Athenian Law Research Articles

From public debates to institutional establishment: Exploring the mission of the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Greece

In December 1997, the National Museum of Contemporary Art (Ethniko Mouseio Synchronis Technis–EMST) was established by law in Athens under the auspices of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, compensating for the long-term absence of a state museum of contemporary art in Greece. Following the restitution of democracy in 1974, the question ‘what kind of museum do we need for contemporary art in Greece?’ was raised by artists and other professionals (critics, curators, gallerists, researchers) and explored through a series of public debates and events. However, only in the 1990s was this demand supported by politicians, eventually leading to the establishment of the EMST in 1997. This article examines the public debates developed by art professionals from 1976 to 1997 regarding the mission of the museum as an open, experimental institution in relation to the broader cultural and sociopolitical context. It also analyses the legislation related to its establishment and questions whether the above priorities and expectations were reflected in the relevant legal provisions.

Sexual Labor in the Athenian Courts

Sexual Labor in the Athenian Courts

Inscribed Athenian Laws and Decrees in the Age of Demosthenes: Historical Essays by Stephen D. Lambert

Reviewed by: Inscribed Athenian Laws and Decrees in the Age of Demosthenes: Historical Essays by Stephen D. Lambert Brad L. Cook Inscribed Athenian Laws and Decrees in the Age of Demosthenes: Historical Essays. By Stephen D. Lambert. Brill Studies in Greek and Roman Epigraphy. Leiden, NL and Boston, MA: Brill, 2018. Pp. ix + 333. Hardback, $144.00. ISBN: 978-90-04-35248-3. Lambert has assembled eleven essays, seven previously published, between 2010 and 2017, and four new, all of which are prefaced by an introduction that epitomizes the chapters and updates them with his collective view of the whole. In an earlier volume of essays, with the same title but subtitled Epigraphical Essays (2012), he presented a valuable set of prolegomena to the 4th-century Athenian inscriptions that are included in the fascicle of Inscriptiones Graecae, which he edited, IG II3 1, 2 (2012). In addition, on the useful and ever-expanding website, Attic Inscriptions Online (AIO), of which Lambert is the founder, English translations are available for all these inscriptions, and many more, with notes and links to additional online resources. Now, in this latest collection of essays, Lambert examines an array of important historical discussions to which these same 4th-century Athenian inscriptions offer clues and complications. Throughout this volume Lambert authoritatively engages with a number of the topics prominent in current scholarship, while at the same time, through the clarity of his detailed presentations, and the thorough bibliography, shows fully the scope of the topic and the epigraphical particulars that he is bringing into the discussion. Chapter 1 considers where inscribed laws and decrees were erected in Athens and how their monumentality functioned. The related question of which particular decisions of the Assembly were inscribed and what we may learn from that selectivity is the concern of Chapter 2. Chapter 3 examines what we can learn from the shift in inscriptional evidence in the 340s, after the Peace of Philocrates in 346, and, with [End Page 490] some overlap, Chapter 4 continues that theme into the 330s and 320s, the era of Lycurgus’ influence on so much of Athenian life. How Athens’ 5th-century past is reflected and also reinscribed in the epigraphical record during the Lycurgan era is considered in Chapter 5, and Chapter 6 looks at the topic for the entire 4th century, starting with the restoration of the democracy in 403; to be noted is the useful appendix that lists the thirty-three inscriptions discussed. More abstract, and more difficult to assess, is the role that inscriptional sources can play in the scholarly discussion about the rule of law in the 4th century, especially in the post-Chaironeia era, the topic of Chapter 7. The epigraphical evidence for the proposers of decrees and the “distribution of political influence” is considered in Chapter 8, which serves as an update of Mogens Hansen’s classic study of rhetors in 4th-century Athens, with some theoretical observations drawn from Josiah Ober. Along the same lines, Chapter 9 focuses on the more difficult question of the relative role of the Boule and the Assembly in the 350s to 322/1 BC, when much more of the shaping of decrees appears to have been taking place in the Assembly than earlier, with a postscript on the inscriptional evidence of the same during a later era, 229/8 to 198/7 BC. The last two chapters are parerga, each focused on a pair of related inscriptions: the first examines two inscriptions from 339/8 BC connected to the taxiarch Boularchos; the second considers two inscriptions, or two parts of the same inscription, from 308/7 BC about the posthumous honoring of Lycurgus, and so they are of relevance to a number of the earlier, topical chapters. In all these essays much is clearly presented, both fundamental issues of epigraphical importance and well-chosen illustrative examples, making this book, if not a handbook per se, certainly an authoritative reference work on all the epigraphic issues herein addressed.14 Except for a trio of missing spaces (15, 157, 278) and what looks to be an OCR confusion (“pedimerits,” 125), the book is...

