Research Area D Antithesis EAST - WEST (D&)
The Origins of the Antithesis EAST - WEST Before and After Alexander the Great
Project Leaders: Kai Trampedach, Jonas Grethlein, Tonio Hölscher, Reinhard Stupperich
Project Members: Bjorn Paarman, Nicolas Zenzen
The 'eternal' antithetical concept of “East” vs. “West” originated in Greek antiquity. The concept was 'invented' in the period from the Persian Wars to Alexander the Great (5th - 4th cent. B. C.), and revised in the Greek-Oriental kingdoms of Hellenism (3rd - 1st cent. B. C.). While former research tried to define consistent concepts and practices regarding the 'other' , this projects aimed at exploring this antithesis by a new, comprehensive approach, investigating the multiple, often divergent and even contradictory ideologies and attitudes that prevailed in the various fields of interaction: from hostility and opposition in policy and ethics, to receptiveness and admiration in religion, lifestyle, material culture, and knowledge. For this purpose, political interaction, cultural memory, religion, images and material culture on both sides were exploited. The project analyzed the fundamental ambivalence, discrepancy and 'shifting asymmetries' that are inherent in the ideological fabrication of 'Asia' and 'Europe'.