Table Of ContentDemagogues, Power, and Friendship
in Classical Athens
i
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ii
Demagogues, Power, and Friendship
in Classical Athens
Leaders as Friends in Aristophanes, Euripides,
and Xenophon
Robert Holschuh Simmons
iii
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First published in Great Britain 2023
Copyright © Robert Holschuh Simmons, 2023
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and Patents Act, 1988, to be identifi ed as Author of this work.
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Names: Simmons, Robert Holschuh, author. Title: Demagogues, power, and friendship in
classical Athens : leaders as friends in Aristophanes, Euripides, and Xenophon / Robert
Holschuh Simmons. Other titles: Leaders as friends in Aristophanes, Euripides, and
Xenophon Description: London ; New York : Bloomsbury Academic, 2023. | Includes
bibliographical references and index. Identifi ers: LCCN 2022036274 | ISBN 9781350214484
(hardback) | ISBN 9781350214491 (paperback) | ISBN 9781350214507 (epdf) | ISBN
9781350214514 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Leadership--Greece—Athens. | Friendship--
Greece—Athens. | Greek literature—History and criticism. | Leadership in literature. |
Friendship in literature. | Athens (Greece)—Politics and government. | Athens (Greece)—
History. Classifi cation: LCC DF277 .S37 2023 | DDC 320.938/5--dc23/eng/20220803
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022036274.
ISBN: HB: 978-1-3502-1448-4
ePDF: 978-1-3502-1450-7
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iv
For Michelle, Ben, David, Alex, and Marc, who make my life so rich.
v
vi
Contents
Acknowledgments viii
List of Abbreviations xiii
Introduction 1
1 Friendship in Athenian Politics Prior to the Demagogues 5
2 Cleon and the Rise of Friendship-Based Athenian Demagogy 17
3 Th e Sociology of Making Individual Philoi among the Masses 39
4 Distinguishing Desire from Friendship in Leadership Models
in Aristophanes’ K nights 59
5 Later Developments of the “Leader as P hilos ” Model 75
Conclusion: Cleon and the Legacy of Leadership by Friendship 95
Notes 99
Works Cited 149
Index 171
vii
Acknowledgments
Th is has been a labor of two decades (with many, many separate matters
intervening), since demagogues fi rst came onto my radar in the spring of 2002
in a graduate seminar at the University of Iowa taught by John Garc í a. I had an
idea about reading Euripides’ B acchae in terms of class dynamics, John directed
me to Bob Connor’s New Politicians of Fift h-Century Athens , and from there I
wrote a term paper that I thought was implausible. John, however, thought that
it could be a dissertation, for which I am enormously grateful to him, and I
ended up writing it on refl ections of demagogic politics in Athenian tragedy,
directed by Rob Ketterer. I am grateful to Rob for his guidance and support on
that project and on the off shoot of it that has become this book. I am also
grateful to other faculty members at Iowa whose attention and care in classes I
took, whose guidance in classes I taught, whose direction of fi nancial support
toward attendance at conferences at which I presented, whose feedback on
those presentations, and whose ongoing reinforcement through the years has
helped me to develop as a well-rounded professional: John Finamore, Peter
Green, Carin Green, Craig Gibson, Marcia Lindgren, Glenn Storey, and
Rosemary Moore.
I am grateful to my undergraduate professors at St. John’s University, where
I was fi rst exposed to the fi eld of Classics, for igniting the passion within me
for this fi eld and for the life of the mind in general. Ray Larson was an
inspiringly humorous teacher and an attentive director of my senior thesis, on
Dostoevsky and Plato. Rene McGraw, OSB, has been a model of an intellectually
and spiritually intentional life, and he has graciously welcomed me back to
campus time aft er time in the decades since my graduation. Diane Warne
Anderson was a passionate teacher whose support and camaraderie I have
appreciated many times at professional conferences through the years since
graduation. Scott Richardson led me to decide to study Classics in the fi rst
place, through a vibrant style of teaching that erased the gap between the
classical world and modern one. He has been my particular model as a teacher
viii
Acknowledgments ix
and mentor, and the friendship that he and his wife Shirley have extended to
me and my family through the years has been among our groundings since
college. Tim Miles, my cross country and track coach at SJU, also helped to
develop in me the toughness and commitment that have been critical in
continuing this project in the midst of uncountable competing obligations.
I am grateful to my colleagues at the University of North Carolina at
Greensboro, with whom I worked for my fi rst eight years out of graduate
school. My two chairs, Susan Shelmerdine and Hugh Parker, were tremendous
supporters of my professional aspirations, and they provided me opportunity
aft er opportunity to expand my professional skills. My other ongoing colleagues
from throughout that time—Jeff Soles, Linda Danford, Dave Wharton, Maura
Heyn, Jon Zarecki, and Joanne Murphy—provided kind feedback on my ideas,
off ered models of structure for research and writing that have been critical to
my work reaching this point, and showed unwavering kindness and support
throughout my time there.
I am grateful to faculty and staff colleagues at Monmouth College, where
this book has reached its fi nal form. Classics department colleagues Tom
Sienkewicz, Vicki Wine, Adrienne Hagen, and Alana Newman contributed to
fostering the intellectual vibrance in the department that propelled this and
many other projects forward. Political science colleague Mike Nelson has been
my essential weekly goal-sharing partner for the past three years; his wise,
gracious advice and guidance have gotten me past many sticking points.
Political scientist Robin Johnson generously talked through ancient versus
modern political coalition-building with me and provided several critical
sources from his contemporary campaign work. Psychologist Sydney
Greenwalt kindly shared with me some sources on ingroups and outgroups.
Administrative assistants Sarah Dean and Amjad Karkout not only provided
direct assistance with research for the book, searches for fellowships, processing
of critical secondary sources, and assembly of the bibliography, but have been
superb professionals in general, whose handling of a host of departmental
matters has allowed me to direct more of my time to this book. Librarians
Sarah Henderson and Anne Giff ey have been critical in helping me fi nd
information in the many fi elds outside of Classics that I have studied for this
book, and Marti Carwile has ordered hundreds of books for the library on my
behalf. Monmouth College provided me a sabbatical leave in 2019–20, in
