Edited by Natalia Vogeikoff-Brogan, Jack L. Davis, and Vasiliki Florou
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.
Carl W. Blegen: Personal and Archaeological Narratives
More info
xii + 240 pages
6 x 9 inches
ISBN 978-1-937040-22-2 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-937040-23-9 (PDF)
January 2015
Reviews
"The editors have done Blegen proud. This is more than a festschrift compiled by former students (indeed none of the editors were taught by him). It is a reflection about the social and cultural context of classical archaeology during a major period of its growth and development. Strongly recommended."—Tim Murray in Bulletin of the History of Archaeology 27(1): 5
Table of Contents
“On His Feet and Ready to Dig”: Carl William Blegen
The Life of Carl W. Blegen from a Grass Roots Perspective
From the Mud of Peirene to Mastering Stratigraphy: Carl Blegen in the Corinthia and Argolid
The “Govs” of Mycenaean Archaeology: The Friendship and Collaboration of Carl W. Blegen and Alan J.B. Wace as Seen through Their Correspondence
The Blegens and the Hills: A Family Affair
“Islanders vs. Mainlanders,” “The Mycenae Wars,” and Other Short Stories: An Archival Visit to an Old Debate
The House at 9 Ploutarchou Street: A Grape Arbor and a Dense Shadow of Beautiful Meetings
Και εἰς ἀνώτερα: The Govs in the 1930s
Carl Blegen and Troy
“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
Blegen and the Palace of Nestor: What Took So Long?