Lecture One A. Here is an essential fact about ancient Greek religion (for a working definition of this general term, see item B): not only were the gods worshipped. Heroes too were worshipped. The worship of heroes was very much like ancestor worship. (Compare similar customs in other traditional societies, including the Japanese.) A1. Besides the word worship, we may use the word cult. As… Read more
Background Lecture For this series, we have provided an on-line text of the Homeric Odyssey, translated by Samuel Butler and revised by Gregory Nagy and Timothy Power. This revised translation includes glosses of key Greek words in the text. The entire Odyssey can be found here (or by using the button on the menu to the left). You may also use another translation if you prefer. Relevant facts about… Read more
Punishment in Ancient Athens Danielle S. Allen, University of Chicago Part I) Introduction Ask any modern citizen to name a punishment meted out by their state and odds are the first thing she will say is “imprisonment.” Ask the same citizen then to say why modern states use imprisonment as their preferred penalty, and he’ll say, “We need to keep the bad guys off the street! Prisons are for deterrence.”… Read more
Gadfly on Trial: Socrates as Citizen and Social Critic ©Josiah Ober, Princeton University Suggested Reading: Plato, Apology Plato, Crito Socrates of Athens is an enduring presence in the western imagination, in part because he presents us with a mass of contradictions: Most eloquent of men, yet he never wrote a… Read more
Women and Family in Athenian Law K. Kapparis, University of Florida Suggested Reading: Apollodoros, Against Neaira (Transmitted among the speeches of Demosthenes, as number 59) Demosthenes 57, Against Euboulides Athenian authors of the classical period imagined a mythical past where women were subject to similar restrictions in their legal standing and social roles as in their own timeframe. Greek Drama amply… Read more
Sycophancy and Attitudes to Litigation Matthew R. Christ, University of Indiana Suggested Reading: Aristophanes, Wasps Athens gave birth not only to democratic legal process but also to a lively discussion of the proper role of law and litigation in the lives of the citizens of a democracy. While Athenians were committed to their system of popular courts and understood that litigation could be essential for… Read more
Athenian Homicide Law: Case Studies Michael Gagarin, University of Texas at Austin Suggested Reading: Antiphon 1, Against the Stepmother Lysias 1, On the Murder of Eratosthenes We know of relatively few prosecutions for homicide in classical Athens and it is tempting to conclude that homicide was relatively rare, except during the brief rule of the Thirty Tyrants (404-403) when killing… Read more
Law and Economy in Classical Athens. [Demosthenes]: Against Dionysodorus Edward M. Harris, Brooklyn College Suggested Reading: Demosthenes 56, Against Dionysodorus Sometime around 322 BCE a man named Dareius brought a private action in an Athenian court against a merchant called Dionysodorus. Dareius and his business partner Pamphilus had made a loan to Dionysodorus and his partner Parmeniscus for a trading voyage to Egypt and back. Read more
Transforming Disputes into Cases: Demosthenes 55, Against Kallikles Steven Johnstone, University of Arizona Suggested Reading: Demosthenes 55, Against Kallikles When you read even a few speeches of Athenian litigants, when you closely follow the arguments of any one, when you consider that witnesses but not litigants were under oath, when you reflect that we don’t have the opponent’s presentation, you begin to develop a… Read more
An Introduction to Classical Athenian Democracy — Overview Christopher W. Blackwell, Furman University Contents Introduction The Dêmos Athenian Democracy: an Overview Athenian Democracy: the Assembly Athenian Democracy: the Council Athenian Democracy: Legislation Athenian Democracy: the Council of the Areopagus Athenian Democracy: the People’s Court The End of Athenian Democracy Introduction [ back to contents ] The city of… Read more