Die Familie des Aristoteles und die zwei Fassungen seines Testaments

This article compares the Greek and the Arabic versions of Aristotle’s last will and argues that the differences between them are not to be explained as paraphrases and mistakes by the translator(s), as has recently been stated. Rather, the Greek text which constituted the basis of the translation was a manipulated version of the original last will and meant to support the view that Herpyllis was not Aristotle’s mistress and that Nikomachos was not her but Pythias’ son. Although the Greek version in Diogenes Laertios is to be regarded as the original version of this document, it lacks one authentic sentence preserved by the Arabic tradition. A reading of the Greek version of the will before the background of Athenian law makes it probable that Herpyllis was Aristotle’s legal wife and the mother of Nikomachos. In addition, it is shown that Ptolemy’s Life of Aristotle was not, as is assumed in its editio princeps, an epitome of Hermippos’ On Aristotle.

Speakers Diffident and Speakers Brash in the Athenian Courts

Abstract In many of the surviving Athenian law court speeches, litigants and sunēgoroi claim that, as amateurs, they come to trial at a disadvantage. Occasionally, they acknowledge a reputation for wishing to advance themselves by a display of rhetorical abilities. Whatever stance the speaker takes, these maneuvers add to the complex texture of Attic oratory. We find a remarkable variety of approaches, e. g., Antiphon giving a Lesbian-speaking client an ornate acknowledgment in lightly Ionicized Attic of his rhetorical inadequacy; Lysias posing as a forensic novice when he represents himself; Dinarchus mimicking a speaker at a loss for words; Lycurgus warning the jury that the defendant will (mis)represent himself as an amateur under attack by a malicious prosecutor. And the orator who has, however falsely, spoken to his audience of his own sense of formidable rhetorical challenge might thereby be better prepared to improvise his response to his opponents’ speeches. Alcidamas, champion of improvisation, would be sympathetic.

두 세계의 여성과 재난

This study examines that Antigone by Sophocles and Antigone of 2019 by Sophie Deraspe are disaster humanities to describe the reality of national laws causing disaster to individuals. Antigones in the drama and movie experience disaster because of the law in their societies. The laws don’t protect them but give suppression and marginalization. The laws of Athens did not define women as independent subjects. Antigone by Deraspe claims that the law that sentenced Antigone’s sacrifice guilty is unfair. Two works not only describe the resistance against the unjust oppression imposed by the laws but raise public awareness of the disaster inflicted on the week. The movie emphasizes on the solidarity, which means the stop against the violence of the others or the week, and hope for the society coexisting with them.

Socrates’ Understanding of ‘Protection’ (Boētheia) in His Other-Oriented Ethics: The Case of the Athenians in Plato’s Apology and Gorgias

Abstract In this article I argue that Socrates appropriated a traditional discourse characteristic of Athenian law courts and politics keyed to the concept of protection (boētheia). More specifically, I argue that Socrates aimed at protecting the Athenians, though not directly, but indirectly, namely via his life-long endeavour to serve (boēthein) Apollo. I thus read Plato’s Apology as a political text, though not “political” in the sense of Socrates being suspect of overthrowing democracy, as sometimes claimed, but “political” in the sense that Plato’s Socrates latched on to this concept of boēthein in the Apology.

Lysias’s Speech On the Refusal of a Pension and Athenian Citizens with Disabilities

