GC 318 Greek Law and Political Theory

Tuesday 12:00 (TSI030), Thursday 15:00 (HA)

Office Hours: Tues. 1:00-2:00, Thurs. 10:00-11:00 (Office #5, Arts Block)

After briefly placing Greek law within its Near Eastern and early Archaic contexts, this module will focus
on Classical Athens and the emergence of a body of law from its radically democratic system; individual
topics such as the citizenship, slavery, the family, sexuality, murder, assault, property and religion, as well
as procedural issues and modes of argument, will be approached primarily through the lens of selected
Athenian court speeches. The last third of the module broadens out into Greek political theory and a survey
of the efforts of philosophers (Plato, Aristotle, Stoics) to relate positive laws and the very idea of law to
theories of justice, human nature, and cosmology.

“The Death of Socrates” (Jacques-Louis David, 1797)

In 399 BC a jury of 501 Athenian citizens condemned Socrates to death on two counts—
“corrupting the youth” and “not believing in the gods of the city.”

Assessment: 2 essays (each worth 50%):

 Essay 1 (c. 2000 words): assigned topic (to be announced) based on readings & lectures. Due: Nov.
21, 2022
 Essay 2 (c. 2000 words): choose from a list of possible topics (to be announced). Due: Jan. 9, 2023

Main texts:

Gagarin, M. Speeches from Athenian Law (University of Texas, 2011). ISBN: 978-0292726383.

This book conveniently collects 22 court-room speeches. We will be reading some in detail
(e.g. Demosthenes 59), from others we will read selections or brief references. A version is
online in MU Library and will be made available on the class’s Moodle page. Supplemental
readings will also be made available online and on Moodle, most prominently speeches in the
Loeb Classical Library.

MacDowell, D. The Law in Classical Athens (Cornell University Press, 1978). ISBN: 978-
0500400371

MacDowell’s book is concise but remains a standard introduction to Athenian law.

Learning Outcomes
 Outline the history, varieties and sources of Greek law.
 Explain interrelations between Athenian law, customary morality, and legal process (courts, assembly).
 Analyse individual civil and criminal cases from democratic Athens.
  Explain the assumptions, framework and influence of Greek philosophical theories of law.
 Demonstrate the ability to communicate complex ideas in both oral and written form.
Lectures: Short view

1. Introduction 13. Maritime courts: Commercial law

2. Early Greek Law
3. Athenian legislative procedure: the assembly
4. Athenian legal procedure: the courts
treason
5. Status: citizens, slaves, metics
Wasps
6. Family law: marriage, divorce, inheritance
7. Citizenship and slavery
8. Citizenship, honour and slander
slavery
9. Violent crime: assault and hybris
10. Violent crime: Sexual offences and murder
11. Violent crime: murder
12. Property: damage, fraud, theft
14. Divine law: sacred property
15. Divine law: piety
16. Individual and polis: patriotism and
17. Comic Interlude: Aristophanes’
18. Comic Interlude: Aristophanes’ Wasps
19. Defining custom, law, and nature
20. Plato’s Cretan city: citizenship, family,
21. Plato’s Cretan city: property and crime
22. Aristotle: nature, justice, and the polis
23. Stoics, natural law, and Roman law
24. Recap

Lectures: Longer view

Week Lecture number and topic, main primary readings* Lecture topic, main primary readings*
I. Introduction: Greece and Athens
1 (Sept. 1. Introduction. Socrates’ Apology 2. Early Greek Law
19)
2 (Sept. 3. Athenian legislative procedure: the assembly 4. Athenian legal procedure: the courts
26)
II. Topics in Athenian Law (12 lectures)
3 (Oct. 3) 5. Status: citizens, slaves, metics 6. Family law: marriage and children
Against Neaira (Demosthenes 59) §§1-49 Against Neaira (Demosthenes 59), §§50-87
4 (Oct. 10) 7. Citizenship and slavery 8. Citizenship, honour and slander
Against Neaira (Demosthenes 59), §§88-126 Against Timarchus (Aeschines 1)
5 (Oct. 17) 9. Violent crime: assault and hybris 10. Violent crime: Sexual offences and murder
Against Conon (Demosthenes 54); Against Lochites On the murder of Eratosthenes (Lysias 1)
(Isocrates 20)
6 (Oct. 24) 11. Violent crime: murder 12. Property: damage, fraud, theft
Antiphon, Tetralogy 1, Murder of Herodes; Aeschylus, For a Disabled Man (Lysias 24); Against Athenogenes
Eumenides (Hyperides 3)
Oct. 31 Study Week—no class
7 (Nov. 7) 13. Maritime courts: Commercial contracts 14. Divine law: sacred property
Against Lacritus (Demosthenes 35); Trapeziticus (Isocrates On the Sacred Olive (Lysias 7)
17)
8 (Nov. 15. Divine law: piety 16. Individual and polis: patriotism and treason
14) Plato, Euthyphro, Apology of Socrates Plato, Apology of Socrates
9 (Nov. 17. Comic interlude: Aristophanes’ Wasps 1-760 18. Comic Interlude: Aristophanes’ Wasps 760-end
21)
III. Law and political theory (8 lectures)
10 (Nov. 19. Defining custom, law, and nature 20. Plato’s Cretan city: citizenship, family, slavery
28) Plato, selections (Crito, Gorgias, Republic) Selections from Plato’s Laws
11 (Dec. 5) 21. Plato’s Cretan city: property, trade, and crime 22. Aristotle: nature, justice, and the polis
Selections from Plato’s Laws Selections from Nicomachean Ethics 5 and Politics
12 (Dec. 23. Stoics, natural law, and Roman law 24. Recap
12)

