DOCSLIB.ORG

Andocides De Mysteriis

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Andocides De Mysteriis ANDOCIDES DE MYSTERIIS AND DE REDITU EDITED BY E. C. MARCHANT, B.A. LATE SCHOLAR OF PETERHOUSE, CAMBRIDGE; ASSISTANT MASTER AT ST. PAUL'S SCHOOL. RI VINGTONS WATERLOO PLACE, LONDON MDCCCLXXXIX TO A. J. N. PREFACE OF the three genuine speeches of An decides, the first and second, in many respects unlike, are nevertheless closely connected; the Mutilation of the Hermae form­ ing the link which unites them. They present two dramatised versions—inconsistent and distinct—of the facts of that gross outrage. At the same time, if we view the history of the crime and its effects as a whole, from the summer of 415 B.C. down to the acquittal of Andocides in 399, the de Mysteriis and de Reditu form two interesting episodes in the story, both of them well worthy of greater consideration than they have hitherto received. It is in the hope of enlarging the number of the readers of Andocides that I have prepared this edition. I have throughout kept in view the needs of students at the Universities, and in the upper forms of Schools. At the same time, I venture to hope that this book may direct the closer attention of mature scholars to a valuable example of colloquial Attic, which—though deserving to be studied by admirers of Greek idiom, side by side with Aristophanes—has in this country been strangely neglected. The explana­ tion of this neglect is probably to be sought in the technical nature of the subjects with which Andocides vi PKEFACE. deals. It appears to me that an annotated edition removes this objection in the case of Andocides, since, though there are many highly technical. points dealt with, yet the treatment of them is so skilful that they are always made interesting. In preparing the Greek Index, I have taken pains to make it an adequate presentment of the vocabulary and diction of the " gentleman orator." If these speeches are important as specimens of the every-day language of the Athenians at the best period, they are of still greater importance as sources of infor­ mation on Athenian History. I have not thought it my business to enter into any speculations as to the authorship of the Mutilation of the Hermae. The trial of Andocides in 399 ought to have cleared up the ques­ tion. But the account then given by him in court most certainly does not correspond with the true cir­ cumstances. Sixteen years after the events he found it easy to put that complexion upon the facts which he wished they had really borne. In this weakness for pure romancing, which to a modern reader is some­ times amusing and more often annoying, Andocides is conspicuous even among Athenian orators. Not­ withstanding that his disclosures before the initiated heliasts were subsequent to the writing of Thucydides* history, the historian's words are still true—TO Be crafyh OvBel? 0VT6 TOT6 OVT€ V(TT€pOV €%€t ellTeiP 7T€pl TO)V SpacrdvToov. The mutilation was undoubtedly the work of a conspiracy of some sort. " Though neither PREFACE. vii the parties concerned, nor their purposes, were ever more than partially made out, the concert and con­ spiracy itself is unquestionable. It seems probable, as far as we can form an opinion, that the conspirators had two objects, perhaps some of them one and some of them the other—to ruin Alkibiades—to frustrate or delay the expedition."1 Whether, as Plutarch2 had read that some supposed at the time, the Corinthians and Megarians prompted the deed, we have no means of judging. But the idea, also mentioned by Plutarch and supported among modern writers by Thirl wall and Gilbert, that the mutilation of nearly all the statues during one night was merely a drunken outrage which was turned to political account by oligarchs and extreme democrats, is out of the question.3 All that can, I think, be clearly made out, is that the eraipeia of Euphiletus, including Andocides, took a considerable part in the plot. And, after all, this is as much as is to the purpose of the reader of Andocides. The de Mysteriis gives the only detailed account we possess of the restoration of democracy in 403 B.C., and affords us a glimpse of the inner life of Athens during the years 1 Grote, Gk. Hist. vii. p. 9. 2 Alcibiades, xviii. 