The Discovery of Freedom in Ancient Greece: Revised and Updated EditionAlthough there is constant conflict over its meanings and limits, political freedom itself is considered a fundamental and universal value throughout the modern world. For most of human history, however, this was not the case. In this book, Kurt Raaflaub asks the essential question: when, why, and under what circumstances did the concept of freedom originate? To find out, Raaflaub analyses ancient Greek texts from Homer to Thucydides in their social and political contexts. Archaic Greece, he concludes, had little use for the idea of political freedom; the concept arose instead during the great confrontation between Greeks and Persians in the early fifth century BCE. Raaflaub then examines the relationship of freedom with other concepts, such as equality, citizenship, and law, and pursues subsequent uses of the idea—often, paradoxically, as a tool of domination, propaganda, and ideology. Raaflaub's book thus illuminates both the history of ancient Greek society and the evolution of one of humankind's most important values, and will be of great interest to anyone who wants to understand the conceptual fabric that still shapes our world views. |
Contents
Awareness of Freedom in Archaic Greek Society | 23 |
The Emergence of the Political Concept of Freedom | 58 |
in Greece before the Persian Wars Limited Polis Independence before | 118 |
Freedom in Ideology and Propaganda | 166 |
Meaning and Function of Freedom within the Polis | 203 |
Summary and Final Considerations | 250 |
Abbreviations | 279 |
| 357 | |
| 407 | |
| 413 | |
Common terms and phrases
Aegina alliance allies archaic archē aristocratic Aristot aspects Athenian Athens Athens's attested autonomia autonomy became bibliography Bickerman chap citizens claim Cleisthenes concept of freedom constitution context contrast Croix cult of Zeus debate debt bondage Delian League democracy democratic demos discussion domination douleia doulos early eleutheria elite emerged emphasized empire enslavement equality Euripides evidence extant fifth century Finley Greece Greek Greek poleis Gschnitzer Hellenes Hence Herodotus Herodotus's Hesiod ideology important individual interpretation Ionian isēgoria Isocr isonomia later Lévy liberation liberty Materialien Meier Meiggs oligarchic Ostwald Peace of Nicias Peloponnesian Peloponnesian League Peloponnesian War Pericles Persian Wars Plataea Plut poleis polis polis's political concept propaganda Raaflaub revolt Romilly rule Ruschenbusch Schäfer Schuller servitude slavery slaves social Solon Soter Sparta specific speech sphere status terminology Thuc Thucydides tion traditional treaty tyranny tyrant unfree victory Zeus Eleutherios