British Hellenism and British Philhellenism: The Establishment of the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, 1879

The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, established in 1879, provided arguments for the bridging of the gap that separated British Hellenism from British philhellenism for the most part of the nineteenth century. For academics and scholars interested in Greek civilization sympathy with m...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Pandeleimon Hionidis
Format: article
Language:EN
SR
Published: Center for Hellenic Studies 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doaj.org/article/83b2b3de00294a43b1bd18bfda2ac9a2
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, established in 1879, provided arguments for the bridging of the gap that separated British Hellenism from British philhellenism for the most part of the nineteenth century. For academics and scholars interested in Greek civilization sympathy with modern Greece was always a matter of choice, which might be influenced by classical reading but did not constitute an indispensable part of it. The necessity to visit Greece, study on the spot and, when possible, bring to light the material remnants of Hellenic civilization, and to trace among the people living evidence of the classical age emerged with the introduction of historicity as a concept and archaeology as a practice into British Hellenism. The formation of the Society represented a single but important step in this process. Its rules, on the other hand, “officially” sanctioned the assumption of the continuity of the Greek race.