Demon Entrepreneurs: Refashioning the ‘Greek Genius’ in Modern Times

The ‘Greek genius’ appears as the combination of two stereotypes with a long pedigree: Homer’s ingenious Odysseus, triumphing with tricks over his foes, and Virgil’s ‘deceitful Odysseus’, the impostor Greek. Adamantios Korais, the leading scholar who almost single-handedly refashioned the Greek nation, fully appreciated the importance of Greek shipping and commerce, and the wealth they generated for the spread of Enlightenment ideas and the quest for political emancipation in the Greek lands. In this context, the ‘genius’ and the consequent economic success have long been considered the essential prerequisites for the spreading of Greek education and, ultimately, national revival. Reversely, Greek education and consciousness-building via economic success are taken as proof of the immanent ‘Greek genius’. As a popular myth of redemption, this stereotype persists in a country of rather limited resources and uncertain prospects. This volume seeks to identify both the content and the ways that the ‘Greek genius’ has long worked at the political, social and economic level. Based on a collective research project, it offers an original contribution to the broader discussion generated by the current Greek national bicentenary. This book will appeal to all those interested in the idea of the Greek 'national character’ as well as international perceptions of Greek culture, education, and society during the modern era.

Table of Contents:
Greece, a Nation of Commercial and other Geniuses in a State Fit for Petty Traders and Poor Devils: An Introduction / Greek Subtlety and Ingenuity: Anglo-French Variations on a Classical Theme / Greeks on Seventeenth Century Dutch Ships and Print(s) / Representations of Greek Entrepreneurship between Projection and Reception in Eighteenth-Century German Sources. / Pious and Heroic Contrabands: The Greek Character in Russian Perspective (c.1800) / Nineteenth Century British Travellers’ View of the Greek Character / The ‘Greek Genius’ in the Service of the Nation: The Greek Enlightenment / Explaining, Enhancing, Disseminating the ‘Greek Genius’ through Textbooks (c.1870-1980) / Profiling the ‘Greek Genius’: Nineteenth Century Biographies of Illustrious Greeks / Ingenious Emigrants / Orthodox Christian Ambiguities: The ‘Greek Genius’ between Achievements and Morals / Class or Inherent Vice? The Marxist View of the ‘Greek Genius’ / Genius and Demonic Routes in Modern Greek Prose (c. 1880-1940) / Demon Entrepreneurs and Poor Devils in Post World War II Greek Cinema / Aspects of Ingenuity in Greek Popular Culture / Indigenous and Incoming Demon Businessmen during Trikoupis’ Modernising Era / Perceptions of the ‘Greek Genius’ during the Interwar Economic Crisis / A ‘Daimonion’ for Times of Recovery and Growth, 1945-67 / ‘Greek Genius’ vs the Troika in the 2010s