3 Lipsius, Andocides, p. viii, speaks in high terms of Grote's account of the outrage. The only points in that account which I have called in question are (1) the veracity of Andocides in stating that only one bust escaped (Grote vii. p. 5), (2) the statement about Androcles and the senate {ib. p. 34), (3) the note on the proposal to torture two senators (ib. p. 39), and (4) in part, the note about Speusippus (p. 44). Vlll PREFACE. immediately following. The two speeches contain valuable scraps of autobiography. We realise what were the feelings, what the affections and jealousies of an Athenian gentleman of position and talent. We can see also—and this is a point of great interest— what kind of effect initiation into the Eleusinian Mysteries produced upon the life of the believer. There is no sign that the candidate for admission into the secrets thought of anything except the benefits which he would receive by initiation. He would thus be brought into close communion with Demeter and Persephone—" the Madonna and Child of ancient Greece."1 He would be henceforth under their protec­ tion, and be the favoured object of an almost personal affection. He would be afraid to sin against them openly in future, lest he should forfeit the bright hopes which were his since first he gazed on the holy relics. But his own duties were purely negative; as long as he took part in the annual outing to Eleusis, and did nothing which could directly offend the two goddesses, he was their loyal servant, and deserving of all the bliss to which he looked forward after death. But neither Andocides' own character, as revealed in his speeches, nor his appeal to the jury (de Myst. §§ 31-33), who had themselves " seen the holy relics," entitle us to assume that initiation was any incentive to a godly life —if that term is not to mean mere abstinence from actions unworthy of a respectable citizen. 1 Evelyn Abbott, Hist, of Greece, i. p. 464. PREFACE. IX The text of this edition is based upon that of Pro­ fessor Blass in the Teubner, and that of Professor Lipsius in the Tauchnitz, series; but, except in matters of spelling, it is rather more conservative than that of the former, and considerably more so than that of the latter, editor. Emending is always an attractive but dangerous pastime. Those distinguished scholars admit that it is especially dangerous in the case of so careless a writer as Andocides.1 Some of Lipsius' emendations, e.g. at de Myst. §§ 4, 81, 112, de Bed. § 10, seem unneces­ sarily violent. In de Bed. §22, Dobree and Eeiske in different ways first altered what I believe to be a sound passage. At de Myst. §§39 and 86, I am responsible for a new arrangement of the words, and at §§ 12, 133, 141 for new readings. I desire to acknowledge most fully the great debt which I owe to the works of Professor Jebb, and of the two German Professors already mentioned. All particular debts I have acknow­ ledged in the notes. Further, I hope that, whenever I have expressed dissent from the views of those or of other recognised authorities, I have everywhere dis­ played that courtesy which has of late been somewhat out of fashion in the polemics of scholars. I wish to offer my warm thanks to the High Master of St. Paul's School for the kind encouragement and 1 "Ipse autem Lipsius id quidem eonfitetur, magna cautione opus esse, si quis in hoc oratore interpolationes indagare velit: etenim fuisse Andocidem ad verborum ambages natura propensiorem neque immerito a quibusdam veterum, Hermogene teste, nugatorem habi- tum esse."—Blass, A?idocides, p. xi. X PREFACE. assistance he has given me in the preparation of this book: also to the Eev. J. H. Lupton, Sur-Master of St. Paul's, for a detailed criticism of the opening pages: also to Mr. E. A. Neil, Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge, for several valuable suggestions. Mr. A. W. Spratt, Fellow of St. Catharine's, after giving me the benefit of his advice throughout, has, in the scanty leisure of a busy term, read through the proofs, and has thus added a fresh kindness to the many that I had already received from him. As a former pupil, I feel that I owe much of what may be best in this book to him. There is, moreover, scarcely a page of the notes but bears upon it the results of his criticism. I append a list of the works which I have most frequently consulted:— Baiter and Sauppe (" Turicenses")—Oratores Attici. Zurich, 1850. Blass, F., Andocidis Orationes. Leipzig, 1880. Blass, F., Attlsche Beredsamkeit, i., Edition ii, 1887. Busolt, G., Griechische Geschichte, i. Gotha, 1886. Bockh, Public Economy of Athens, Eng. Trans. London, 1842. Dobree, Adversaria. Cambridge, 1833. G-rote, History of Greece, in 12 vols. London, 1884. Hickie, Andocides de Mysteriis. London, 1885. Jebb, Attic Orators. Selections. London, 1888. v Jebb, Attic Orators from Antijohon to Isaeus. Lipsius, J. H., Andocidis Orationes. Leipzig, 1888. Lipsius, J. H., Der Attische Process von Meier und Scho- mann, neu bearbeit. Berlin, 1883-87. PREFACE. XI Schomann, de Comitiis Atheniensibus.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Theopompos' Treatment of Cimon Connor, W Robert Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Spring 1963; 4, 2; Proquest Pg
    Theopompos' Treatment of Cimon Connor, W Robert Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Spring 1963; 4, 2; ProQuest pg. 107 Theopompos' Treatment of Cimon w. Robert Connor MOST A CENTURY AGO F. Ruhll first called attention to a E curious and difficult fragment of Theopompos2 in the Contra Iulianum of St. Cyril of Alexandria. The fragment, now printed as number 90 in Jacoby's collection, is an attack on the integrity of Cimon, the fifth-century Athenian general. Since Ruhl's discovery the fragment has received little serious discussion: it was omitted in the collections of Theopompos made by Schranz and by Grenfell and Hunt,3 only briefly discussed by Jacoby,4 applied to other Athen­ ians by Meyer and Wade-Gery,5 and dismissed by Ruhl himself as part of a "vollstandiges Lugensystem"6 developed by the Christian authors to denigrate paganism. More disconcerting is the failure of two important studies of Theopompos to consider the fragment. Both K. von Fritz and A. Momigliano accept the view that Theopompos gave his "permanent approval" to Cimon, "the old-time gentleman, brilliant in war as well as in society, a perfect aristocrat ... who was finally defeated ... 1 F. RUhl, Die Quellen Plutarchs im Leben des Kimcn (Marburg dissertation 1867). 2 FGrHist 115 F 90. It has been suggested to me that the large number of iambic feet in the fragment (infra page 108) may indicate that the fragment belongs to Theopompos the comic poet, not Theopompos the historian. The fragment, however, accords well with what is known of the digression on the demagogues in the Philippica, and has no obvious parallel among the fragments of the comedian.
    [Show full text]
  • Resounding Mysteries: Sound and Silence in the Eleusinian Soundscape
    Body bar (print) issn 2057–5823 and bar (online) issn 2057–5831 Religion Article Resounding mysteries: sound and silence in the Eleusinian soundscape Georgia Petridou Abstract The term ‘soundscape’, as coined by the Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer at the end of the 1960s, refers to the part of the acoustic environment that is per- ceivable by humans. This study attempts to reconstruct roughly the Eleusinian ‘soundscape’ (the words and the sounds made and heard, and those others who remained unheard) as participants in the Great Mysteries of the two Goddesses may have perceived it in the Classical and post-Classical periods. Unlike other mystery cults (e.g. the Cult of Cybele and Attis) whose soundscapes have been meticulously investigated, the soundscape of Eleusis has received relatively little attention, since the visual aspect of the Megala Mysteria of Demeter and Kore has for decades monopolised the scholarly attention. This study aims at putting things right on this front, and simultaneously look closely at the relational dynamic of the acoustic segment of Eleusis as it can be surmised from the work of well-known orators and philosophers of the first and second centuries ce. Keywords: Demeter; Eleusis; Kore; mysteries; silence; sound; soundscape Affiliation University of Liverpool, UK. email: [email protected] bar vol 2.1 2018 68–87 doi: https://doi.org/10.1558/bar.36485 ©2018, equinox publishing RESOUNDING MYSTERIES: SOUND AND SILENCE IN THE ELEUSINIAN SOUNDSCAPE 69 Sound, like breath, is experienced as a movement of coming and going, inspiration and expiration. If that is so, then we should say of the body, as it sings, hums, whistles or speaks, that it is ensounded.
