The Greek Polis and the Invention of Democracy
A Politico-cultural Transformation and Its Interpretations
Published on 28. March 2013
416 pages
978-1-118-56160-7 (ISBN)
Description
The Greek Polis and the Invention of Democracy presents aseries of essays that trace the Greeks' path to democracy andexamine the connection between the Greek polis as a citizenstate and democracy as well as the interaction between democracyand various forms of cultural expression from a comparativehistorical perspective and with special attention to the place ofGreek democracy in political thought and debates about democracythroughout the centuries.
* Presents an original combination of a close synchronic and longdiachronic examination of the Greek polis - city-states thatgave rise to the first democratic system of government
* Offers a detailed study of the close interactionbetweendemocracy, society, and the arts in ancient Greece
* Places the invention of democracy in fifth-century bce Athensboth in its broad social and cultural context and in the context ofthe re-emergence of democracy in the modern world
* Reveals the role Greek democracy played in the political andintellectual traditions that shaped modern democracy, and in thedebates about democracy in modern social, political, andphilosophical thought
* Written collaboratively by an international team of leadingscholars in classics, ancient history, sociology, and politicalscience
Reviews / Votes
"This exciting and accessible collection of well-writtenessays, by a stellar group of international scholars, sheds newlight on ancient democracy and its role in critical reassessmentsof contemporary democracy and liberalism. This book demonstratesanew the vibrancy and relevance of classical Greek politics,society, and culture. Essential reading for all students ofdemocracy, ancient and modern." - Josiah Ober,Stanford University "Kurt Raaflaub's distinguished 'The Ancient World:Comparative Histories' series acquires herewith another eminentlyworthy member, which bears his personal stamp both as inspirationalco-editor and as contributor with a special interest and expertisein ancient Greek politics and political thought. From the sensitiveintroduction (by another of the co-editors) to the concluding essayon ideas of liberty ancient and modern the multinational cast ofleading experts takes the longest possible view of what mattersmost about the ancient Greeks' invention of democracy from itsoriginal location within their peculiar polis state-form toits current, very different receptions around the world today.Students of Sophocles and Aristophanes, and of Schopenhauer, Wagnerand Nietzsche, among many others, will find their tastes andinterests equally well served." - Paul Cartledge,University of CambridgeMore details
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05/2013
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Johann P. Arnason | Kurt A. Raaflaub | Peter Wagner
The Greek Polis and the Invention of Democracy
A Politico-cultural Transformation and Its Interpretations
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04/2013
Wiley
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Persons
Johann P. Arnason is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at La Trobe University, Melbourne and visiting professor at the Charles University in Prague. His previous works include Domains and Divisions of European History (with N. Doyle, 2010), The Roman Empire in Context: Historical and Comparative Perspectives (with K. Raaflaub, Wiley-Blackwell, 2011), and Nordic Paths to Modernity (with B. Wittrock, 2012).
Kurt A. Raaflaub is the David Herlihy University Professor and Professor of Classics and History Emeritus at Brown University. His previous works include Geography and Ethnography: Perceptions of the World in Pre-Modern Societies (with R. J. A. Talbert, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), Epic and History (with D. Konstan, Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), and The Roman Empire in Context: Historical and Comparative Perspectives (with J. Arnason, Wiley-Blackwell, 2011).
Peter Wagner is ICREA Research Professor of Sociological Theory, Philosophy of Law, and Methodology of the Social Sciences, at the University of Barcelona. His previous works include Theorizing Modernity: Inescapability and Attainability in Social Theory (2001), Modernity as Experience and Interpretation (2008), and Modernity: Understanding the Present (2012).
Content
Series Editor's Preface vii
Contributors viii
Introduction 1
Johann P. Arnason, Kurt A. Raaflaub, and Peter Wagner
Part I The Greek Experience in Long-term Perspective19
1 Exploring the Greek Needle's Eye: Civilizational andPolitical Transformations 21
Johann P. Arnason
2 Transformations of Democracy: Towards a History of PoliticalThought and Practice in Long-term Perspective 47
Peter Wagner
Part II Ways of Polis-making: Grasping the Novelty of thePolitical 69
3 To Act with Good Advice: Greek Tragedy and the DemocraticPolitical Sphere 71
Egon Flaig
4 Democracy and Dissent: the Case of Comedy 99
Lucio Bertelli
5 Democracy, Oratory, and the Rise of Historiography inFifth-century Greece 126
Jonas Grethlein
6 Political Uses of Rhetoric in Democratic Athens 144
Harvey Yunis
7 Law and Democracy in Classical Athens 163
Adriaan Lanni
8 Democracy and Political Philosophy: Influences, Tensions,Rapprochement 181
Ryan K. Balot
9 Inscriptions and the City in Democratic Athens 205
Elizabeth A. Meyer
Part III Changing a Way of Life: Democracy's Impact onPolis Society 225
10 The Impact of Democracy on Communal Life 227
Sara L. Forsdyke
11 The Demos's Participation in Decision-making:Principles and Realities 260
Claude Mossé
12 Democracy and Religion in Classical Greece 274
Robin Osborne
13 Democracy and War 298
Lawrence A. Tritle
Part IV Political Concepts and Commitments 321
14 Perfecting the "Political Creature": Equality and"the Political" in the Evolution of Greek Democracy323
Kurt A. Raaflaub
15 Tyranny and Tragedy in Nietzsche's Understanding of theGreek Polis 351
Tracy B. Strong
16 The Liberty of the Moderns Compared to the Liberty of theAncients 371
Nathalie Karagiannis and Peter Wagner
Index 389
