Cursing for Justice : Magic, Disputes, and the Lawcourts in Classical Athens.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Papakonstantinou, Zinon.

Series:

Hamburger Studien zu Gesellschaften und Kulturen der Vormoderne

Hamburger Studien zu Gesellschaften und Kulturen der Vormoderne ; v.14

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Justice, Administration of.

Social conflict.

Blessing and cursing.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (169 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Cursing for Justice

Place of Publication:

Stuttgart : Franz Steiner Verlag, 2021.

Summary:

This e-book is a comprehensive exploration of curse tablets in the Athenian legal domain. Drawing on sociological and critical theory, Zinon Papakonstantinou outlines a framework for the interaction between curse tablets and legalities, namely in both formal and informal manifestations of the legal sphere, in Classical Athens. By delving into the complex world of Athenian daily life and disputes, Papakonstantinou argues that Athenians involved in litigation deployed binding curses as polysemic acts of conflict management and information control. They also used them as transgressive transcripts that went beyond normative or legislative taxonomies. Further, Papakonstantinou demonstrates how Athenians acting in a self-assessing and long-term agential mode employed curse tablets strategically to advance their individual agenda and position in Athenian society. As a result, Athenian legal curse tablets point to a conceptually malleable perception of "law" and "litigation" driven by utility and self-interest that clashed with claims to justice, the pursuit of the rule of law, and attitudes towards jurors articulated by litigants in Athenian forensic orations.

Contents:

Intro

Editorial

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Binding Curses in Classical Athens: Sorcerers, Agents, and Litigation

2.1 Binding Curses and the Public Sphere in Classical Athens

2.2 Curse Tablets in the Realm of Athenian Litigation

2.3 Sorcerers and Curse Tablets

2.4 Conclusion

Chapter 3: Interpersonal and Group Conflict in Classical Athens: Broad-based Disputes

3.1 Disputes in a Diachronic and Comparative Perspective

3.2 Support Networks

3.3 Mediation, Arbitration, and Litigation in Broad-based Disputes

3.4 Paradigms of Argument

3.5 Conclusion

Chapter 4: Broad-based Disputes in Action

4.1 Lysias 3 (Against Simon)

4.2 Lysias 4 (On a Wound by Premeditation)

4.3 Isaeus 6 (On the Estate of Philoktemon)

4.4 Demosthenes 21 (Against Meidias)

4.5 Broad-based Disputes in Forensic Oratory: Information Control and Public Reception

4.6 Conclusion

Chapter 5: Curse Tablets in Athenian Disputes

5.1 A Dispute Involving Trierarchs - SLCTA no. 4

5.2 Disputes and Curses among Athenian Elites

5.3 Disputes and Space: Residential, Demotic, and Professional Affiliations in Athenian Curse Tablets

5.4 SGD 48: Politicians, Peddlers, and Prostitutes

5.5 Women in Athenian Disputes and Curse Tablets

5.6 Broad-based Disputes and Litigation in Other Athenian Curse Tablets

5.7 Conclusion

Chapter 6: Athenian Curse Tablets: Agency and Emotions

6.1 Individual and Collective Agency

6.2 Disputes, Emotions, and Curse Tablets

6.3 Broad-based Disputes, Agency, and Magic: The Case of the Athenian dikastai

6.4 Dikastai in Athenian Litigation and Curse Tablets

6.5 Conclusion

Chapter 7: Conclusion

Abbreviations

Bibliography

Indexes

A. Curse Tablets

B. General Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

3-515-12919-7

OCLC:

1241451467