    [Show full text]
  • Goneis in Athenian Law (And Perception)
    GONEIS IN ATHENIAN LAW (AND PERCEPTION) David Whitehead Queen’s University Belfast [email protected] Abstract: This paper aims to establish what the laws of classical Athens meant when they used the term goneis. A longstanding and widespread orthodoxy holds that, despite the simple and largely unproblematic “dictionary” definition of the noun goneus/goneis as parent/parents, Athenian law extended it beyond an individual’s father and mother, so as to include – if they were still alive – protection and respect for his or her grandparents, and even great-grandparents. While this is not a notion of self-evident absurdity, I challenge it on two associated counts, one broad and one narrow. On a general, contextual level, genre-by genre survey and analysis of the evidence for what goneus means (and implies) in everyday life and usage shows, in respect of the word itself, an irresistible thrust in favour of the literal ‘parent’ sense. Why then think otherwise? Because of confusion, in modern minds, engendered by Plato and by Isaeus. In Plato’s case, his legislation for Magnesia contemplates (I argue) legal protection for grandparents but does not, by that mere fact, extend the denotation of goneis to them. And crucially for a proper understanding of the law(s) of Athens itself, two much-cited passages in the lawcourt speeches of Isaeus, 1.39 and 8.32, turn out to be the sole foundation for the modern misunderstanding about the legal scope of goneis. They should be recognised for what they are: passages where law is secondary and rhetorical persuasion paramount.
    [Show full text]
  • An Athenian Law on Silver Coinage
    AN ATHENIAN LAW ON SILVER COINAGE (PLATES 25-27) AMONG the many remarkableepigraphic discoveries of the recent Agora Excava- -tions one of the most important for students of Greek numismatics and Athenian political institutions is the complete marble stele discussed in this paper. Valuable new evidence about the Nomothetai, the circulation of silver coins in Athens and Peirai- eus, and about a hitherto little-known official, the Dokimastes, is preserved in consider- able detail in this document. In addition to specific information about ancient counterfeit coins there are also no fewer than ten different public officials mentioned in this text which is fifty-six lines long and well-enough preserved to require very little restoration.' Agora Inventory I 7180 (Pls. 25-27). Complete stele of fine-crystaled, white marble mended from two pieces; crowned by a molding 0.082 m. in height consisting of an ovolo topped by a plain taenia. Back rough picked; sides and bottom 0.08 m. of front dressed with toothed chisel. Stele has a slight vertical taper. Found on August 4, 1970 built into the west wall of the Great Drain in front of the Royal Stoa, J 4,5. Height, 1.268 m.; width, at base, 0.457 m., below molding, 0.428 m.; thickness, 0.126 m. Height of letters, lines 1-2, 0.009 m., lines 3-56, 0.005-0.006 m. a. 37514 a. NON- 2TOIX. c'80oE T-roZ vojLo00ETatLS, Em' 'I7ro[8aLavros] dapXovTos: NLKO/-V EL7TEVW TO apyvpLov 8eXErOat TO ATTKoV 0oT[....... ]- TOIX. 39 at apyvpoy KatLEXrL TOV&8tlocr'toy xa[paKT7jpa.
