Performing Interpersonal Violence Court, Curse, and Comedy in Fourth-Century BCE Athens

This book offers the first attempt at understanding interpersonal violence in ancient Athens. While the archaic desire for revenge persisted into the classical period, it was channeled by the civil discourse of the democracy. Forensic speeches, curse tablets, and comedy display a remarkable openness...

Cijeli opis

Spremljeno u:
Bibliografski detalji
Daljnji autori: Riess, Werner (Urednik)
Format: Elektronički Poglavlje knjige
Jezik:engleski
Izdano: De Gruyter 2012
Serija:MythosEikonPoiesis
Teme:
Online pristup:OAPEN Library: download the publication
OAPEN Library: description of the publication
Oznake: Dodaj oznaku
Bez oznaka, Budi prvi tko označuje ovaj zapis!
Opis
Sažetak:This book offers the first attempt at understanding interpersonal violence in ancient Athens. While the archaic desire for revenge persisted into the classical period, it was channeled by the civil discourse of the democracy. Forensic speeches, curse tablets, and comedy display a remarkable openness regarding the definition of violence. But in daily life, Athenians had to draw the line between acceptable and unacceptable behavior. They did so by enacting a discourse on violence in the performance of these genres, during which complex negotiations about the legitimacy of violence took place. Since discourse and reality were intertwined and the discourse was ritualized, actual violence might also have been partly ritualized. By still respecting the on-going desire to harm one's enemy, this partial ritualization of violence helped restrain violence and thus contributed to Athens' relative stability.
ISBN:9783110245608
Pristup:Open Access