Table Of ContentHomicide in the Attic Orators
This study identifies specific features in the legal procedure and social perception
of homicide in Athens in the time of the orators and examines how these features
affected and were represented and utilised in forensic rhetoric.
The socially transgressive nature of the crime in Athens resulted in homicide
receiving a distinctive treatment in Athenian law, where it was 'set apart' from
other crimes in a number of ways , including the courts in which it was tried ,
the procedures involved, and the fact that uniquely these laws were attributed
to Drakon as mytho-historical lawgiver. Plastow explores how four distinctive
features of homicide procedure and law at Athens played out in rhetoric: ideology ,
pollution , relevance , and the connected issues of motive and intent. Through
exploration of these rhetorical themes , the volume also provides insight into
the popular perceptions of homicide amongst the Athenians , since the orators'
speeches make extensive use of persuasive techniques that tap into the deeply
held beliefs and ideologies of the jury members. A secondary aim is to explore
the effects of the physical context of delivery on the rhetoric of homicide: the
courtroom spaces themselves , whether homicide courts or popular courts , with
the variable ideologies that their locations and physical attributes provoked , as
well as the aspects of ritual that would have been performed physically during a
homicide trial.
Homicide in the Attic Orators offers insight into this complex subject , and is of
interest to anyone with an interest in Athenian law, rhetoric, and society.
Christine Plastow is a lecturer in classical studies at the Open University , where
she teaches Greek and Latin language and literature and the cultural history of
the ancient world to undergraduates and postgraduates via distance learning. Her
research focuses on Athenian oratory and law, and particularly the value that
forensic rhetoric has as a source for social history. She also works on classical
reception and public engagement through theatrical projects with By Jove Theatre
Company.
Routledge Monographs in Classical Studies
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The Making of Identities in Athenian Oratory
Edited by Jakub Filonik, Brenda Griffith-William s and Janek Kucharski
Homicide in the Attic Orators
Rhetoric , Ideology , and Context
Christine Plastow
Underworld Gods in Ancient Greek Religion
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HoIDicide in the Attic Orators
Rhetoric, Ideology, and Context
Christine Plastow
Routledge
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First published 2020
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© 2020 Christine Plastow
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Libra ry of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Plastow, Christine, author.
Title: Homicide in the attic orators / Christine Plastow.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019045629 (print) I LCCN 2019045630 (ebook) I
ISBN 9780367135409 (hardback) I ISBN 9780429027031 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Homicide (Greek law) Homicide-Greece-Athens
I
History. Forensic orations-Greece-Athens-History. Criminal
I I
justice, Administration of-Greece-Athens-History. Forensic
I
oratory-History . I Rhetoric, Ancient.
Classification: LCC KL4388.M87 P53 2020 (print) I LCC KL4388.
M87 (ebook) I DDC 345.38/50252-dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019045629
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019045630
ISBN: 978-0-367-13540-9 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-429-02703-l (ebk)
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Contents
Acknowledgements
Vlll
1 Introduction: the landscape of Athenian homicide 1
2 The ideology of homicide: shape and usage 21
3 Religion, ritual, and the rhetoric of pollution 50
4 Rhetoric and relevance 89
5 Hows and whys: rhetorics of intent, motive, and motivation 114
6 Conclusion 155
Bibliography 158
Index locorum 171
Index 176
Acknowledgements
This book began its life as my doctoral thesis , and so first and foremost my thanks
go to my doctoral supervisor Chris Carey for his generosity, guidance , and wis
dom. For their invaluable assistance during the production of the thesis , thanks
must also go to my examiners , Lene Rubinstein and Stephen Todd, whose insight
ful comments and support at every stage have greatly improved this work ; my
exchange supervisor at Yale, Victor Bers; Adriaan Lanni, for reading an early draft
of the thesi s and offering me extensive feedback; the past and present staff of the
Department of Greek and Latin at UCL , especially Peter Agocs , Stephen Colvin ,
Dimitra Kokkini , and Antony Makrinos; David Bullen , Emily Chow-Kambitsch ,
Joe Dodd , Tzu-1 Liao , Rebecca Payne , and Andreas Serafim , for proofreading the
thesis ; and Judge John Lafferty , for talking me through comparative questions in
English law.
During the preparation of this book , I have been grateful to my colleagues in
classical studies at the Open University for welcoming and supporting me whole
heartedly despite my temporary role , and especially to Val Hope , for unfailingly
encouraging my professional development , and Phil Perkins , for advising me dur
ing the publication process. Thanks also to Michael Gagarin for feedback on an
early version of the book proposal ; to the proposal reviewers for their helpful
comments ; to Mike Edwards for further insightful commentary on the manuscript ;
and to Amy Davis-Poynter , Elizabeth Risch , and Ella Halstead at Routledge for
their help and enthusiasm.
Many other colleagues have influenced this work , through their published
scholarship and generous conversation. I am grateful to all whose thinking has
affected my own .
My friends and family have been unfailing supporters in every way, and my
deepest thanks go to them all. None of this would be possible without my par
ents and grandparents , who have always lovingly encouraged me to follow what
interests me. My chosen sisters , Katharine and Emily , have listened to every com
plaint with patience and love. Finally , thanks to Alex: my constant companion and
unwavering source of strength.
1 Introduction
The landscape of Athenian homicide
Homicide is a culturally distinctive act. Throughout the world and across time ,
killing another person has been considered socially disruptive , and as a result has
carried heavy penalties , whether legal , social , or ritual. In those cultures where
legal systems exist , whether more or less formally , homicide is often considered
to be one of the most serious crimes . Athens in the late fifth and fourth centu
1
ries was no exception to this attitude. Although we cannot know how often
BCE
homicide occurred in Athens ,2 and therefore whether Athenians experienced it
as an occasional horror or a more regular part of life, we can be sure from our
sources that it held an inherent conceptual power for them . As well as clear potency
in the Athenian imagination , as evidenced by, for example , the number of Greek
tragedies that focus on unlawful acts of killing , homicide also held a distinctive
position in the Athenian legal system. It was surpassed in seriousness only by
the crime of treason ,3 and the laws governing it were the earliest still in use by the
city at the time of the orators. The legal treatment of homicide at Athens was
also set apart by the courts in which it was tried , the procedures employed during
trials , and the writing of the laws by the lawgiver Drakon. Those convicted of kill
ing unlawfully were subject to the strictest sanctions, usually exile or execution.
This legal distinctiveness of homicide at Athens has been the subject of a
number of scholarly investigations; this book , however , explores the equally
distinctive operation of rhetoric around homicide. The Athenian legal system
was intrinsically tied to rhetoric , as litigants operated in court by delivering
speeches designed to persuade the judges that their version of the case was
the correct one. Successful rhetoric relied on a keen understanding of the psy
chology , sociology , ideology , and beliefs of the Athenian citizens who acted as
judges listening to the speech , in order to employ techniques that would be as
persuasive as possible. As a result , the rhetoric preserved in the speeches of the
Attic orators gives us an insight into the minds of the Athenians in the late fifth
and fourth centuries , presenting their real , perceived , or idealised notions about
law and crime as well as society and life more broadly.
In the case of homicide , the distinctiveness both of the crime and of its legal
treatment at Athens imbued the rhetoric employed around it with features that
set it apart from other forensic rhetoric. An inquiry into this rhetoric provides the
opportunity to explore Athenian cultural attitudes towards the social crisis point
of homicide , which will prove to be more complex than they initially may seem.