    [Show full text]
  • Marathon 2,500 Years Edited by Christopher Carey & Michael Edwards
    MARATHON 2,500 YEARS EDITED BY CHRISTOPHER CAREY & MICHAEL EDWARDS INSTITUTE OF CLASSICAL STUDIES SCHOOL OF ADVANCED STUDY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON MARATHON – 2,500 YEARS BULLETIN OF THE INSTITUTE OF CLASSICAL STUDIES SUPPLEMENT 124 DIRECTOR & GENERAL EDITOR: JOHN NORTH DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONS: RICHARD SIMPSON MARATHON – 2,500 YEARS PROCEEDINGS OF THE MARATHON CONFERENCE 2010 EDITED BY CHRISTOPHER CAREY & MICHAEL EDWARDS INSTITUTE OF CLASSICAL STUDIES SCHOOL OF ADVANCED STUDY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON 2013 The cover image shows Persian warriors at Ishtar Gate, from before the fourth century BC. Pergamon Museum/Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin. Photo Mohammed Shamma (2003). Used under CC‐BY terms. All rights reserved. This PDF edition published in 2019 First published in print in 2013 This book is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0) license. More information regarding CC licenses is available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ Available to download free at http://www.humanities-digital-library.org ISBN: 978-1-905670-81-9 (2019 PDF edition) DOI: 10.14296/1019.9781905670819 ISBN: 978-1-905670-52-9 (2013 paperback edition) ©2013 Institute of Classical Studies, University of London The right of contributors to be identified as the authors of the work published here has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Designed and typeset at the Institute of Classical Studies TABLE OF CONTENTS Introductory note 1 P. J. Rhodes The battle of Marathon and modern scholarship 3 Christopher Pelling Herodotus’ Marathon 23 Peter Krentz Marathon and the development of the exclusive hoplite phalanx 35 Andrej Petrovic The battle of Marathon in pre-Herodotean sources: on Marathon verse-inscriptions (IG I3 503/504; Seg Lvi 430) 45 V.
    [Show full text]
  • The Prosecutors of Socrates and the Political Motive Theory
    Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 2-1981 The prosecutors of Socrates and the political motive theory Thomas Patrick Kelly Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Intellectual History Commons, and the Political History Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Kelly, Thomas Patrick, "The prosecutors of Socrates and the political motive theory" (1981). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 2692. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.2689 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Thomas Patrick Kelly for the Master of Arts in History presented February 26, 1981. Title: The Prosecutors of Socrates and The Political Motive Theory. APPROVED BY MEMBERS OF THE THESIS CO~rnITTEE: ~~varnos, Cha1rman Charles A. Le Guin Roderlc D1man This thesis presents a critical analysis of the histor- ical roles assigned to the prosecutors of Socrates by modern historians. Ancient sources relating to the trial and the principles involved, and modern renditions, especially those of John Burnet and A. E. Taylor, originators of the theory that the trial of Socrates was politically motivated, are critically 2 analyzed and examined. The thesis concludes that the political motive theory is not supported by the evidence on which it relies. THE PROSECUTORS OF SOCRATES AND THE POLITICAL MOTIVE THEORY by THOMAS PATRICK KELLY A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in HISTORY Portland State University 1981 TO THE OFFICE OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND RESEARCH: The members of the Committee approve the thesis of Thomas Patrick Kelly presented February 26, 1981.
    [Show full text]
  • The History of Sexuality, Volume 2: the Use of Pleasure
    The Use of Pleasure Volume 2 of The History of Sexuality Michel Foucault Translated from the French by Robert Hurley Vintage Books . A Division of Random House, Inc. New York The Use of Pleasure Books by Michel Foucault Madness and Civilization: A History oflnsanity in the Age of Reason The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences The Archaeology of Knowledge (and The Discourse on Language) The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perception I, Pierre Riviere, having slaughtered my mother, my sister, and my brother. ... A Case of Parricide in the Nineteenth Century Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison The History of Sexuality, Volumes I, 2, and 3 Herculine Barbin, Being the Recently Discovered Memoirs of a Nineteenth­ Century French Hermaphrodite Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972-1977 VINTAGE BOOKS EDlTlON, MARCH 1990 Translation copyright © 1985 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Vintage Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Originally published in France as L' Usage des piaisirs by Editions Gallimard. Copyright © 1984 by Editions Gallimard. First American edition published by Pantheon Books, a division of Random House, Inc., in October 1985. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Foucault, Michel. The history of sexuality. Translation of Histoire de la sexualite. Includes bibliographical references and indexes. Contents: v. I. An introduction-v. 2. The use of pleasure. I. Sex customs-History-Collected works.
