The Talking Greeks
Speech, Animals, and the Other in Homer, Aeschylus, and Plato

Explores how the ancient Greeks regarded the capacity of speech as the defining human characteristic.

John Heath (Author)

9780521117784, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 30 July 2009

404 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.3 cm, 0.59 kg

Review of the hardback: '… rich and illuminating study by John Heath. … This is an interesting and stimulating book, with a wide-ranging bibliography on both ancient texts and modern ethical questions.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review

When considering the question of what makes us human, the ancient Greeks provided numerous suggestions. This book argues that the defining criterion in the Hellenic world, however, was the most obvious one: speech. It explores how it was the capacity for authoritative speech which was held to separate humans from other animals, gods from humans, men from women, Greeks from non-Greeks, citizens from slaves, and the mundane from the heroic. John Heath illustrates how Homer's epics trace the development of immature young men into adults managing speech in entirely human ways and how in Aeschylus' Oresteia only human speech can disentangle man, beast, and god. Plato's Dialogues are shown to reveal the consequences of Socratically imposed silence. With its examination of the Greek focus on speech, animalization, and status, this book offers new readings of key texts and provides significant insights into the Greek approach to understanding our world.

Introduction
Part I. Speech, Animals, and Human Status in Homer: 1. Bellowing like a bull: humans and other animals in Homer
2. Controlling language: Telemachus learns to speak
3. Talking through the heroic code: Achilles learns to tell tales
Part II. Listening for the Other in Classical Greece: 4. Making a difference: the silence of otherness
Part III. Speech, Animals, and Human Status in Classical Athens: 5. Disentangling the beast: humans and other animals in the Oresteia
6. Socratic silence: the shame of the Athenians
Epilogue.

Subject Areas: Western philosophy: Ancient, to c 500 [HPCA], Literary studies: classical, early & medieval [DSBB], Linguistics [CF]