The Culture and Politics of Athens c.460-399BC Flashcards
What percentage of the adult population of Attica had Athenian citizenship?
10-20%
Who introduced the council of 500?
Cleisthenes
In what year did Ephialtes introduce a reform of the Areopagus?
462/1BC
What cases did the Areopagus maintain control of after 462BC?
Religious and murder cases
Who emerged as most important reformer after Ephialtes’ murder?
Pericles
How many years in a row was Pericles elected General?
15
443BC–>
In what year did the Zeugitae class become eligible for Archonship?
457/6BC
In what year did Pericles establish a change to citizenship requirements - that a citizen must have 2 Athenian parents, not just an Athenian father?
451BC
Where did the Council meet?
The Bouletérion
Where did the Prytaneis reside>
The Tholos (next to the bouletérion)
What was the chairman of the Prytany called?
the Epistatés
Around how many magistrates were there annually?
700
How many archons would usually serve on a board?
10
How were magistrates chosen?
By lot
How were councillors chosen?
By lot (though the tribe would ensure they were spread from among the demes equally)
What important archon board was in charge of managing the state prison and administering punishments?
The Eleven
What test of good character would a magistrate go through before being approved for the role?
The dokimasia
(scrutiny)
What is the name for the report of his performance a magistrate would make to the Council after his term?
the euthynai
What was the quorum of votes needed to pass an important vote in the Assembly?
6000
Where was the ekklesia held?
The Pnyx Hill
How many assemblies did each prytany hold?
4 Assemblies
1 of which was a ‘principal assembly’ in which a vote of confidence in the magistrates would be held.
In what month would it be decided if an ostracism were to occur that year?
December
How long was an ostracism to last?
10 years
When was an ostracism held?
Feb or March
What was the voting process to confirm an ostracism?
6000 minimum votes, the man whose name was written on the majority of ostraka was to be exiled
Who was the first man to be ostracised?
Hipparchus in 487BC
2 types of lawuits?
Diké and Graphé
What type of lawsuit involved a citizen filing a case against another citizen claiming to be the victim of an offence?
Diké
What type of lawsuit involved a citizen filing against a citizen on the grounds that the defendant had committed an offense against a third party?
Graphé
What could graphé cases include?
Magistrates misusing funds
Generals instituting poor tactics
How was time measured in an Athenian law court?
Water-clock
How many dikasts were registered each civil year?
6000
How many jurors for each case?
minor case - 201
more serious - 401 or 501
extremely serious - 1501
What are 3 sources on the Athenian legal system?
The Old Oligarch, Wasps and the Apology by Plato
When was Wasps produced?
Who are the main characters?
What is the play parodying?
422BC (for the Lenaea)
Philocleon (father)and Bdelycleon (son)
The play parodies the elderly jurors who make cruel decisions and are addicted to the power of jury service
What speech praises Athenian democracy?
Pericles funeral oration - found in Thucydides ‘History of the Peloponnesian War’ book 2
(this speech was given in 431BC)
Is the Apology a reliable source on the Athenian court system?
yes, fairly - Plato wrote it only a few years after the events of Socrates’ trial
How does the Old Oligarch claim the Athenians approach their empire?
In a self-interested way, they undermine oligarchic elites and promote democracies. They also hold trials in Athens making a profit off the rent and taxes of visiting members of subject states going to trial.
He also claims they take too much tribute
What section of Thucydides shows the relationship between Athens and her allies, and displays some of the issues within the Assembly?
The Mytilene Debate, which occurred in 428/7BC
Summary of Mytilene debate?
In 428BC the 4 oligarchic cities of Lesbos revolted, led by the city of Mytilene. They were besieged by the Athenians and forced to come to the Assembly for negotiations. The Athenians decided to kill every man and enslave every woman and child. The next day, the Athenians decided this decision was too cruel and instead to only punish those proven to be involved. Cleon supported a harsh punishment whilst Diodotus argued for leniancy.
What 3 sources all criticise Cleon?
Thucydides, Aristotle, Aristophanes
What play of Aristophanes’ satirises Cleon?
What are the particular targets of Aristophanes?
Knights 424BC
This heavily parodies Cleon’s background, accuses him of corruption, and of only telling the people what they want to hear.
What personal connection did Cleon and Aristophanes have?
Cleon had prosecuted Aristophanes for ‘slandering the city’ in 426BC, 2 years prior to the production of ‘Knights’.
How does Thucydides criticise Cleon?
What are his criticisms of the changing nature of leadership in general?
He suggests that he is self-interested and a demagogue. Thucydides didn’t fundamentally believe in democracy, but believed it could be successful with a strong enough leader - such as Pericles. He believed the quality of leadership had dropped after Pericles’ death in 429BC. He was also an aristocrat, for whom Nicias was representative.
Who rose to prominence after Cleon’s death in 422BC?