The article examines speech XXIV by Athenian orator Lysias “On the Refusal of a Pension” (V–IV c. BCE) This text provides not only an excellent example of a legal speech written by a renowned Attic orator but also invaluable material for the study of social policy of Athenian democracy, namely — adaptation and survival of people with disabilities in the ancient Greek polis. The author of the article agrees with those researchers who have no doubts concerning the authorship of the speech and its intention to be delivered during the litigation on dokimasia of “infirm” people in the Council 500. The article considers the information about the disabled people in Athens and the allowance granted to them, and analyses topoi frequently used by litigants in legal speeches. Similarly to other Athenian trials, the outcome of this is not known, nor is the fate of the disabled person and whether he managed to assert his position. The analysis of the strategies of litigants indicates that appealing to pathos, enhancing the image of a good citizen, and discrediting the opponent in combination with irony, humor, and dramatization of the trial, to a certain extent, often made an impact on judges and resulted in a favorable decision The whole repertoire of these tactics was effectively utilized by the orator in speech XXIV, therefore is reasonable to suggest that the success was almost guaranteed. It is also noteworthy that the Athenian law that granted the allowance to adynatoi was unique for the Ancient Greece and, in all probability, was connected with the development of Athenian democracy.

The Work of Craterus and the Documents in the Attic Orators and in the “Lives of the Ten Orators”

SummaryThis essay is divided into three parts. The first examines the documents about Antiphon in the “Lives of the Ten Orators” (Plut. X orat. 833d–834b), which have been attributed to the collection of Craterus, and shows that they must be forgeries because the information contained in them is inconsistent with reliable sources about Athenian laws and legal procedure and with the language and formulas of the preserved decrees of the fifth century and contains other serious mistakes. The second section examines the fragments of the work of Craterus and shows that all are Athenian decrees, most of which relate to imperial administration or to famous personalities and are dated to the period between roughly 480 and 410. None of the fragments of this work can be dated earlier or later than this period. The third section reviews the documents inserted into the texts of the speeches of Andocides, Aeschines and Demosthenes and shows that in the majority of cases the editors who inserted these documents into the text could not have used the work of Craterus either for the texts of the genuine documents or for the information contained in the forged documents. In the other cases there is no evidence indicating that these editors consulted his work, and it appears that those who composed these documents used other sources.

Athenian Law and Classical Greek Tragedy: The Case of Oedipus the King

This paper is a comparative study of two different but interrelated discourses: fifth-century Athenian law and the classical Greek tragedy Oedipus the King, and its tertium comparationis is the rhetoric or language shared by these discourses. In order to discuss what is involved in this comparison this paper revolves around three axes of attention. First, it tries to show how most of the language of Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, if contextualized, is invested with legal terms and can be interpreted in terms of Athenian law. Second, it argues that, aside from the philosophical and educational aspects of Oedipus the King, the Athenian audience must have experienced one of the most important aspects of their public life: participating in the Athenian popular courts (dikasteria: δικαστήρια) as juries. If it is so, then Sophocles the playwright can be viewed as a logographos, a speech-writer, and his play can be understood as a legal case study in an Athenian popular court. Third, the paper puts forward the proposal that the case of Oedipus the King and its legal rhetoric used as the plot unfolds can be a paradeigma (either a paradigm or an example), in addition to orations by Aeschines, Antiphon, Demosthenes and other Athenian rhetoricians, and can shed light on how the Athenian legal system worked when this tragedy was performed in fifth-century Athens.

Paying the Price: Contextualizing Exchange inPhaedo69a–c

AbstractThis paper uses a problematic passage atPhaedo69a–cas a case study to explore the advantages we can gain by reading Plato in his cultural context. Socrates argues that the common conception of courage is strange: people fear death, but endure it because they are afraid of greater evils. They are thus brave through fear. He proposes that we should not exchange greater pleasures, pains, and fears for lesser, like coins, but that there is the only correct coin, for which we must exchange all these things: wisdom (phronēsis). Commentators have been puzzled by the precise nature of the exchange envisaged here, sometimes labelling the coinage metaphor as inept, sometimes describing this stretch of argument as “religious” and thus not to be taken seriously. The body of the paper looks at (1) the connection between money and somatic materialism, (2) the incommensurability in Plato of financial and ethical orders, (3) financial metaphors outside Plato that connect coinage with ethics, (4) intrinsic and use values in ancient coinage, and (5) Athenian laws on coinage, weights, and measures that reflect anxiety about debased coins in the fifth and early fourth centuries. It sees thePhaedopassage as the product of a sociopolitical climate which facilitated the consideration of coinage as an embodiment of a value system and which connected counterfeit or debased currency with debased ethical types. Athenians in the early fourth century were much concerned with issues of commensurability between different currencies and with problems of debasement and counterfeiting; understanding this makes Socrates’ use of coinage metaphors less puzzling. Both the metaphor of coinage and the other metaphors in this passage of thePhaedo(painting and initiation) engage with ideas of purity, genuineness, and deception. Taken as a group, these metaphors cover a large area of contemporary popular culture and are used to illustrate a disjunction between popular and philosophical ways of looking at value.

