Ephoros is known to have conceived each of his books as a unit with a specific theme, so that where we have any quantity of material it is worth while asking what the theme of a book was supposed to be. Clearly Ephoros i was about the return of the Herakleidai and the early history of the Peloponnese, but that defines the starting-point, not the scope of the book: I propose to argue that he presented here the contrast of the (...) three Heraklid kingdoms, the degeneration and downfall of the Argive and Messenian Heraklids as opposed to the salvation of the Spartan state by Lykourgos. (shrink)

In Politikos Plato draws a picture of the true statesman, a picture that has baffled several of the scholars who have analysed the dialogue, because it appears to be very abstract and remote from what we know about the development of the political organization of the poleis in the Archaic and Classical periods. In this article I argue that there is a clear historical background to the person whom Plato calls a statesman, viz., the famous legislators of the Archaic period, (...) in particular Lykourgos, Charondas, Zaleukos and Solon. My argument proceeds in two parts: first a survey of Plato's general description of the statesman and second a sketch of the historical prototype of Plato's statesman. (shrink)

In Politikos Plato draws a picture of the true statesman, a picture that has baffled several of the scholars who have analysed the dialogue, because it appears to be very abstract and remote from what we know about the development of the political organization of the poleis in the Archaic and Classical periods. In this article I argue that there is a clear historical background to the person whom Plato calls a statesman, viz., the famous legislators of the Archaic period, (...) in particular Lykourgos, Charondas, Zaleukos and Solon. My argument proceeds in two parts: first a survey of Plato’s general description of the statesman and second a sketch of the historical prototype of Plato’s statesman. (shrink)

Our texts of the two complete extant works of Gorgias and of the two attributed, rightly or wrongly, to Alkidamas are derived entirely from two manuscripts. The one generally known as A is the Cripps manuscript , now in the British Museum, which is a principal authority also for Antiphon, Andokides, Isaios, Lykourgos, and Deinarchos; it contains Helen, Palamedes, and Odysseus, but not On Sophists. The other, known as X, is the Palatine manuscript , which is the principal manuscript (...) of Lysias; it contains Helen Odysseus, and On Sophists, but not Palamedes. (shrink)

Based on ancient written sources, the famous monument of Telemachos, and excavation data, the article proposes a new reconstruction of the arrival of Asklepios’ cult in Athens. Two simultaneous foundations of cults of the Epidaurian Asklepios in Athens are reconstructed, which in all probability go back to the same initiative in the last quarter of the fifth century BCE. A completely new sanctuary for the god from Epidauros was created on the South Slope of the Acropolis (Telemachos), while an old (...) Athenian sanctuary, that of Amynos, opened its doors to welcome Asklepios (Sophokles). With respect to the three festivals of Asklepios in Athens, the article proposes that the oldest, the Epidauria, should be connected with the worship of Asklepios in the sanctuary of Amynos. The Asklepieia appear in the epigraphic sources much later and were perhaps part of the program of Lykourgos; they should be connected to the City Asklepieion. The third festival, the Heroa, was the last to be created in the second half of the second century BCE. The article proposes two alternative hypotheses, the traditional one that sees in the Heroa a celebration in honor of the hero Asklepios and a new one that treats the Heroa as a festival in honor of the heroized Sophokles (probably together with Asklepios). (shrink)

The myth of Areïthoos the Clubman (Korynetes), killed by Lykourgos, told in simple form by Homer, was developed in later Greek literature, and linked to Arkadia by identifying Lykourgos with the son of Aleos, king of Tegea. All later versions seem to have developed from the Homeric account, but sometimes in divergent forms that disagreed with each other. Interest in the myth led to cult in Arkadia. At the Moleia Lykourgos was honoured and Areïthoos’ death remembered. The (...) name of the sanctuary Korynition was evidently derived from Korynitas (Arkadian form of Korynetes), and there Areïthoos was presumably the object of cult developed from a different version of the myth. Neither the Moleia nor the Korynition can be located at any particular place in Arkadia: Pausanias mentions a claim that Areïthoos was killed in Mantinean territory, but without conviction, and another tradition put the death of Areïthoos at a place called Molychion. (shrink)

This gracefully written book about Xenophon is primarily intended to present a sympathetic account of the writings of that much maligned and underrated ancient soldier, statesman, and philosopher. Professor Higgins is a "student of literature" who does not attempt to elicit Xenophon’s political philosophy; what he does attempt to do is to present an accurate and sympathetic portrait of a great writer and disciple of Socrates. Such a venture is long past due, and Higgins is especially successful. His careful and (...) sensitive reading of the Xenophonic corpus is nothing short of admirable. The book contains seven chapters beginning with an account of how to read Xenophon: his comments on Xenophonic use of irony are especially instructive. But despite his efforts to contrast one work with another—e.g., the Hiero or Kyroupaideia with the Lacedaemonian Constitution—the author fails to observe larger structural similarities. He seems to be unaware, for example, that there is a significant similarity in the way the Kyroupaideia ends and the way the Lacedaemonian Constitution ends. If he is aware of the parallel peculiarities in these two works, he fails to draw any conclusion from the similarity. This oversight leads Higgins to miss the major points of these two treatises: regimes founded as solidly as Sparta with institutional support for law will last much longer than regimes, such as Persia, which depend upon the actual presence of one strong ruler. That is why Cyrus’s empire collapsed. As soon as Cyrus died: "his children at once fell into dissension, cities and nations began at once to revolt." The Spartan regime, despite its questionable customs and despite its constitutional deficiencies such as the dual monarchy, survived long after the death of Lykourgos. It eventually became the most admired regime of ancient times—not Persia. But Xenophon questions this reputation in the name of justice and piety. (shrink)