Affective Relations and Personal Bonds in Hellenistic Antiquity

Affective relationships as a causative factor in history is a relatively new concept in
ancient studies. In many respects this is a peculiar circumstance, since in truth antiquity
lacked most of the modern structures that inhibit personal contact. Modern society is
more individualistic and impersonal, and we have many relationships where we barely
know our coworkers or our neighbors. Fredric Jameson (1991, 54) has proclaimed that
in what is referred to as our postmodern age there is a “waning of affect.” It is not
just the effects of online communication and the obsession with the web; impersonal
institutions dominate government, business and culture. The current coronavirus
pandemic has shown that despite our apparent acceptance of our individual and
impersonal society, we are chafing at our self-quarantining, craving those very affective
relationships our modern institutions have been curtailing.