Athenian Cultural Background
Development of dike: from Retribution to Justice
| 'household' vs. the polis |
| history of Athens hinges on shift of loyalty from the oikos to the polis |
| aristocrats devoted to their oikos |
| personal interest and loyalty |
| law, like politics, hinged on the claims of competing oikoi |
| dedication to polis begins with democracy |
| interests of polis placed over those of the oikos |
| law, like politics. belongs to the community of citizens |
| individuals were originally responsible for 'justice' |
| parallel with the dike of the gods |
| an attempt at balance: retribution |
| Furies: spirits of blood vengeance |
| justice gradually became the concern of the polis |
| communal standards of right and wrong |
| revenge replaced by law-courts |
| injured party often the prosecutor |
| jury size ranged from 51 to 1501 men; 501 most common |
| two secret ballots to determine decision and penalty (if any) |
| plaintiff fined if he didn't receive 20% of the vote |
| participation in funerals |
| contagious: note Creon's refusal of contact with Oedipus at end of play |
| Oedipus is never purified after slaying of Laius |
| may be inherited as a 'curse' |
| kidnapped the son of Pelops |
| prophecy: his own son would slay him |
| fed the flesh of Pelops, his own son, to the gods |
| produced the curse of the house of Arestes |
Women in Ancient Greece
Position of women dependent on time, place and class |
| Aristocratic Athens (before mid 6th c BCE) |
| women had many of the same rights and privileges as men of their class |
| regimented barracks state |
| unending subservience to the state |
| which determined which infants lived |
| relative freedom of movement |
| management of household in absence of husband |
| an attempt to realize an ideal |
| replace bonds of family with loyalty to the state |
| but ultimately static and sterile |
| always under control of a male |
| father, guardian, husband |
| Antigone's plain-speaking and obstinacy is shocking to Creon |
| and probably shocked much of the audience as well |
| 'Citizens' only for purposes of marriage and procreation |
| could not appear in law courts |
| if tried, defended by a man |
| to produce male heirs for husband's oikos 'household' |
| segregated from daily life |
| no participation in social events such as symposia |
| educated only in domestic arts and modesty |
| preparation of dead for burial |
| Antigone's insistence on 'burying' her brother Polynices |
| feels Creon has trespassed into her sphere of life |
| Religious rites and festivals |
| religion and sacrifice permeated the community |
| nearly every other day a festival |
| Thesmophoria: Demeter and Kore (Persephone) |
| Image of woman psychologically powerful |
| important female roles in drama |
Background notes for Antigone
Greek attitudes towards the dead |
| they believed that that a shade could not enter the underworld or rest without burial rites |
| Elpenor in Bk. 11 of the Odyssey |
| exposure of corpses to dogs and birds a horror to the ancient Greeks |
| Opening passage of the Iliad |
| In Athens traitors and those guilty of sacrilege might be thrown unburied over the border |
| e.g. Antiphon, a general who did not pick up drowning sailors after a battle in 406 |
| Plato urged denial of burial for those guilty of sacrilege or killing a family member |
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