The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race, Vol. 1 of 2

Karl Otfried MüllerProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.8
Word count
1M words
Chapters
101

Tags

English Originals World HistoryHistory and Culture Historical ReappraisalInstitutional ResearchAcademic MonographTextual ResearchArchaeological StudyTraditional CultureAncient CivilizationAncient GreeceDorian GreeksEthnic Migration

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race, Vol. 1 of 2 by Karl Otfried MüllerAuthor: Müller, Karl Otfried, 1797-1840,Language: English, Class: DF: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Greece, Release Date: Sep 17, 2010

Editor's review

This is the first volume of the two-volume work on the history and antiquities of the Doric race by the German classical scholar Karl Otfried Müller, an important work of nineteenth-century classical scholarship. Its value lies not in offering the latest archaeological conclusions but in showing how early modern classical scholarship systematically treated questions of ethnicity, institutions, religion, and custom; it is therefore a reference of significance for the history of scholarship and methodology. The discussion of Dorian origins, migrations, city-state institutions, and related antiquities reflects the author's approach of mutually corroborating literary and material evidence, allowing readers to observe the formation of classical scholarship's problem consciousness. The prose has the density of nineteenth-century academic writing, with many technical terms and proper names, so the threshold for reading is not low. It is suitable as supplementary material for classical studies and ancient Greek history, or for understanding the development of scholarship; it is not the first choice for those seeking only a general knowledge of ancient Greece. The public-domain electronic edition facilitates searching proper names and passages, making it suitable for selective thematic reading.

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Reading tips

  1. Read the introduction or opening section first to clarify the author's central questions and range of materials before entering specific chapters.
  2. Create a comparison table of proper names, ethnic names, and place names, adding to it as you read to reduce difficulty.
  3. Read selectively by topic—ethnic origins, institutions, religious customs—without insisting on reading every page.
  4. Pay attention to the author's method of argument, reading it as a text in the history of scholarship rather than a handbook of conclusions.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
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  11. 11
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  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
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FAQ

Can I read this book without a background in classical studies? You can, but it will be fairly demanding. This is a nineteenth-century classical monograph with many proper names and dense argumentation, and without a foundation it is easy to get lost. It is advisable to read a general history of ancient Greece first and learn basic concepts such as the Dorians and city-state institutions, then return for selective thematic reading; the results will be much better.
Are the book's views still valid today? It should not be used as a statement of contemporary research conclusions. It is a nineteenth-century work of classical scholarship whose value lies mainly in the history of scholarship and methodological example, not in the latest archaeology or historical interpretation. Read it in its contemporary scholarly context, remain cautious about specific claims, and compare them with modern research.
Why is only the first volume available? The work was originally in two volumes, and Project Gutenberg includes the first volume. The first volume generally covers the Dorian origins, migrations, and early history, while the second deals with institutions, religion, and antiquities. If your research requires the complete picture, try to find the second volume to read alongside it.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Karl Otfried Müller Author · German · 1797–1840

Karl Otfried Müller (1797–1840) was a German classical scholar known for his research on Greek mythology, the Dorians, and city-state institutions. He lived only forty-three years, yet left works of lasting influence. Two of his books are held in this collection: the two volumes of The History and Antiquities of the Doric Race. The work examines the historical development, religious customs, and city-state institutions of the Dorian people, placing myths and legends within their concrete social and geographical contexts and combining textual scholarship with institutional analysis. Müller's studies offer an important reference for later understanding of the social structure and political life of the ancient Greek Dorians, and his writings are still cited in classical scholarship. Public information on the details of his life is limited, and no speculation is made here.