Barbaroi (Greek: barbaroi)

A term used by the ancient Greeks (Hellenes) to refer to a different ethnic group. It is the origin of the English word "barbarian". It is said to be based on the sound of the words of different ethnic groups that the Hellenes did not understand, and has been used since Homer. At first, it was not used with prejudice, but from the second half of the 6th century BC, this term came to be used to refer to the people of the east under the rule of the Persian Empire, and the contrast with the Hellenes became more strongly conscious. In the 5th and 4th centuries BC after the Persian Wars, the idea that it referred to a people who were barbaric, crude, and cowardly and should have been subjugated to the Hellenes became widespread. On the other hand, the idea of ​​human equality, that there was no difference between the two groups, had existed since the 5th century BC, and the cosmopolitanism of the Hellenistic period strengthened this tendency.

[Shoji Kiyonaga]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

古代ギリシア人（ヘレネスHellenes）が用いた異民族の呼称。「野蛮人」を意味する英語のバーバリアンbarbarianの語源。ヘレネスにとってわけのわからない異民族のことばの響きに基づくとされ、ホメロス以来用いられた。初めは偏見を含まなかったが、紀元前6世紀後半から、この呼称はとくにペルシア帝国治下の東方の民をいうようになり、ヘレネスとの対比が強く意識されるようになった。ペルシア戦争後の前5～前4世紀には、野蛮、粗野、卑怯(ひきょう)で、本来ヘレネスに隷従すべき民族をさすとの観念が一般化した。他方、両者に元来差はないとの人類平等の思想も前5世紀以来あり、ヘレニズム時代の世界市民主義はその傾向を強めた。

［清永昭次］

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