"Illiberal" misanthropy: mîsanthrôpiâ and aneleutheriâ in the rhetorical literature of 4th century BCE Athens

Abstract

This article examines the interconnectedness of the concepts of classical misanthropy or mîsanthrôpiâ and aneleutheriâ or "illiberality" in a politico-legal context in the rhetorical literature of Classical Athens. My approach offers new insight into the complex nature of mîsanthrôpiâ and Athenian societal values, especially regarding the concept of freedom. Mîsanthrôpiâ is usually understood as the universal hatred of humanity, and it is in this sense that the concept is typically used in ancient Graeco-Roman literature. However, in the rhetorical literature of Classical Athens mîsanthrôpiâ is presented as the quality of a free male citizen who is contemptuous of his fellow citizens and who has failed to properly fulfil his obligations to society and exercise his freedom as a member of the polis. In this setting, mîsanthrôpiâ is closely associated with the multifaceted concept of aneleutheriâ and its moral and civic implications. I argue that this specific rhetorical use of mîsanthrôpiâ was unique to the historical context of Classical Athens and its democratic political system and values and that this explains its disappearance from ancient Greek literature at the end of the Classical period.