Description
Book Synopsis
Carl Blegen is the most famous American archaeologist ever to work in Greece, and no American has ever had a greater impact on Greek archaeology. Yet Blegen, unlike several others of his generation, has found no biographer. In part, the explanation for this must lie in the fact that his life was so multifaceted: not only was he instrumental in creating the field of Aegean prehistory, but Blegen, his wife and their best friends, the Hills ('the family'), were also significant forces in the social and intellectual community of Athens. Authors who have contributed to this book have each researched one aspect of Blegen's life, drawing on copious documentation in the United States, England and Greece. The result is a biography that sets Blegen and his closest colleagues in the social and academic milieu that gave rise to the discipline of classical archaeology in Greece.
Trade Review
‘Effectively illustrated with photographs and drawings, this book illuminates the interpersonal and professional relationships of Blegen and his associates and provides insights important for both students and scholars.’
Mary C. Sturgeon, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 121, No. 4 (October 2017)
‘This handsome volume [offers] many pleasures that normal biographies rarely provide. For one thing its generous illustrations include facsimiles of correspondence and reproductions of Piet de Jong's wonderful cartoons of famous Aegean scholars (one of these forming the cover of the book). [...]The main service provided by this book is to remind us all that real advances in our understanding of the ancient world are always, to a greater or lesser extent, archaeological; that archaeological fieldwork requires determination, application, cultural sensitivity and a skill set (in excavation and stratigraphy) that few classicists possess.’
James Whitley, Cardiff University, Journal of Hellenic Studies
'The contributions...[include] praise, some light-duty prosopography linking Blegen and friends to their equally distinguished peers (and occasionally to students), some veiled references to Blegen household arrangements (and equally broad assurances), and enough references to intrigue Blegenophiles and historians of American archaeology alike.' (Bill Caraher, The Archaeology of the Mediterranean World, March 11, 2015)
Table of Contents
Illustrations
"On His Feet and Ready to Dig": Carl Willaim Blegen Jack L. Davis and Natalia Vogeikoff-Brogan
The Life of Carl W. Blegen from a Grass Roots Perspective Natalia Vogeikoff-Brogan
From the Mud of Peirene to Mastering Stratigraphy: Carl Blegen in the Corinthia and Argolid Ioulia Tzonou-Herbst
Tge "Govs" of Mycenaean Archaeology: The Friendship and Collaboration of Carl W. Blegen and Alan J.B. Wace as Seen through Their Correspondence Yannis Fappas
The Blegens and the Hills: A Family Affair Robert L. Pounder
"Islanders vs. Mainlanders", "The Mycenae Wars", and Other Short Stories: An Archival Visit to an Old Debate Yannis Galanakis
The House at 9 Ploutarchou Street: A Grape Arbor and a Dense Shadow of Beautiful Meetings Vasiliki Florou
Και ε?ς ?ν?τερα: The Govs in the 1930s Elizabeth W. French
Carl Blegen and Troy Brian Rose
"His Eyes Took on a Far Away Look When he Spoke of Pylos": Carl Blegen and the Excavations at the Palace of Nestor as Seen in the Greek and Foreign Press Nektarios Karadimas
Blegen and the Palace of Nestor: What Took So Long? Jack L. DAvis
Contributors
Index
