Riess Performing Interpersonal Violence

Court, Curse, and Comedy in Fourth-Century BCE Athens
1. Auflage 2012
ISBN: 978-3-11-024560-8
Verlag: De Gruyter
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, Band 4, 490 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 230 mm

Reihe: MythosEikonPoiesisISSN

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. Performances such as the staging of trials and comedies ritually defined the meaning of violence and its appropriate application. Speeches and curse tablets not only spoke about violence, but also exacted it in a mediated form, deriving its legitimate use from a democratic principle, the communal decision of the human jurors in the first case and the underworld gods in the second. 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.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Riess, Werner

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Klassische Literaturwissenschaft Klassische Griechische & Byzantinische Literatur
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Alte Geschichte & Archäologie Geschichte der klassischen Antike Griechische Geschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Acknowledgments;6
2;I. Introduction;14
2.1;Notions of Violence – State of Research – Goals;14
2.2;Methodology: The Performative Turn and Ritual Studies (A Brief Overview);23
2.3;The Controlling Function of Ritualization;29
2.4;Sources – Chronological Scope;32
3;II. Forensic Speeches;35
3.1;Ritual Framing;35
3.2;Constructing Violence: Discursive Rules of Violence I (Interaction);45
3.2.1;Contexts;46
3.2.2;First Blow versus Self-Defense;47
3.2.3;Murder versus Lawful Homicide;48
3.2.4;Public versus Hidden Violence;64
3.2.5;Day versus Night;78
3.2.6;Inebriation versus Sobriety;80
3.2.7;Old Age versus Young Age;83
3.2.8;Thresholds (invasion of homes versus protection of oikos);85
3.2.9;Disturbance of Public Duty versus Maintenance of Public Order;95
3.2.10;Perversion of Religious Customs;96
3.2.11;Perversion of Gender, Citizenship Status, Social Rank and Role;97
3.2.12;Mediated (Sanctioned) versus Direct Violence;107
3.2.13;Escalation versus De-escalation;109
3.3;Images of Violence: Discursive Rules of Violence II (Mental and Cultural Representation);115
3.3.1;The Depiction of Violence;117
3.3.2;Selfless Motives versus Selfishness;127
3.3.3;Anger;128
3.3.4;Transgression of Boundaries;132
3.3.5;Hubris;133
3.3.6;Tyrants;139
3.3.7;Barbarians;143
3.3.8;Old versus New Discourse Strategies;144
3.4;Functions of Ritualization;153
3.5;How to Plead in Court – A Conclusion;171
4;III. Curse Tablets;177
4.1;Proportions – Social Origins of Cursers – Functions of Tablets;182
4.2;Ritual Framing;190
4.2.1;Ritual Actions (drômena);191
4.2.2;Ritual Words (legomena);195
4.3;Degree of Violence;202
4.4;Diachronic Development;235
4.5;Conclusion;240
5;IV. Old and New Comedy;248
5.1;Ritual Framing;251
5.1.1;Ritual Origins;251
5.1.2;Theater Production as Ritual Process;256
5.1.3;Ritual Efficacy;260
5.2;The Discursive Rules of Violence;264
5.2.1;Aristophanes;264
5.2.2;Three Case Studies: Wasps, Birds, and Clouds;298
5.2.3;The Double-Layerdness of Violence;324
5.2.4;Aristophanes' Discourse on Democracy – Summary;329
5.2.5;Menander;332
5.2.6;Menander's Discourse on Society – Summary;377
5.3;Ritual Functions of Scenes of Violence in Comedy;380
5.4;Conclusion;386
6;V. Conclusions;392
6.1;Chronological Development of the Violence Discourse in Different Genres;392
6.2;Three Theses on Athenian Violence;397
6.3;Controlling Function of Ritualization;400
6.4;Social Origins of Perpetrators of Violence;402
6.5;A State Monopoly on Violence ?;404
6.6;Outlook on Violence in Athenian Foreign Policy;405
7;VI. References;408
7.1;1. Corpora of Athenian Curse Tablets;408
7.2;2. Abbreviated Works;409
7.3;3. English Translations;410
7.4;4. Secondary Literature;411
8;Index locorum;454
8.1;Literary Sources;454
8.2;Inscriptions;469
8.3;Papyri;474
8.4;Iconographical Sources;474
9;General Index;476
9.1;Important Greek and Latin terms;484
9.2;Ancient proper names (historical and fictional persons);487

Über Autor(innen)

Werner Riess, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, U.S.A.