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...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Otros Autores: Riess, Werner (Editor)
Formato: Electrónico Capítulo de libro
Lenguaje:inglés
Publicado: De Gruyter 2012
Materias:
Acceso en línea:OAPEN Library: download the publication
OAPEN Library: description of the publication
Etiquetas: Agregar Etiqueta
Sin Etiquetas, Sea el primero en etiquetar este registro!
Descripción
Sumario: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
Acceso:Open Access