C/Online, 2015.09.03 BOOK REVIEW Greck Political Imagery from Homer to Aristle By ROGER BROCK. London and New York Bloomsbury, 2013 Pp. xx + 252. Hardcover, $130.00. ISBN 978-- 78093-2064. tics, as wellas the polities in wider or stricter senses) of Greek literature but in this longavsaited book, Roger Brock ofers something completly unising and highly valuable: an overall study of Greek politcal imagery inthe archaic and classical periods. This is a particularly rich book, not only in its de- tiled treatment ofthe subject (there are plenty of gems in the copious an often long notes rather unelpill inthe form of dnote), but also inthe wider m- plications of many ofits findings. the book is effectively divided in two parts: the firs five chapters take the form ofthematie studies ofthe repertoire ofthe figurative language of Greek pot tics, while the last tree ate devoted tothe chronological development of Greck politcal imagery inthe archaic period, the filth and the fourth centuries respee~ tively. This arrangement illuminates beautflly both structure and change, by «enabling Brock to discuss in detail the variety of ways in which particular figural trope is employed in our sources, before showing how diferent images have co caxisted and how existing mages changed and new ones emerged IFT have any misgivng this concerns the fct thatthe titles ofthe fst ive cchapters— (1) Gods as Kings, Kings as Gods; (2) The State as Household and Family; (3) The Shepherd of the People; (4) The Ship of State; ($) The Body Politic—were not the best way of dividing the repertoire of imagery; in fet, Brock’s discussion in the chronological chapters provides a much better ar- rangement ofthemes andthe interinking between related images. ‘One category of Greek imagery concerns the employment of animals and physical object, wit thee peculiar and characteristic features as metaphors for individuals and groups: lions and dogs, or bulwark, towers and wall, as met. phors for rulers, politicians and citizens. A second category concerns the am- ployment of relationships between various kinds of individual as metaphors for politcal relationships: masters and slaves and fathers and sons constitute prom= T= books aplenty concerning the practice ane theory of Greek pol2 KOSTASVLASSOPOULOS nent examples for understanding the relationship between rulers and subjects or hegemonic and subjected states. Irthe second category focuses on relationships, a tht category shifs em- phasis to ways of employing power in everyday life as metaphors for ru authority in polities: the power exerised by the helmsman in runninga shi charioteer in driving a chariot or by the farmer as regards the yoke, by a doctor ‘over theill body of is patients provide apt metaphors for ruling a politcal com- munity. A fourth category focuses on various fells as metaphors forthe field of politics: the household, the ship othe human body, with their complex balance between different elements, provide alternative models for exploring the ar- rangements of politcal communities. Pethaps we could define a fifth category, which would examine not how Greeks employed everyday metaphors to conegp- tualize politics, bt rather the reverse process: Brock examines in some detail how Greeks employed politcal metaphors to understand the community ofthe gods ‘othe constitution ofthe human bod. Brock’s subtle discussion brings out a number of significant wider issues particularly stimulating i his observation of a general lack of political images that ccan be characterized as specifically democratic, and the non-democratic implica tions that most political images easily lend themselves to. Brock argues thatthe image ofthe houschold and of politicians as stewards and watchdogs might be the major contribution of democracy to Greek political imagery, and this is an argument worth further exploration, But peshaps mos significant i this book are the implications ofthe chronw- logical disussion of Greck political imagery. Por what is peculiar to ancient Greece isnot political imagery, but the development ofa conceptual vocabulary about polities as a discrete field of human action: while all political communities have imagery, the Greeks were peculiar in devising eg clasifications of politcal systems in terms of forms of rule (democracy, oligarchy, aristocracy). How was Greek political imagery affected by the emergence of a specifically politcal vo ccabulary? Equally important is the consideration of the nature of our sources for dif ferent periods of Greek history. While our archaic sources consist exclusively of diverse genres of poetry, the clasial perio is characterized by the emergence of various prose genres (historiography, eratory), including treatises and dialogues devoted especially to polities, Can we take the order of appearance of imagery in the sources as evidence for their appearance in history, and draw the relevant condlusions of not,how do we fctorin the defections andillusions created byREVI EW OF Brock, Greek Political Imager rom Homer toArittle 3 different genres? ‘These are methodological problems which should be at the centre of our study of Greek polities: while Brock eschews an overall answer, his detailed exploration of particulars will be the foundation of any ature discussion ‘ofthe topic. Overall this isa book that opens significant new paths for the study ‘of Greek polities and should be widely and attentively read. KosrasVLassoroutos University of Nottingham, Konstantinos slassopoulos@nottingham ack