Morality and Behaviour in Democratic Athens
A Social History

Provides a model for societal behaviour and morality in ancient Athens.

Gabriel Herman (Author)

9780521850216, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 7 December 2006

496 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 3.2 cm, 0.9 kg

'… this is an absorbing and provocative book, aiming at and largely achieving a greatness of spirit seldom seen in academic writing anymore. It will be much argued over by ancient historians. It can also be recommended to historians of other periods as a sustained argument on an important topic, a fine product of wide and long learning.' The American Historical Review

How were moral ideas and behaviour in ancient Athens formulated and made manifest? How did democratic Athens defuse the inevitable tensions that surface in society? In this work, Professor Herman argues that rather than endorse the Mediterranean ethic of retaliation, democratic Athens looked to the courts to dispense justice. Drawing on a method of analysis taken from the behavioural sciences, he describes the exceptional strategy of inter-personal relationships that the Athenian democrats developed to resolve conflict, to increase co-operation and to achieve collective objectives. In a departure, this work investigates moral ideas and behaviour alongside each other and expands the focus of the study to include all aspects of Athenian life, be it societal or economic. Highly illustrated throughout and interdisciplinary in approach, this work offers light on society and behaviour in ancient Athens, which might also serve as a model for similar ancient societies.

1. Moral precepts and society
2. Athenian society and government
3. The moral image of the Athenian democracy
4. Representations and distortions
5. The structure of conflicts
6. Revenge and punishment
7. The coercive power of the state
8. Transformations of cruelty
9. Interactions with the divine
10. The growth of communal feeling.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC], Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], European history [HBJD]