Alcibiades
Role of Metics summarised:
- 20,000 estimated in Attica
- no political rights
- must have an Athenian sponsor
- monthly tax - 1 drachma for a man, 1/2 for a woman
- could be successful in business/ society e.g. Cephalus (in Plato’s Republic)
- expected to fight in war (either hoplites or in the fleet)
Role of slaves summarised:
(including the portrayal in Memorabilia and Hippolytus)
- no political rights
- only legal right was to seek refuge at a religious sanctuary against a heavily abusive master, for which a state official could force the master to sell the slave or swear an oath of better treatment
- In Memorabilia, Socrates is shown reflecting on the view that it was just to enslave one’s enemies but unjust to enslave one’s friends
- in Hippolytus, Phaedra confides in her nurse (shows trusting relationships could develop)
- Greeks preferred to enslave foreigners, but some evidence of them enslaving each other during the Peloponnesian War
Role of Women summarised:
- treated as minors in law, always in the control of a father, husband or occassionally brother
- Pericles suggests the greatest glory for a woman is to be least talked about (at the end of funeral speech)
- important to religious life due to importance of fertility
- allowed their own religious rituals eg. Thesmophoria in which they camped near the Pnyx for 3 days, honouring Demeter and Persephone for fertility reasons
Thesmophoriazusae and the role of women?
Produced in 411BC, this shows women at the Thesmophoria festival, complaining about how Euripides portrays them and how they are treated by society. This play was written by a man, performed by men, for an audience of (probably all) men.
Who was the first sophist in Athens?
Anaxagoras, in the 460sBC
How did sophists make money?
Private lessons or entrance fees for group lectures
2 Famous sophists?
Hippias of Elis - polymath, sciences
Protagoras of Abdera - law + government
When was Gorgias in Athens?
427BC on an embassy from Leontini
Information on Gorgias’ Encomium of Helen?
- written 483-376BC
- display speech
- reflects on the power of persuasion + rhetoric
- says Helen may have had 4 reasons to elope - in each of which she was the weaker party, and was persuaded
- says the effect of speech on the mind is the same as drugs on the body
Plato, Xenophon and their attitude to the Sophists:
- both students of Socrates, they believed him to be more virtuous than the Sophists because he did not charge
- both wrote dialogues of Socrates after his execution in 399BC
- both aristocrats
- both teenagers when they knew Socrates
Sophists in Plato’s Hippias Major?
Hippias is seen boasting of this riches to Socrates
Sophists in Xenophon’s Memorabilia?
Socrates compares them to prostitutes, dismisses their practice of charging for wisdom
Sophists in Aristotle’s Rhetoric?
Criticised for the deceptive nature of their teachings (he is just agreeing with earlier sources)
Sophists in Plato’s Protagoras?
Protagoras defends his art as no different to a poet or music teacher.
Plato’s issue with Sophists?
that although they make a case well, they have no care for if it is the ‘right’ case to make and thus lead people astray not teaching them to argue based on the truth
Sophists in Plato’s Gorgias?
Gorgias says sophistry is the most powerful skill as with the right audience they can show up an expert in his own field
Outside of the sources since there are few direct sources from the Sophists what was their likely effect on society?
Improving education by expanding the subjects beyond music, sports and literature
Aristophanes Clouds summarised?
including date of performance and plot
- 423BC for the City Dionysia
- Socrates is presented as the leading Sophists, though he is more of an amalgam of all of them
- the plot is that of a man convinced to believe things of the sophists - eg. he denies the gods, etc. then the clouds reveal they are actually agents of the gods punishing those seduced into the ways of the sophists. Strepsiades burns down the thinkery at the end, after his son argues that children should be allowed to beat their parents. They do avoid 2 creditors through rhetoric though.
The effect of Clouds on Socrates?
- In Plato’s Apology, Socrates is seen suggesting that this play helped generate some of the negative perceptions of him
- In Symposium Aristophanes and Socrates are seen at the same dinner party, so the play likely has no malicious intent
The characters of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ in Clouds summarised?
‘right’ represents the old ways and ends up seduced by a male audience member and losing his argument with ‘wrong’ who represents the new ways of society including sophistry.
‘wrong’ argues that the power of speech allows you to get out of anything - e.g. being caught sleeping w a married woman just say Zeus does to and am I better than an immortal?
2 portrayals of sophists in tragedy?
Orestes - Orestes is condemned to death due to the intention of a speaker who will argue on behalf of whoever pays him
Hippolytus - in a trial scene, Hippolytus uses common rhetoric techniques such as ‘argument from probability’, appealing to sympathy and saying that he only swore an oath with his tongue, not his heart
What tragic playwright’s talking points often align with sophists and is often said to have been influenced by contemporary philosophy?
Euripides
Socrates lifespan?
c. 470-399BC
Socrates background?
He served as a hoplite - including at Potidaea in 432BC. In his last 20 years he seems to have wandered the streets engaging others in debate, and to have lived off the charity of his friends in this period
Socrates philosophical method summarised:
- focus on ‘elenchus’ or ‘cross-examining’
- known as the ‘Socratic method’ or ‘dialectic’
- would generally question someone on an issue and be given a fixed answer - he would then cross-question this answer to prove it was based on a false premise
Socrates main beliefs and interests?
- believed that the learning process was as painful as birth and that he played the role of a midwife - helping others achieve their own wisdom
- often challenged important figures in Athens often publicly humiliating them
- most interested in human ethics
Summary of Socrates’ critique of democracy?
- believed the system relied on people not skilled enough for their roles, and because of quick turn-over no one ever gained necessary skills
- believed the masses were not educated enough to know what was good for them and tended to focus on what felt good short-term not policies which would lead to long-term benefits
