Regards grecs sur le Pont-Euxin : réflexes changeants d’un espace ‘colonial’

International audienceSince the settling of the Greeks in the Black Sea, after preliminaryexpeditions and failed attempts, this region was gradually integrated intothe commercial networks and involved in various events that affected theGreek world. More remarkably, by locating in the Euxine several mythologicalnarratives, the Greeks attempted, on the one hand, to take hold of this ‘periphery’ that the presence of local people could transform onceagain into axeinos, and on the other hand, to point out its peculiarity. Thethreatening landscape, the bloody character of the inhabitants of the region,the unusual customs, participate in the construction of a singularity characterizedby danger but also by a certain exoticism. This study specificallyexamines this last category, perceptible in the manner of speaking, dressingand behaving of these Greeks surrounded by ’Barbarians’. We have toponder on the way in which the Euxine was perceived by other Greeks, as aplace of cultural innovations, but also with respect to the significance of thetradition and of the cultural heritage which the inhabitants of the Pontusthemselves tried to conserve and bring to the fore. We can finally wonderhow the image of the Euxine, as it is reflected by the external perceptions,coincides with their self-perception. Caution should be taken in the analysisof sensitive notions such as identity, assigned or assumed, perceptiblethrough fragmentary and sometimes contradictory sources