* Ideally these primary readings should be prepared in conjunction with lectures, either before class or
shortly thereafter. Most of the readings for Part II are to be found in Gagarin’s Speeches from Athenian Law
(2011); others (e.g. from Part III) are available through the Maynooth Library—notably through the Loeb
Classical Library (which is online). Topics for the weekly reading are related. In class I will tend to give

(1) an overview of facts, figures, ideas and principles;

(2) a selection of passages from the week’s readings representative of issues under discussion;
(3) ways to make connections; and
(4) some further secondary reading from articles and books listed in the Bibliography below.

For (1), I will have information on handouts and powerpoint slides. Class discussion is easily accommodated
in relation to (2) and (3), so please bring questions, ideas, and suggestions! Bibliographic information (4)
should help you with essay topics and set you in the right direction at least if you would like to explore a
topic in more depth.

Bibliography

The MU Library has almost all of the following, including articles online with JSTOR.
* An online, e-version of this book is available through the MU Library
** Recommended and will be used regularly in lectures.

---------------------------------------------

* Allen, D. 2008. The World of Prometheus: The politics of punishing in democratic Athens. Princeton.
* Arnaoutoglou, I. 1998. Ancient Greek Laws: A Sourcebook. London and New York
Balot, R. 2005. Greek Political Thought. Wiley-Blackwell
*_____. 2009. A Companion to Greek and Roman Political Thought. Blackwell
Blok, J. H. 2009. “Pericles’ Citizenship Law: A New Perspective.” Historia 58: 141-70
Bobonich, C. 2010. Plato’s Laws: A Critical Guide (Cambridge)
Brickhouse, T.C., and N.D. Smith. 1989. Socrates on Trial. Princeton
* Brickhouse, T. and N. Smith, eds. 2002. Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Plato and the Trial of
Socrates. Oxford
Cairns, D. L., and R. A. Knox, eds. 2004. Law, Rhetoric, and Comedy in Classical Athens: Essays in
Honour of
Douglas M. MacDowell. Swansea
**Cairns, H. 1949. Legal Philosophy from Plato to Hegel. Johns Hopkins.
*Calhoun, G.M. (ed.). 2014. Working Bibliography of Greek Law. Harvard
* Cantarella, E. 2005. “Gender, Sexuality, and Law.” In The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek
Law, edited
by M. Gagarin and D. Cohen, 236– 53. Cambridge
Carey, C. 2012. Trials from Classical Athens. London and New York
Christ, M.R. 1998. The Litigious Athenian. Johns Hopkins
Cohen, D. 1983. Theft in Athenian Law. Munich
_____. 1991. Law, Sexuality, and Society: The Enforcement of Morals in Classical Athens. Cambridge
_____. 1995. Law, Violence and Community in Classical Athens. Cambridge
Cohen, E. E. 1973. Ancient Athenian Maritime Courts. Princeton
* _____. 2005. “Commercial Law.” In The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Law, edited by M.
Gagarin
and D. Cohen, 290-302. Cambridge
* Dover, K. J. 1974. Greek Popular Morality. Blackwell
* Farenga, V. 2006. Citizen and Self in Ancient Greece: Individuals Performing Justice and the Law.
Cambridge
Figueira, T. 1986. “Sitopolai and Sitophylakes in Lysias’ ‘Against the Graindealers:’ Governmental
Intervention in the Athenian Economy.” Phoenix 40: 149-71
Fisher, N. R. E. 1990. “The Law of hubris in Athens.” In Nomos: Essays in Athenian Law, Politics and
Society,
 Ed. P. Cartledge, P. Millett, and S. Todd, 123– 38. Cambridge
Folch, M. 2015. The City and the Stage: Performance, Genre, and Gender in Plato’s Laws (Oxford)
Gagarin, M. 1978. “Self-Defense in Athenian Homicide Law.” Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 19:
111-20
_____. 1989. Early Greek Law. University of California.
*_____. 2002. Antiphon the Athenian: Oratory, Law, and Justice in the Age of the Sophists
(University of Texas)
_____. 2008. Writing Greek Law. Cambridge.
**_____., ed. 2011. Speeches from Athenian Law. University of Texas.
**_____. 2020. Democratic Law in Classical Athens. University of Texas.
** Gagarin, M. & D. Cohen, eds. 2005. The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Law.
Cambridge.