Evidence of finance leasing in the ancient mines of Laureion

Demosthenes (382-322 BC) wrote numerous legal speeches, which provide a plethora of cues about public and private law in Athens during the 4th century BC. In his speech “Paragraphe pros Pantaineton”, Demosthenes described a complex financial transaction composed of a sale, a lease, and a loan. The speech further documents the conditions, under which a mining entrepreneur obtained credit to finance a factory among the silver mines of Laureion, near Athens. In this article, I first review the available literature concerning this speech since the 19th century. The historical analyses have so far focused predominantly on the institution of prasis epi lysei, which is not referred to in any ancient legal speech, and have not been conclusive about the nature and operation of this ancient contract. As a consequence, this transaction has remained obscure for centuries. With the present article, I attempt to decode this mysterious transaction. I start from the premise that it is widely acknowledged that Demosthenes was one of the most experienced lawyers of his time. Thus, I take his speech at face value and examine it as a legal brief featuring the essential elements (essentialia negotii) of the disputed contract. In the absence of ancient Athenian legal archives and codices from the 4th century BC, legal speeches are, in principle, the only available documents reflecting the legal and contractual provisions applicable at the time. Consequently, I examine the contract from a purely legal perspective using contextual interpretation in combination with the comparative legal method. Finally, I compare the ancient transaction with contemporary finance leasing, which is a synthetic contract composed of a sale, a lease and a loan. My legal analysis provides insight into a fascinating world of diverse property and contractual rights, which were combined in ingenious ways to secure the financing of the industrial production of silver over the ages. These rights were documented by means of written deeds and enforced by courts in case of disputes or market stress. The Laureion silver, which was used to mint coins, or to finance grains imports from the Black Sea region, was essential for the monetary system and the economy of ancient Athens. Sophisticated contracts helped build a strong Athenian economy and could become a source of inspiration for contemporary economies. I conclude that further legal analysis of ancient speeches may help us better understand the significant contribution of ancient contract and property laws to the development of economy and democracy in ancient Athens.

The Solonian Amnesty Law (Plu. Sol. 19.3–4) and the Athenian Law on Homicide

The Solonian Amnesty Law (Plu. Sol. 19.3–4) and the Athenian Law on Homicide

THE AESCHYLEAN STING INWASPS’ TALE: ARISTOPHANES’ ENGAGEMENT WITH THEORESTEIA

The sting to Aristophanes’ ‘little tale’ inWasps(λογίδιον,Vesp.64) materializes from the comedy's interplay with theOresteia. This article argues that Aristophanes alludes to bothAgamemnonandEumenidesin the scenes running up to (and including) the trial scene, and that he exploits this intertext in the cloak scene (Vesp.1122–264). While isolated allusions to theOresteiahave been identified inWasps, a systematic consideration of these references has not been undertaken: a surprising absence in discussions of the ongoing competition between the comic and the tragic genres permeatingWasps’ dramatic action. Moreover, Aristophanes’ engagement with theOresteiaoffers a special type of tragic intertext, in which the first and the last plays of a connected trilogy are referenced simultaneously, provocatively destabilizing the original. Furthermore, this allusion has implications for our understanding of a scene which recent scholarship has established as pivotal within the comedy, namely the cloak scene. The first part of this article, therefore, establishes the extent ofWasps’ engagement with theOresteiaand considers the significance of the ‘pastiche’ formed through the combined intertextual references toAgamemnonand toEumenides. The second part explores the impact of this intertext on the interpretation of the cloak scene, revealing that its use of costume can be understood as a criticism of Aeschylus’ dramaturgy, inviting a negative reading of Bdelycleon's ideological stance and reinforcing the play's pessimistic view of the Athenian law courts.

