Description
Book SynopsisMuch has been written about the world’s first democracy, but no book so far has been dedicated solely to the study of enmity in ancient Athens. Enmity and Feuding in Classical Athens is a long-overdue analysis of the competitive power dynamics of Athenian honor and the potential problems these feuds created for democracies.
The citizens of Athens believed that harming one’s enemy was an acceptable practice and even the duty of every honorable citizen. They sought public wins over their rivals, making enmity a critical element in struggles for honor and standing, while simultaneously recognizing the threat that personal enmity posed to the community. Andrew Alwine works to understand how Athenians addressed this threat by looking at the extant work of Attic orators. Their speeches served as the intersection between private vengeance and public sanction of illegal behavior, allowing citizens to engage in feuds within established parameters. This mediation help
Table of Contents
- List of Abbreviations for Primary Sources
- List of Abbreviations for Journals
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: The Social Dimensions of Enmity
- Chapter 2: The Rhetoric of Enmity as a Legal Strategy
- Chapter 3: The Flexibility of the Rhetoric of Enmity
- Chapter 4: Enmity under the Law: The Limits to Vengeance
- Conclusion: Personal Enmity and Public Policy
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
- Index Locorum
