Cultural geography of east and west: Literary representations of archaic Sicilian tyranny and cult

Cultural Geography of East and West: Literary Representations of Archaic Sicilian Tyranny and Cult examines contemporary and near-contemporary literary representations of the fifth-century Deinomenid tyrants of Sicily. I argue that in order to understand these representations, the modern reader must recognize the significance of geographical place within them. The articulation of the Deinomenids' relationship to a variety of geographical locations, often in the realm of religious cult, allows authors to characterize the tyrants' identity. The original audience of these texts would have been attuned to the symbolic importance of the west, east, and center of the Mediterranean world.;Part One discusses Herodotus' portrayal of the Deinomenid tyrants in his Histories, composed in the generation following their rule of Gela and Syracuse (c. 490-466 BCE). Here I look at Herodotus' narrative of this family's origins in the eastern Aegean and their transformation into colonial rulers in the west. Next I discuss Herodotus' representation of the unique nature of this western environment, including the tyrants' relations with their non-Greek neighbors in Sicily, both hostile and cooperative. Part Two turns to the epinikia of Pindar (Olympian 1 and 6; Pythian 1), and Bacchylides (Ode 3), commissioned by the historical tyrants and their associates in order to celebrate their victories at the panhellenic sanctuaries of Olympia and Delphi. I argue that the poetic expressions of the tyrant's prominence on a panhellenic stage reinforce his local identity, as well as his connections with the east. Viewing Olympia and Delphi separately, I introduce physical monuments as expressions of identity which illuminate and interact with the poetic representations.;The particular nature of their local Sicilian environment, the cultural past associated with the eastern Mediterranean, both Greek and non-Greek, and assertions of panhellenic significance all contribute to representations of these western tyrants. The dissertation attempts to recreate the associations which this "cultural geography" would have had for an ancient audience, and to demonstrate that attention to place can help us to elucidate all representations of identity within the archaic Greek world.