Revenge, Punishment and Anger in Ancient Greek Justice

Author: Joe Whitchurch
Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
ISBN: 9781350451544
Published In: October 2024
Format: Hardback
Jurisdiction: U.K. ? Disclaimer:
Countri(es) stated herein are used as reference only

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Description
Contents

Details

Anger was the engine of justice in the ancient Greek world. It drove quests for vengeance which resulted in a variety of consequences, often harmful not only for the relevant actors but also for the wider communities in which they lived.

From as early as the seventh century BCE, Greek communities had developed more or less formal means of imposing restrictions on this behaviour in the form of courts. However, this did not necessarily mean a less angry or vengeful society so much as one where anger and revenge were subject to public sanction and sometimes put to public use.

By the fifth and fourth centuries, the Athenian polis had developed a considerably more sophisticated system for the administration of justice, encompassing a variety of laws, courts, and procedures. In essence, the justice it meted out was built on the same emotional foundations as that seen in Homer. Jurors gave licence to or restrained the anger of plaintiffs in private cases, and they punished according to the anger they themselves felt in public ones. The growing state in ancient Greek poleis did not bring about a transition away from angry private revenge to emotionless public punishment. Rather, anger came increasingly to move into the public sphere, the emotional driver of an early state that defended its community, and even itself, through its vengeful acts of punishment.

Introduction

Chapter One: Anger and the Community in Homeric Society

Chapter Two: Revenge and the Community in Homeric Society

Chapter Three: Punishment and the State in Homeric Society

Chapter Four: Punishment and Anger in the Athenian Courts

Chapter Five: Moral Authority and the Appeal to Anger

Chapter Six: Public Offence and Private Procedure

Chapter Seven: Homicide, Impiety and the Myth of Angerless Punishment

Conclusion

Appendix: Anger and Punishment Appeals in the Athenian Law-Court Speeches

Bibliography

Notes