To provlēma tēs philosophias -- Hē pneumatikē physē tou anthrōpou -- Hē paideia, to noēma tēs.

Leon Sestōph -- Emmanouēl Levinas -- Simon Veil -- Chans Gionas -- Pōl Rikair -- Giournken Champermas -- Papas Venediktos IST' -- Gkynter anters -- Misel Phoukō.

Intertwined with the celebration of Athenian democratic institutions, we find in the "Oresteia" another chain of interactions, in which the elite families of Argos, Phokis, Athens, and even Mount Olympos employ the traditional aristocratic relationships of xenia and hetaireia to renegotiate their own status within-and at the pinnacle of-the civic order, and thereby guarantee the renewed prosperity of their respective communities. The capture of Troy is the result of a joint venture by the Atreidai and the Olympian "family" . (...) Although Agamemnon falls victim to his own mishandling of aristocratic privilege, his son is raised by doryxenoi in Phokis , a relationship which is mirrored by that with the Olympian "allies," Hermes and Apollo. Orestes' recovery of his father's position is thus shown to depend upon a network of "guest-friends" and "sworn-comrades," reinforced by the traditional language of oaths and reciprocal loyalty. In the Eumenides, the alliance between the Olympian and Argive royal families is re-invoked as the basis both for Athena's protection of Orestes, and finally for Zeus' concern for his daughter's Athenian dependents. In contrast to this successful "networking," and the resultant benefits that trickle down to the citizens of Argos and Athens, stand the seditious oaths and perverted "comradeship" of Aigisthos and Klytaimestra; likewise, the Erinyes are unable to draw on equivalent claims of pedigree or xenia to those enjoyed by Orestes and Apollo. Like all Greek tragedies, the "Oresteia" presents the action through constantly shifting viewpoints, those of aristocrats and commoners, leaders and led, while the propriety of this hierarchy itself is never questioned. And although the action moves from monarchical Argos to an incipiently democratic Athens, paradoxically we hear less and less about "ordinary," lower-class citizens as the trilogy progresses. Thus, at the same time that the trilogy reinforces the sense of collective survival and civic values , it also suggests that these can be maintained only through the proper interventions of their traditional leaders. Aeschylus' plays were composed during a time when the Athenian democracy was still developing, and elite leadership and patronage were still taken for granted. Attic tragedy and the City Dionysia may be seen as a site of negotiation between rival ideologies within the polis, wherein a kind of "solidarity without consensus" is achieved. Written and staged by the elite under license from the demos, the dramas play out dangerous stories of royal risk-taking, crime, glory, and suffering, in such a way as to reassure the citizen audience simultaneously of their own collective invulnerability, and of the unique value of their leading families. (shrink)

ABSTRACT The objective of this study is to analyze the late 5th century BC in Athens through the lens of an Aristophanic comedy. We shed light on the role of political factions (the hetaireia), which were not limited to public assemblies: by funding stage plays, they constituted a form of political persuasion over the citizens who would vote on matters discussed in the assemblies. For this purpose, we examined the choregic system as a form of domination, analyzed Andocides’ speeches (...) from 415 BC about political disputes (both in theater and, more subtly, in opposition groups), and investigated the topic through a discourse analysis of the comedy The Frogs by Aristophanes (Bátrakhoi, 405 BC). (shrink)

RESUMO O objetivo desse artigo é fundamentar uma avaliação sobre o final do século V a.C. em Atenas pelas lentes de uma comédia aristofânica. Atenta-se para a atuação das facções políticas (ou hetaireías), que não se restringiam apenas ao espaço das assembleias públicas, mas consolidavam, pelo financiamento das obras dramáticas, uma forma de atingir o público politicamente de maneira persuasiva: os cidadãos que poderiam votar nas ideias debatidas dentro das assembleias. Para tanto, propõem-se uma reflexão acerca do sistema da choregía (...) como forma de dominação, uma análise acerca das orações de Andócides de 415 a.C. sobre as disputas pelo espaço político - seja atuando no teatro, seja de forma oculta, pela ação de grupos de sublevação de poder - e, por fim, uma investigação do tema no exame discursivo da comédia As rãs de Aristófanes (Bátrachoi - 405 a.C.). (shrink)