TY  - BOOK
ED  - Riess, Werner
AB  - 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. 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.
ID  - OAPEN ID: 644210
ID  - OAPEN ID: OCN: 785782852
KW  - Classics
KW  - Aristophanes
KW  - Athens
KW  - Curse tablet
KW  - Demosthenes
KW  - Hubris
KW  - Menander
KW  - Rape
L1  - https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/e2b0541e-217e-417d-befe-bea6c7c277f0/644210.pdf
LA  - English
LK  - http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/30671
PB  - De Gruyter
PY  - 2012-01-16
SN  - 9783110245608
TI  - Performing Interpersonal Violence Court, Curse, and Comedy in Fourth-Century BCE Athensnull
ER  - 
