The Athenians discover themselves as a community and enhance their Connection to the Polis and Theseus By Lela Walter-Karydi

https://www.academia.edu/44964501/The_Athenians_discover_themselves_as_a_community_and_enhance_their_Connection_to_the_Polis_and_Theseus Dealing with "two crucial generations" in this colloquium we get the possibility to consider various aspects of the turning point from the Archaic age to the early Classical one in Athens. For instance, disconcerting as this may sound, it seems that in the 6 th century the Athenians had no sense of a community and no attachment to their polis. It is revealing that the epigrams of warriors' grave portraits, like that of the well-known kouros of Kroisos ( ), 1 about 530 BCE, never mention Athens. The statue was set up on the edge of a grave mound that stood along a much-frequented road in Anavyssos and the epigram on its base addressed the passer-by pointing out, "Stop and lament beside the sema (marker) of dead Kroisos, whom the raging Ares destroyed in the forefront of battle". 2 The passer-by was to stop, look at the compelling, over life size statue, read the epigramloud, as was the rule in these yearsand thus create a performance of honoring the dead warrior and keeping his memory alive. Obviously, Kroisos fought and fell for his own glory. The Attic Archaic grave epigrams for fallen warriors show that the Athenians in these years still followed the Homeric concept of the hero fighting for his own fame which overcomes, as it were, his physical death. 3 On the contrary, some non-Athenian early Greek poets indicated a significant change from Homer: Kallinos proclaiming that to die for one's own country is a honor and a brilliant act (1.6 -9) and Tyrtaios declaring that such a death is beautiful (thanatos kalos). 4 This concept 5 has been attributed by some modern interpreters to Archaic Athens, too; yet, as the Attic grave epigrams demonstrate, it does not apply here.