To properly contextualise the bioarchaeological evidence presented in the chapters that follow, this chapter addresses pertinent issues of terminology and reception. Beginning with a consideration of terminology, key terms that are commonly used in discussions of ancient identity, such as ‘disability’, ‘deformity’, ‘poverty’, ‘class’, ‘status’, ‘ethnicity’, ‘ancestry’ and ‘race’, are defined and situated in their original cultural contexts. The focus then shifts to the Greek reception of marginalised persons by surveying the literary and visual evidence for Greek attitudes towards disabled people, non-elite individuals of low socioeconomic status and non-Greeks.

DEFINITIONS

Many of the terms and concepts explored in this book are far from self-evident. It is tempting to think that the concept of disability would have an ancient meaning similar to our modern understanding, but they simply do not equate. Indeed, scholars question whether the Greeks even recognised disabled people as a distinct group or class. To address issues of terminology, the sections that follow present definitions for key terms that will be used throughout this study of social marginalisation, namely disability, deformity, poverty, class, status, ethnicity, ancestry and race. Each concept is discussed in detail and situated within its original Greek cultural context.

Defining disability in the ancient G reek world

Today, ‘disability’ is generally defined as ‘any condition of the body or mind (impairment) that makes it more difficult for the person with the condition to do certain activities (activity limitation) and interact with the world around them (participation restrictions)’. However, scholars are divided on the question of whether there was a word for ‘disability’ in the ancient Greek world and cannot agree on the corollary issue of whether the disabled were recognised as a distinct minor group. Some maintain that adunatos, which is often translated as ‘unable’, is the closest Greek equivalent to ‘disabled’. Walter Penrose supports this position through the assertion that those considered to be adunatoi were exempt from military service and given financial assistance in Athens (Lysias 24; Aristotle, Athenian Constitution 49.2; Penrose 2015).