独家爆料

John Haberstroh is Ph.D. student studying Ancient Mediterranean History at the University of California, Riverside. He is currently is a Regular Member at the 独家爆料.

Q: What is your academic area of interest?
A: I鈥檓 most interested in ancient Greek history and more specifically questions associated with ancient Greek identities. I look at the intersection between panhellenic and local Greek identities in the Archaic and Classical Periods.
     I鈥檓 asking- how do different cities represent themselves? What does it mean to be a member of a certain polis or another? How do individuals reconcile their local identities with a broader sense of their Greekness? These can be questions of political identity or religious identity.

Q: What resources are you using to do your research?
A: The main sources are texts, and I have to be critical of what the texts say. For example if Herodotus says certain people were called 鈥渟uch and such鈥� we generally take that as he says. But the questions get interesting when you include epigraphic evidence and inscriptions to see how people identity themselves. These sources give a more accurate impression of what happened 鈥渙n the ground鈥� in a given place. For me it鈥檚 interesting to compare local traditions with panhellenic traditions such as Homer鈥檚 Iliad. When those traditions clash I see panhellenic grand narratives  problematized.

Q: What brings you to the American School?
A: My advisor Denver Graninger is deeply affiliated with the school and highly recommended it to me. He was a regular member during his graduate program too, so I see it as a rite of passage. It鈥檚 cool to walk in those shoes. And really this is a journey of discovery for me to figure out exactly what I鈥檓 getting into. These trips take you to far away places outside of Athens. I鈥檓 currently interested now in Boeotia and Epirus and how Greekness was displayed there.

Q: You鈥檙e a historian, so are you enjoying focusing on archaeology for a little while?
A: Yeah I think it鈥檚 important for historians and philologists to engage with archaeological material. It sometimes tells a different story from what our texts say, and we need to recognize that. As a historian I think I鈥檓 in a unique position to engage with archaeologists and philologists, so it鈥檚 good to see both perspectives through a historical lens. It鈥檚 good to receive this kind of training and exposure that I wouldn鈥檛 otherwise have.

Q: What was the most interesting site report that you gave?
A: I liked them all for different reasons. The most interesting one was my report on Dodona on trip one, it鈥檚 just such a bizarre place with the oracle of Zeus that was there. And Dodona is an excellent place to look at Panhellenic identity and what it means. Herodotus says that Dodona was one of the oldest and most famous oracles and that even non-Greeks would go there because it was so famous. But when you look at the actual ownership of the site it鈥檚 pretty much dominated by one regional group in Epirus. What are other groups doing to influence this narrative? Who owns the site? To me these questions challenge the idea that it鈥檚 a Panhellenic site. Certainly other Greeks knew about Dodona and went there, but these labels are what I鈥檓 interested in understanding a bit more.

Q: What is your favorite place you鈥檝e visited in Greece?
I鈥檓 not gong to say Delphi because everyone says Delphi. There are just so many good sites and museums. If I have to pick just one I would say I was really moved at Distomo where there was a massacre during WWII. They have a monument with all the names and the ages of the people who were killed, and I think we can forget sometimes as classicists that there was life after antiquity. That was a really moving site to visit, the museum even more so, to see the photos of people and the stories.

Q: You鈥檙e writing a blog about your time here called What inspired you to keep the blog?
A: I鈥檓 writing a blog tracking my year, and also I鈥檓 a long distance runner so I鈥檓 also trying to document that interest. As a side interest I鈥檓 interested in ancient Greek athletics, because there were long distance runners then too, and I connect with that on a personal level.  I try to get at that in the name A Run Through Time 鈥� thinking of history as a place you go to, and a place you access through texts. I鈥檝e had some really cool running experiences, and I will hopefully make a post soon about that. It鈥檚 really fascinating to see there is a continuity in our love of running. Ancient Greek runners were famous in their time, and some were even celebrities, and there鈥檚 this connection with the Olympic Games and the original marathon run.

Q: What is your favorite restaurant in Athens?
A: We went to this Cretan restaurant called Katsourbos in anticipation of the Crete trip. This place was just 10/10, completely knocked it out of the park in regard to the atmosphere and the food. It was perfect. We had this goat risotto dish that was really delicious and rooster with noodles. It was so good.

Q: If you were a Greek god or goddess which one would you be?
A: Apollo, easy. Dionysus is good too. Apollo just really commands his position in the pantheon, he touches so many different issues which is interesting鈥� plague, prophecy, and he plays music.

Q: Is there anywhere else you would like to visit in Greece?
A: I鈥檝e only been to three of the islands, so I would love to see more. That鈥檚 only a small fraction of all the islands there are.

Q: What do you get from your experience at the ASCSA?
A: At the American School you are surrounded by people who all do the same research as you, and you鈥檙e able talk to other people and share research interests that you couldn鈥檛 otherwise. Similarly it鈥檚 incredible to have the constant access to the expertise of the faculty here. To really be led through these sites with a pro is just incomparable. And it鈥檚 such a privilege to even be here.