ПРОБЛЕМЫ ЭВОЛЮЦИИ ЭТИКО-ПОЛИТИЧЕСКИХ ВЗГЛЯДОВ АНТИФОНТА В СВЯЗИ С ХРОНОЛОГИЕЙ ЕГО ТВОРЧЕСТВА

Abstract

Antiphon was a significant figure in Athenian public life and social thought of the last half of the 5th century B.C. The article raises a question whether his opinions in ethical and especially political sphere changed. with the course of time. In his late career, Antiphonte acted as a staunch opponent of democracy, and in 411 BC he is known to have co-leaded an oligarchic coup in Athens and the resulting regime of the Four Hundred (for which he was executed after the overthrow of this government). The author proceeds from the following chronology of Antiphon’s work: “Tetralogies” and “On the truth” – 440s B.C., “On the concord” – 430s or 420s B.C., forensic speeches – 410s B.C. There are the following conclusions. In the field of ethics, Antiphon in his early treatise “On the truth” expressed some non-traditional opinions, which were even chocking for their cynicism, but in his later works he held more conservative views. As to his political position, it was never really democratic. Antiphon was and remained an opponent of democracy and proponent of oligarchy; it is possible that he gradually changed from a more moderate oligarch to a more radical one.