Contributing Writer: David Keaton

David Keaton is an Assistant Adjunct Educator at the University of Detroit. His principal scholarly interests are in ancient historians and historiography, along with the techniques of pedagogy and sophistry, ancient and modern.

When not teaching or writing, David enjoys playing shows with his jazz band, Antigone. He is proud to be the tallest contributor to the World History Archive.

Education:
PhD: Classics, Princeton University
B.A.: Clark University

Selected Published Works
Bie: Strength and Strangers in Ionian Oral Tradition
The Wisdom of Aristarchus: The Modernization of the Image of God in Third-Century Athens
Various articles in New England Classical Journal, Phaedrus, Olympia, Journal of Philology

Articles on World History Archive

07-01-02 Ancient Fables about Birds: Hesiod and Aesop tell stories which are superficially similar but illustrate morals with diametrically opposite meanings. Both concern a bird of prey tormenting a seemingly helpless victim, but their endings reveal a fundamental difference in philosophy of the respective tellers.

06-24-02 Ancient Greece as a Colonial Power: The massive colonization of the 8th and 7th centuries was spurred by excess population and land hunger, as well as political changes in Greece.

06-17-02 Analysis of a Poem by Theognis of Megara: This elegy of Theognis provides information about the social situation of Megara during the 500's.

06-10-02 The Birth of History in Greece: Greek history began some time around 750, when the Greeks adapted the Phoenician alphabet to their own language, adding vowels and transforming some sounds.

06-03-02 The Emergence of the Greek Polis: There is a great deal of controversy surrounding the question of why Greek communities became poleis. Some historians and political analysts found it inevitable. Aristotle, in fact, claimed that the polis was the natural situation for mankind.