Sanctioned Violence: Dealing (with) Death in Ancient Greek Athletics

AbstractIn ancient Greek society, the killing of an athlete in a combat sport during athletic competition presented a problematic situation. On the one hand, an unnatural death required legal inquiries and proceedings to assess blame and damages, and to ward off religious pollution, or miasma. On the other, athletes who demonstrated such a degree of power and might that they could kill an opponent with their bare hands deserved recognition and acclamation as successors to the heroic tradition. This legal quandary epitomizes the tension in Classical Greece between the individual as aspirant to heroic status, and the individual as adherent to the norms that sustained the community. In an effort to negotiate this predicament, ancient Athenian laws specifically addressed involuntary athletic manslaughter, and Panhellenic judges employed legalistic technicalities to disqualify powerful but murderous athletes from receiving the fruits of their victories.

Athenian Law and Society

Athenian Law and Society

Athenian Law and Society, written by Konstantinos A. Kapparis

Athenian Law and Society, written by Konstantinos A. Kapparis

ATHENIAN MERCANTILISM: A NEW APPROACH TO THE ATHENIAN COINAGE DECREE AND THE LAW OF NICOPHON

Two fragmentary specimens of Greek epigraphy, both inscribed within a century of one another (ca. 450 and 375 B.C.) [1] and both, in one manner or another, dealing with regulations of Athenian coinage, have been the source of scholarly debate and controversy. The fifth century Athenian decree ( ψήφισμα ) on coins, weights, and standards, [2] has been referred to as one of “the most controversial texts in the history of Greek epigraphy.” [3] The central debate surrounds its date, which then informs understanding of the nature of the decree and the motive behind its issuance. The fourth century Athenian law (νόμος) on approvers of silver coinage [4] likewise is subject to much debate regarding its textual reconstruction. Both the fifth century decree and the fourth century law aim to control elements of monetary exchange through by eliminating the utilization, and later even the existence, of non-Athenian coinage. The differences from this perspective appear to be quantitative not qualitative—macro-managing and micro-managing monetary exchange. Notwithstanding, scholarship isolates the inscriptions and rarely considers any connection. [5] I aim to provide a better understanding of these two inscriptions and to explore the matter of continuity between these two pieces of Athenian legislation. Along with the matter of continuity, a series of related questions are treated here. (1) Was the Coinage Decree [6] a product of nascent Athenian imperialism, as scholarly consensus maintains, or rather a means to catalyze Athenian revenue via seigniorage? (2) How successful were the Coinage Decree and the Law on Coinage? (3) What does the numismatic evidence suggest regarding successful implementation of them? Namely, do coin finds signify the regularization of anti-counterfeiting measures? (4) Is there any perceivable quantitative reduction of non-Athenian silver coinage following the Decree or Law? [1] All dates are B.C. unless noted otherwise. [2] ATL ii. D 14 = MEIGGS/LEWIS #45. [3] HADJI 2005, 263. [4] SEG 26.72 = RHODES/OSBORNE #25. [5] E.g., Mattingly not only excludes it from discussion, but makes a point to stress that he will not discuss the Coinage Law whatsoever in his work, stating: “I shall say nothing of the astonishing new document from 375/374” (1996, 403). [6] I use the term “Coinage Decree” (from Munzgesetz ), as opposed to the seldom used “Standards Decree” found in CHAMBERS, et al. (1990).

The Protection of Oikoi under Extinction by the Eponymous Archon in Ancient Athens: The Law and its Application

Athenians paid much attention to the protection of oikoi and especially to those oikoi which faced the threat of extinction. This is the reason why the eponymous archon was appointed by the Athenian state so as to take care of family and inheritance issues. Demosthenes states the Athenian law about the magistrate’s obligations and there are two issues which are quite ambiguous. The first one is related to the exact content of the term “oikos” that was under extinction, while the second one is related to the exact way through which the magistrate offered his protection towards such oikoi. The article gives an answer to these ambivalent issues, underscoring the significant role of the magistrate regarding families and properties in classical Athens.

Ein „großer Wurf"? Gaius trifft Demosthenes

Abstract A "lucky strike"? Gaius meets Demosthenes. In D. 50,16,233,2 Gaius explains the expression telum (missile). As the fragment derives from his commentary on the twelve tables, the majority of modern scholars tends to refer this to 12 Tab. 8,12–13, which deals with the justified killing of the armed thief. But regarding the context, it seems to be more reasonable to connect the fragment with 12 Tab. 8,24a (which deals with unintended killing with a spear). This interpretation can be supported by the fact that one passage of the commentary shows great similarities with an old Athenian law that at least can be ascribed to Solon and that Gaius could have cited as he did on other occasions in his commentary.