Fathers and Sons in Athens: Ideology and Society in the Era of the Peloponnesian War

ISBN-13: 9780415041461 / Angielski / Twarda / 1993 / 304 str.

Barry S. Strauss

Opis

As history's first democracy, classical Athens invented political discourse. The Athenians, however, could not separate the political from the private sphere. Father-son relations, whether good or bad, were a major theme of public as well as private life. Perhaps most-often associated today with Sophocles' tragedy Oedipus, the father-son conflict appears in a wide variety of Athenian texts: in the writings of other tragedians and comic playwrights (Euripides, Aristophanes); in oratory; in the myth of Athens' national hero, Theseus; and even in the trial of Socrates. What is a historian to make of such widespread interest in the disquieting subjects of patricide, father-beating, murdering one's son, and intergenerational jealousy and political divisions? Professor Strauss argues that these themes are to be read as metaphors for the sweeping changes brought on by democracy, the Sophists, and the Peloponnesian war - indeed on one level that war was conceived of as a struggle of fathers and sons. Thus, family ideology had a powerful influence on the Athenian mind.

Recenzje

`The theoretical sophistication of this and subsequent publications placed him in the first rank of those who have sought to inform and invigorate political narrative through cultural anthropology, mentalite, and social history. Fathers and Sons in Athens will confirm this standing.' - Classical Review

`Professor Strauss's book has many useful notes and suggestions for further reading, and may be recommended as a relatively jargon-free introduction to the family relationships of the ancient Greeks.' - Greek Gazette

Spis treści

Preface; 1. Introduction: Solidarity or Conflict? 2. Intellectual Paternity, Appendix A: Patrios and Pater 3. Solidarity: Proud Fathers Obedient Sons 4. Conflict: The Sons of Theseus 5. The Hour of the Son, ca. 450-415 B.C. 6. The Return of the Father, 413-399 B.C.; Conclusion; Bibliography

O autorze

Barry Strauss