The Fitzroy Dearborn reference work juggernaut rolls on, much to the benefit and advantage of those reference librarians who appreciate their authoritative and comprehensive coverage, and who can afford to accession them to their library shelves. For this latest two‐volume blockbuster the editor has assembled “a vast army of expert contributors from every continent”, 270 when all done and dusted. Between them they have provided close to 1,000 signed entries complete with “see also” references, a summary, and lists of texts and further reading. These latter are so copious that a general bibliography was manifestly thought not to be necessary. In fact there is much to be said for concentrating bibliographies at the point of impact rather than adding a large general bibliography.
If the statistics and bare bones of this work are relatively easy to comprehend, it is rather more difficult to grasp its scope. Its title is of little help here. Even Greece presents problems: is it ancient or modern Greece, or perhaps contemporary Greece? And what exactly is the Hellenic Tradition? That concept is unclear to the layman; it could cover a multitude of interpretations. In the encyclopaedia’s text there are separate articles on Hellenes (an ethnonym for ancient and modern Greeks); Hellenism and Neo‐Hellenism in the Greek tradition; Hellenism as viewed by visiting artists; Hellenistic Period 323‐31 BC; and Hellenization. Five long entries, by four different hands, occupying 181/2 columns (there are two columns to the page), which contain terms like “the Hellenic heritage”, “the Hellenic Classical heritage”, “the Hellenic cultural heritage”, “the Hellenic Classical past”, “the Hellenic and Neohellenic periods”, and so on. It would not be wise to labour the point but, clearly, there is a need for some boundaries however elastic they might have to be.
Fortunately, there is help to hand. First and foremost, we are informed, this is a book about Greece; second, it is a book about Greeks; and, thirdly, just as important, it is a book about the Hellenic tradition. In themselves these definitions might appear not to take us very much further, but the editor obviously believes in definition by example. What is meant by Greece includes a remote fairyland of myth and legend ruled by demigods like Theseus and Agamemnon, the source of democracy that forms the basis of Western civilization, the homeland of Alexander the Great, the fatherland of Aristotle Onassis, the heart of an empire that touched the shores of the Mediterranean and beyond, one of the less conspicuous members of NATO and the European Union, reminders of dreaming columns in the sunset at Sunium, icons and incense on Mt Athos, Zorba the Greek, and the gay clubs of Mykonos. Greece comprises all these and more.
As for the Greeks, they are all those who speak or spoke the Greek language. The Hellenic tradition is “the cultural tradition in which all Greeks, all Greek‐speaking people, participate. Its manifestations are legion and they take different forms at different times. Some of these exhibit a clear thread of continuity throughout the three and a half millennia of Greek history; others, perhaps the majority, come and go, shining for a while before disappearing, but later perhaps resurfacing.” If this is not entirely clear, it is something we can take on board and on trust. A map of the Greek World on the front and rear endpapers has Ljubljana and Odessa to the north, Tripoli, Benghazi and Alexandria to the south; Italy, Sicily and Malta in the west; and Russia, Georgia, Syria, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia in the east. And these are the historical, cultural and geographical outer limits of Greece, the Greeks, and the Hellenic tradition. For completeness’ sake certain “extramural” topics are included, the peoples who have impinged on Greek history and have made significant contributions to the development of Greek culture. In a very few instances there are articles on non‐Greek individuals, Lord Byron, for one, who played a prominent role in Greek history.
To assist the user and the researcher there is a Thematic List of Entries: events; periods; cities, islands, lakes, monastic foundations, mountains; regions; ethnic groups; themes (social, cultural, political and military, religious, and economic history; science, medicine, philosophy; and geography); and individuals and families. Other ancillary material includes a list of contributors, an A‐Z list of entries, a chronological list of individuals, a list of Byzantine Emperors, an 80‐page detailed analytic index, and notes on the vast army of expert contributors. And, you had better believe it, these people are expert. There are 45 maps and site plans and an imaginative selection of illustrations.
It is hard to avoid the conclusion that if an event, an individual, or a place does not receive a mention in the encyclopedia, then it did not happen, they never lived, and it was never there.
