bedin, HCMH PhD candidate.
Title:
“Micro- and Macro-Identities in the Hellenistic Empires: City, Empire, and Sea”
The Hellenistic Mediterranean world presents a colorful reality where various actors were playing a role in shaping the identity of its inhabitants. The geography and routine of the Mediterranean region encouraged globalizing dynamics in connecting people, goods, and ideas. The conquests of Alexander the Great and the establishment of Hellenistic kingdoms not only stretched the physical boundaries of Hellenism, but also generated a unifying cultural effect, spreading Hellenocentric ideas of aesthetics, language and religion. Admitting the existence of a globalized Mediterranean, however, does not detract from the individual character and particular self-representation of groups and locales, which would have devised ways to coexist with and adapt to such overarching external influences, and even to oppose to them at times.
This lecture will consider the interconnections between broad perspectives of cultural identity and local particularization thereof, offering a multi-layered picture of the Hellenistic Mediterranean region. By focusing on Mediterranean religion, cross-cultural deities, and adapting strategies, the talk will outline a globalized yet diverse Mediterranean world, in which various modes of expression of regional and local identities coexisted.
Please join us on Zoom on Tuesday, March 2nd, at 14:15.
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81906000099?pwd=b3RiK0hkbXA3NmFMdmZFaE5EeUxHUT09