*Gagarin, M. & P. Woodruff. 1995. Early Greek Political Thought from Homer to the Sophists.
Cambridge.
Gagarin, M. & P. Perlman. 2020. The Laws of Ancient Crete, c.650-400 BCE
** Hansen, M. H.1991. The Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes. Blackwell.
_____. 2006. Polis: An Introduction to the Ancient Greek City-State. Oxford.
Harrison, A. R. W. 1968–71. The Law of Athens. Oxford. (Reprint, Indianapolis, 1998)
Harris, E. M. 1990. “Did the Athenians Regard Seduction As a Worse Crime Than Rape?” Classical
Quarterly 40: 370-77. Reprinted in E. M. Harris, Democracy and the Rule of Law in
Classical Athens, 283–95 (Cambridge, 2006)
*_____. 2006. Democracy and the Rule of Law in Classical Athens: Essays on Law, Society, and
Politics (Cambridge)
_____. 2013. The Rule of Law in Action in Democratic Athens. Oxford.
* Harris, E.M., D. Leao, and P.J. Rhodes (eds.) 2013. Law and Drama in Ancient Greece.
Bloomsbury
Just, R. 1989. Women in Athenian Law and Life. Routledge
* Kamen, D. 2013. Status in Classical Athens. Princeton
**
Kapparis, K. 2018. Athenian Law and Society. Routledge
_____. Against Neaira: D59. Walter de Gruyter
Lacey, W. K. 1968. The Family in Classical Greece. Cornell
* Lanni, A. 2006. Law and Justice in the Courts of Classical Athens. Cambridge.
_____. 2018. Law and Order in Classical Athens. Cambridge.
* Long, A.A. 2005. “Law and Nature in Greek Thought.” In The Cambridge Companion to Ancient
Greek Law,
ed. M. Gagarin and D. Cohen, 412-30. Cambridge.
Lupu, E. 2009. Greek Sacred Law. Brill.
MacDowell, D. M. 1963. Athenian Homicide Law in the Age of the Orators (Manchester University
Press)
_____. 1971. Aristophanes: Wasps. Oxford.
_____. 1976. “Bastards as Athenian Citizens.” Classical Quarterly 26: 88–91.
** _____. 1978. The Law in Classical Athens. Cornell.
_____. 1989. “The Oikos in Athenian Law.” Classical Quarterly 39: 10–-21.
McHardy, F. 2008. Revenge in Athenian Culture. Duckworth
* Morris, S. 2018. Slave-Wives, Single Women and “Bastards” in the Ancient Greek World. Oxbow
Books.
Morrow, G.R. 1960. Plato’s Cretan City: A Historical Interpretation of the Laws (Princeton)
Ober, J. 2005. “Law and Political Theory.” In The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Law, ed.
M.
Gagarin and D. Cohen, 394-411. Cambridge.
* Ostwald, M. 1986. From Popular Sovereignty to the Sovereignty of Law: Law, Society, and Politics
in Fifth- Century
Athens. University of Californa Press.
* Parker, R. 2005. “Law and Religion.” In The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Law, ed. M.
Gagarin
 and D. Cohen, 61-81. Cambridge.
Philips, D.D. 2013. The Law of Ancient Athens. Michigan.
_____. 2008. Avengers of Blood: Homicide in Athenian Law and Custom from Draco to
Demosthenes. Stuttgart
Prauscello, L. 2014. Performing Citizenship in Plato’s Laws (Cambridge)
* Salkever, S. 2009. The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Political Thought. Cambridge.
Saunders, T. 1990. “Plato and the Athenian Law of Theft.” In Nomos: Essays in Athenian Law,
Politics and
Society, ed. P. Cartledge, P. Millett, and S. Todd, 63-82. Cambridge.
* Schofield, M. 2006. Plato: Political Philosophy. Oxford.
Sealey, R. 1990. Women and Law in Classical Greece. Chapel Hill, NC.
_____. 1994. The Justice of the Greeks. University of Michigan.
* Sommerstein, A.H. and I. Torrance. 2014. Oaths and Swearing in Ancient Greece. De Gruyter.
** Stalley, R.F. 1983. An Introduction to Plato’s Laws (Blackwell)
Todd, S. C. 1993. The Shape of Athenian Law. Oxford.
Westbrook, R. 2015. Ex Oriente Lex: New Eastern Influences on Ancient Greek and Roman Law.
Johns Hopkins
* Wohl, V. 2010. Law's Cosmos: Juridical Discourse in Athenian Forensic Oratory. Cambridge

Helpful websites

 NOMOI: Ancient Greek Law website: http://www.sfu.ca/nomoi. Most complete bibliography,

regularly updated and expanding upon A New Working Bibliography of Ancient Greek Law by
M. Sundahl, D. Mirhady, & I. Arnaoutoglou (Athens 2011).

 https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/ancient/asbook.asp. Provides some Greek law texts (Gortyn,

Aeschines), set within larger contexts of ancient history in Mediterranean and beyond.