Mapping Hellenism: The Challenge of a Scale Game

Abstract

Greeks have left a powerful imprint on the history of civilization over the centuries. Their overall presence appears at times intense or weak. Greece’s contemporary territory is the latest cartographic expression of this long continuum.
Picturing Greek lands is initially a matter of managing the rules of cartography. The area covered by Hellenism is exposed to extreme variations (large and small, fragmented, subordinate, and dominant). A second fundamental characteristic of Greek maps is the differentiated modalities of their establishment over time. The image of Hellenism focuses today on the Greek peninsula, although it appeared at times compact, clustered, or open depending on the historical phase of its development (colonization). Maps could include the nations flowing with it (Alexander the Great’s state) while to survive new migration centers emerged around the world.
However, reality and technique are not the only determinants of map making. In combination with other external perspectives, the self-perception of Hellenism also plays a crucial role and generates powerful, contrasting images. Greek maps are mostly shaped by the limitations of real-politik, which is sometimes based on irredentist reasoning, outside any relation with scientific findings.