Revenge in Athenian culture / Fiona McHardy.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McHardy, Fiona.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Revenge--Greece--Athens--History.

Revenge.

Athens (Greece)--Social life and customs.

Athens (Greece).

Greece--History--Athenian supremacy, 479-431 B.C.

Greece.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (188 p.)

Place of Publication:

London : Bristol Classical Press, 2012.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Revenge was an all important part of the ancient Athenian mentality, intruding on all forms of life - even where we might not expect to find it today. Revenge was of prime importance as a means of survival for the people of early Greece and remained in force during the rise of the 'poleis'. The revenge of epic heroes such as Odysseus and Menalaus influences later thinking about revenge and suggests that avengers prosper. Nevertheless, this does not mean that all forms of revenge were seen as equally acceptable in Athens. Differences in response are expected depending on the crime and the crimi

Contents:

Cover; Contents; Acknowledgements; Introduction; What constitutes revenge?; Why take revenge?; 1. A Life for a Life; Achieving a balance; Kin-help; Responses to homicide; Battlefield revenge; 'Women do most delight in revenge'; An eye for an eye; 2. Adultery, Rape and Seduction; The protection of women; Responses to sexual offences against women; Wars over women; Medea's sexual proprietariness; 3. Raiding, Theft and Property Disputes; The protection of property; Cattle-raiding; Property disputes in classical Athens; The significance of weaponry and armour; Ajax and the perverted cattle-raid

4. Insults, Status and PowerResponses to insults and the protection of honour; Insults, honour and status in the Athenian law courts; Insults and power disputes in the Theban plays; 5. What Motivates Orestes?; The Oresteia story in Homer and tragedy; Parallels to the Oresteia story; Concluding Remarks: Patterns of Revenge; Notes; Bibliography; Index Locorum; General Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; J; K; L; M; N; O; P; R; S; T; V; W; X; Z

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-4725-0254-X

1-4725-0253-1

OCLC:

820011098