Knowledge of Self

Self-definition of nations and communities is based on a comparison or contrast with other groups and, through these mental activities, a clearer and more solid social cohesion is created. Along the positive definition of ‘who we are’ there is often the negative one of ‘who we are not’. The Greeks often used analogy and polarity in their intellectual perception of the universe. Accordingly, humans were deemed different from gods but also from animals; men were different from women; adults were unlike children; and Greeks were different from non-Greeks. Common to all definitions was their constant measuring rod: adult free male human. This chapter expands on the Greek self definition opposite foreign identities, but first offers a brief outline of other aspects of the theme.