Athenian Identity and Civic Ideology

Abstract

In Identity and Civic Ideology, Alan Boegehold and Adele Scafuro bring together a group of scholars who explore the nature and meaning of Athenian citizenship. Departing from the narrow perspective of constitutional historians and embracing sociological concerns as well, the range of topics attests to a broad vision of the concepts of citizenship and civic ideology in a society in which the boundary between public and private, sacred and secular, is not always clear. Among the contributors, Philip Brook Manville and W. Robert Connor offer critiques of the study of citizenship, while Frank J. Frost examines pre-Cleisthenic notions of citizenship. Alan Boegehold examines social and economic motivations for the passage of Perikles's citizenship law of 451/0. Three subsequent essays treat various aspects of civic ideology: lan Morris and Josiah Ober consider evidence for changes in that ideology in the fifth and fourth centuries, Morris by examining its visual manifestation in funeral monumeius, Ober by offering an interpretation of Thucydides's history as a discourse that actively resists hegemonic public discourse. Robert W. Wallace examines what might be perceived as contradictions within civic ideology, namely, alleged infringements of intellectual freedom. The last three essays turn to the fourth and early third centuries. Adele Scafuro discusses the process of citizen identification in Athenian society; Cynthia Patterson examines the position of women in the maintenance of civic ideology; and David Konstan considers the relationship between sexual attitudes and civic status.