    [Show full text]
  • Rethinking Athenian Democracy.Pdf
    Rethinking Athenian Democracy A dissertation presented by Daniela Louise Cammack to The Department of Government in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the subject of Political Science Harvard University Cambridge, Massachusetts January 2013 © 2013 Daniela Cammack All rights reserved. Professor Richard Tuck Daniela Cammack Abstract Conventional accounts of classical Athenian democracy represent the assembly as the primary democratic institution in the Athenian political system. This looks reasonable in the light of modern democracy, which has typically developed through the democratization of legislative assemblies. Yet it conflicts with the evidence at our disposal. Our ancient sources suggest that the most significant and distinctively democratic institution in Athens was the courts, where decisions were made by large panels of randomly selected ordinary citizens with no possibility of appeal. This dissertation reinterprets Athenian democracy as “dikastic democracy” (from the Greek dikastēs, “judge”), defined as a mode of government in which ordinary citizens rule principally through their control of the administration of justice. It begins by casting doubt on two major planks in the modern interpretation of Athenian democracy: first, that it rested on a conception of the “wisdom of the multitude” akin to that advanced by epistemic democrats today, and second that it was “deliberative,” meaning that mass discussion of political matters played a defining role. The first plank rests largely on an argument made by Aristotle in support of mass political participation, which I show has been comprehensively misunderstood. The second rests on the interpretation of the verb “bouleuomai” as indicating speech, but I suggest that it meant internal reflection in both the courts and the assembly.
    [Show full text]
  • Thalheim's Isaeus Itaei Orationes Cum Deperditarum Fragmentis Post Carolum Scheibe Iterum Edidit Th
    The Classical Review http://journals.cambridge.org/CAR Additional services for The Classical Review: Email alerts: Click here Subscriptions: Click here Commercial reprints: Click here Terms of use : Click here Thalheim's Isaeus Itaei orationes cum deperditarum fragmentis post Carolum Scheibe iterum edidit Th. Thalheim. Leipzig: Teubner. Mk. 2. 40. W. Wyse The Classical Review / Volume 18 / Issue 02 / March 1904, pp 115 - 120 DOI: 10.1017/S0009840X0020944X, Published online: 27 October 2009 Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0009840X0020944X How to cite this article: W. Wyse (1904). The Classical Review, 18, pp 115-120 doi:10.1017/S0009840X0020944X Request Permissions : Click here Downloaded from http://journals.cambridge.org/CAR, IP address: 130.132.123.28 on 13 Jul 2015 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW. 115 O.P.5 with the variant diuitum (-is O), and word ' emendare' which is used invariably is given as a variant in P.2'7: militum is the in the subscriptiones, is to be construed in reading of Rat.2 and a variant in P.10. 313 its most literal sense; and that view is, I furens: with Or. Boul. W. M. Rh. D.1 P.5 think, fully borne out by this MS. The (uel fremens) P,7: it is also given as a changes of the original text amount to variant in P.10 Lo.2 Z. 314 et: I noted this nothing more than insertions of omitted also from 0. Or. H. Trin. P.8 328 lines or words, and corrections of slips of retudit; so too O. and Or. (uel retundit).
    [Show full text]
  • The Structural Integrity of Thucydides' History
    Digital Commons @ Assumption University Political Science Department Faculty Works Political Science Department 2013 The Incomplete Whole: The Structural Integrity of Thucydides' History Bernard J. Dobski Assumption College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.assumption.edu/political-science-faculty Part of the Philosophy Commons, and the Political Science Commons Recommended Citation Dobski, Bernard J. "The Incomplete Whole: The Structural Integrity of Thucydides' History." Socrates and Dionysus: Philosophy and Art in Dialogue. Edited by Ann Ward. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2013. Pages 14-32. This Book Chapter is brought to you for free and open access by the Political Science Department at Digital Commons @ Assumption University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Political Science Department Faculty Works by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Assumption University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. CHAPTER TWO THE INCOMPLETE WHOLE: THE STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY OF THUCYDIDES’HISTORY BERNARD J. DOBSKI The History of Thucydides concludes in the middle of a sentence about the 21st year of a war that spanned 27 years. We can resist the temptation to conclude that Thucydides’ work is unfinished not only because our author informs us that he lived several years after the war ended (V.26, II.65.12, I.1)*, but because the structural outline of his work shows why its abrupt and apparently incomplete conclusion is necessary. Careful attention to the broader architecture of Thucydides’ work reveals a dialectical movement from the tensions within political justice as the Greeks understood it to a presentation of nature as a standard for morality and politics.
