Ναυτική ισχύς, ναυτικές επιχειρήσεις και η λογοτεχνική τους έκφραση από τις αρχές ως τα τέλη του 5ου αι. π.Χ.

Abstract

The perception of the sea as a source of power is associated with Athens at the time of the Peloponnesian War. This paper examines the emergence, the development and the transformations of this concept from Homer to the end of the 5^th century BC. A special focus is on the idea of expediency which is progressively associated with seafaring and naval activity and of the terms applied to this positive evaluation of the sea. 

In both literary and historical texts from the archaic and classical periods, the idea of the appropriation of the sea is pointedly formulated and specified in various ways: at an initial stage, familiarity with the sea is treated as a pre-requisite for cultural development (shipbuilding, seafaring, trade, marine fighting) and the scope of the discussion is mankind at large; after the Persian Wars, naval excellence becomes a distinct mark of the Greeks and distinguishes them from the barbarians; thus, discourse about the sea reflects an ideological stance, as national characteristics are related to a metaphysically founded moral order which goes along the geographical separation of Asia and Europe. Finally, from the Athenians’ point of view, naval progress is a constituent of their particular identity and becomes a tool for supremacy and domination in the context of their hegemony.

The story of the conquest of the sea is a story of problem-solving which required the development of technical means and boosted up specific moral and intellectual qualities. Coping with the sea entails a set of skills, technical knowledge, experience and ability for self-reflection which produces a specific mentality and attitude towards the sea. Thus, the idea of domination over the sea enhances abstract thinking, given that – apart from its reference to a world reality – its construction and imposition is rooted in mental representations and evaluations.