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Charting the ROles of crowns in Ancient Greece

Project description

Crowning honour in ancient Greece

In ancient Greece, crowns (stephanoi) were more than mere adornments. They were powerful symbols of honour, shaping both public and private life. Yet, their true significance has remained largely unexplored. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the CoROnA project will study crowns from the 8th to the 1st century BCE, focusing on Athens. Through a blend of philology, epigraphy, and visual analysis, the project maps the roles of crowns across both ‘Soft’ and ‘Hard’ institutions, revealing their intersectional meanings. CoROnA reconsiders crowns as symbols not just of male civic worth, but also of women’s and enslaved persons’ value, challenging entrenched social hierarchies and offering new insights into Greek honour and democratic ideals.

Objective

CoROnA (Charting the ROles of crowns in Ancient Greece) conducts a comprehensive study of ancient Greek crowns (stephanoi) from the 8th to the 1st century BCE, chiefly in Athens. By integrating thorough philological, epigraphical, and visual analyses of both textual and material evidence with contemporary theoretical frameworks such as New Materialism and New Institutionalism, CoROnA offers the first methodologically informed exploration of crowns as a pervasive symbol in Greek society, providing new insights into the diverse uses of crowns in both ‘Soft Institutions’—e.g. religious practices, symposia, and athletic competitions—and ‘Hard Institutions,’ i.e. honorific crowns. The project’s objectives are threefold: i) to map the uses of crowns by compiling a database of literary and epigraphical references, as well as a dossier of notable artefacts and images on vases/sculptures, and to record their specific functions and contexts; ii) to analyse the intersections between Soft- and Hard-Institutional uses, particularly how crowns used in Soft Institutions influenced their use as public honours, serving as tokens of the reciprocal relationship between the individual and the community; iii) to address the inherently intersectional meanings of crowns in Classical Greece, as these served to symbolise not only the civic worth of male citizens (an honour conferred not only for specific and outstanding political and financial benefactions but also to reward magistrates for undertaking their ordinary duties, e.g. as councillors) but also the worth of women and enslaved persons. Through this analysis, CoROnA reconsiders the crown’s role in expressing Greek honour and ethos, offering new perspectives on the connections between honour and democratic ideology. It also vindicates crowns as intersectional symbols capable of transcending traditional social and gender hierarchies, thus challenging prevailing hierarchical assumptions about ancient Greek institutions and society.

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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01

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Coordinator

UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI TRENTO
Net EU contribution

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€ 193 643,28
Address
VIA CALEPINA 14
38122 Trento
Italy

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Region
Nord-Est Provincia Autonoma di Trento Trento
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

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