    [Show full text]
  • Isocrates and the Rhetorical Creation of Europe: the Medium As
    Isocrates & Europe - 1 Isocrates and the Rhetorical Creation of Europe: The Medium as Message I. Introduction: Overview The idea that Isocrates helped create the concept of transnationalism that fostered Europe both as an idea and as an eventual political union is common fare in rhetorical studies. De Romilly (1992) writes that “Isocrates was perhaps the first in antiquity to focus his political theories on the idea of Europe” (p. 2). Isocrates anticipated “the idea of Europe” (Hariman, 2004, p. 231) and used the words Europen and Europes 13 times in his essays. But, to date, critical exploration of Isocrates’ role in developing the idea of Europe has primarily dealt with the content of his works – with his eloquent and relentless focus on panhellenism and the related conflict between Europe and Asia. This paper, however, will focus on medium rather than message. It will focus on Isocrates’ pioneering use of a new medium – written documents/syggrammata – and the role that the new rhetorical medium played in forming Europe. The most famous passage in the Isocratean canon, the so-called Hymn to Logos (Jaeger, 1944/1971), which first appeared in Nicocles (5-9) and was repeated in Antidosis (253-257), holds that speech/logos is a civic and political unifier, by means of which “we have come together and founded cities and made laws and invented arts” (Nicocles 6). Yet before Isocrates, who was “the first individual who could be termed a ‘writer’ in the modern sense of the term” (Lentz, 1989), logos and its community-building powers Isocrates & Europe - 2 traveled primarily orally: Cities, alliances, arts, and laws were built through face-to-face communication.
    [Show full text]
  • DELIBERATION in ANCIENT GREEK ASSEMBLIES Daniela Cammack* Yale University When an Ancient Greek Dêmos
    DELIBERATION IN ANCIENT GREEK ASSEMBLIES Daniela Cammack* Yale University When an ancient Greek dêmos (“people,” “assembly”) deliberated, what did it do?1 On one view, it engaged in a form of public conversation along the lines the- orized by contemporary deliberative democrats; on another, a small number of “active” citizens debated before a much larger, more “passive” audience. On ei- ther account, deliberation is represented as an external, speech-centered activity rather than an internal, thought-centered one. The democratic ideal, it is argued, was at least occasional participation in public speech. This article questions that interpretation. A study of βουλεύομαι, “delib- erate,” from Homer to Aristotle reveals three models of deliberation: internal, dia- logical, and a partial combination that I shall call “guided,” in which speaking and deliberating were performed by advisers and decision-makers respectively. As- sembly deliberation was almost always represented as guided deliberation. The dêmos—which is to say the audience—deliberated (ἐβουλεύετο), while those who spoke before it advised (συνεβούλευσε). Citizens thus did not fall short of a democratic ideal when they did not speak publicly. To the contrary, internal re- flection, culminating in a vote, was precisely how the dêmos was expected to ex- ercise its authority. The implications for our conceptualization of ancient Greek democracy are significant. Deliberation as conversation and as oratory Deliberation (τὸ βουλεύεσθαι)2 by large groups of citizens was commonplace in ancient Greece. Aristotle defined a citizen as “one who has the right to participate in deliberative (βουλευτικῆς) or judicial office” (Politics 1275b20) and associated these functions particularly with the multitude: “Over what matters ought the freemen and mass of citizens to have authority?...It is not safe for them to partici- pate in the highest offices…It remains then for them to share in deliberation (τὸ βουλεύεσθαι) and judging” (1281b24-31).
    [Show full text]