Constructions of Elites
The term “elite” designates distinct groups which wield –or at least represent– the political, religious, economic, or symbolic power in a given ancient society. Analysing the “constructions” of these elites suggests itself alone in consideration of the fact that the majority of extant monuments, artwork, and texts reflect the interest of these groups.
The examination of the construction of elites can include, amongst other aspects,
i) the construction of elites in cross-cultural comparison: for example, the professionalisation of the clergy in pre-Constantinian Christianity can, in comparison with other religions of the ancient world, raise important questions about parallels and differences;
ii) forms of representation by means of which the elites negotiate their need for “prestige”. The rich potential of this topic has recently been proved by the work of the Research Training Group Formen von Prestige in Kulturen des Altertums. Analysis of elites and their self-representation can give insights into the stratification and hierarchies of the respective society, its mechanisms of exclusion, and the way different social groups are (publicly) represented and conceived of;
iii) discourses surrounding (the) elites in literary texts, e.g. in Horace’s Odes, Pindar’s epinician poems, or the poetry of Su Shi. Such discourses are particularly fruitful for analysis when different concepts of elites are juxtaposed and compared within the same text or cultural tradition: in Greek literature, for example, it is possible to examine how the representation of elites in the Odyssey relates to that of the Iliad, and thereby the relation of the heroic values at play in each work.