Insults in Classical Athens
eBook - PDF

Insults in Classical Athens

  1. 272 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Insults in Classical Athens

About this book

Scholarly investigations of the rich field of verbal and extraverbal Athenian insults have typically been undertaken piecemeal. Deborah Kamen provides an overview of this vast terrain and synthesizes the rules, content, functions, and consequences of insulting fellow Athenians. The result is the first volume to map out the full spectrum of insults, from obscene banter at festivals, to invective in the courtroom, to slander and even hubristic assaults on another's honor.
While the classical city celebrated the democratic equality of "autochthonous" citizens, it counted a large population of noncitizens as inhabitants, so that ancient Athenians developed a preoccupation with negotiating, affirming, and restricting citizenship. Kamen raises key questions about what it meant to be a citizen in democratic Athens and demonstrates how insults were deployed to police the boundaries of acceptable behavior. In doing so, she illuminates surprising differences between antiquity and today and sheds light on the ways a democratic society valuing "free speech" can nonetheless curb language considered damaging to the community as a whole.

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Yes, you can access Insults in Classical Athens by Deborah Kamen in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Greek Ancient History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Table of contents

  1. Contents
  2. Acknowledgments
  3. Conventions and Abbreviations
  4. Introduction
  5. 1. Skōmmata and Aischrologia: Benign Insults
  6. 2. Kōmōidein and Skōptein: Mockery in Old Comedy
  7. 3. Diabolē and Loidoria: Invective in Attic Oratory
  8. 4. Kakēgoria and Aporrhēta: Forbidden Verbal Abuse
  9. 5. Hubris: Affronts to Honor
  10. Conclusion
  11. Notes
  12. References
  13. Index
  14. Index Locorum