Эллада и ее соседи

In the present paper the author analyses the evidence of the archaic Greek lyrics containing mentions of tyrants and tyranny and presents her version of the answer to the question who and why were called tyrants by the Greeks in the archaic period.

The article deals with the fate of the first Athenian coinage (coins known under the conventional name of Wappenmünzen) at its latest stage, when there took place a transition to coins of principally new type (“head of Athena – owl”, ΑΘΕ), which later became so glorious. The author connects the transition mentioned with the fall of tyranny in 510 BC and dates a little earlier beginning of Wappenmünzen tetradrachms issuing to 514–513 BC, while correlating it with such events as the tyrants Hippias’ clash with aristocrats and hardening of his policies.

The evidence of the written sources both of the Hittite documents  synchronous to the described events and the tradition of the Mycenaean leaders’  visits of Lesbos preserved in the narrative of the later Greek authors is analyzed  in the article. As a result the obtained information testifies to the fact that Lesbos  during the Late Bronze Age was famous as a cultic centre.

The authorial assessment of individuals in Diodorus Siculus’ Library of History is discussed. Historian’s comments are the principal technique of character portrayal in the work, and most of them are brief and standardized phrases, namely repeated combinations of virtues or (less often) vices. These lists of virtues or vices, including obituaries and comparative assessments of two or three individuals, are compared with eulogies (ἐγκώμια).

The problem of correlation between history and myth was always a matter of actuality. History coexists with myth, opposes it, and in the same time collaborates with it. The main subject of early Greek historians’ studies was genealogical mythography. And genealogies in Ancient Greece were always of interest firstly for aristocrats. It is mainly for them that all abundant mythographic literature existed. Aristocrats played the role of patrons for the authors who investtigated their family trees.

The report analyzes the socio-economic and cultural development of the South of Ancient Israel in X–IX centuries BC. The author explores the archaeological material of Shefela. The military factor contributed to the formation of the fortresses, development of large regional centers such as Gezer, Lachish. The good environment Shefela led to the development in the region of agricultural specialization. The role of participation of state structures was great in economic development.