{"product_id":"the-discourse-of-kingship-in-classical-greece-9781032240060","title":"The Discourse of Kingship in Classical Greece","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis book examines how ancient authors explored ideas of kingship as a political role fundamental to the construction of civic unity, the use of kingship stories to explain the past and present unity of the polis and the distinctive function or status attributed to kings in such accounts.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt explores the notion of kingship offered by historians such as Herodotus, as well as dramatists writing for the Athenian stage, paying particular attention to dramatic depictions of the unique capabilities of Theseus in uniting the city in the figure of the democratic king'. It also discusses kingship in Greek philosophy: the Socratics' identification of an art of kingship', and Xenophon and Isocrates' model of virtue monarchy'. In turn, these allow a rereading of explorations of kingship and excellence in Plato's later political thought, seen as a critique of these models, and also in Aristotle's account of total kingship or \u003cem\u003epambasileia\u003c\/em\u003e, treated here as a counterfactual device dev\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Atack’s elegant and clever book situates itself amid recent discussions of kingship, from Graeber and Sahlins to Strathern. It focuses on texts from Herodotus to Aristotle, between the Homeric king and the late Hellenistic period of Philodemus. The focus is Greek even when speaking of foreign kings, and notwithstanding Atack’s impressive awareness of the huge literature on external kings in their own contexts (and bibliography in general)... [The book] works on at least two levels. First, it offers astute readings of some well-known texts, and succeeds without any doubt in reconceptualizing the Greek discourse of kingship (and kingliness) in the fifth and fourth centuries BCE, in Athens especially. Second, it asks challenging methodological questions about sole rule and regality, which make the book of a wider interest. Atack's framework might work interestingly in relation to the Roman emperor, for example. The argument is concise and clear, and should provoke debate at the same level of seriousness and intellectual ambition with which it is written.\"\u003c\/strong\u003e - \u003cem\u003eBryn Mawr Classical Review\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntroduction 1. King and Cosmos in Herodotus 2. Monarchy on the Democratic Stage 3. The Discourse of Kingship in Classical Athenian Thought 4. Kingship and Socratic Thought 5. Virtue and Monarchy 6. Kingship in Plato’s Later Political Thought 7. ‘Total Kingship’ and the Rule of Law 8. Conclusion: the Imaginary King and the Metaphysics of Political Unity\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Taylor \u0026 Francis Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51018918166871,"sku":"9781032240060","price":39.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781032240060.jpg?v=1750778657","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-discourse-of-kingship-in-classical-greece-9781032240060","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}