Deception and Democracy in Classical Athens
Deception and Democracy in Classical Athens
This book is a study of the ways in which classical Athenian texts represent and evaluate the morality of deception. It is particularly concerned with the way in which the telling of lies was a problem for the world's first democracy and compares this problem with the modern Western situation. There are major sections on Greek tragedy, comedy, oratory, historiography and philosophy.
- A full-length study of deception in classical Athens
- Contains illustrations from modern western democratic culture and the rhetoric of 'spin-doctors'
- Includes material from comedy, tragedy, philosphy, oratory and vase-painting
Reviews & endorsements
"This thoughtful and wide-ranging book...provides a useful introduction to important recent work by classicists on Athenian political culture.... Hesk's book reminds us of the legitimate centrality of political rhetoric to democracy, yet provides new insight on how sophisticated rhetorical technique complicates the struggle to discover truth. He is surely right to conclude that 'without that struggle, we may as well give up on democracy altogether.'" Perspectives on Politics
"Deception and Democracy is an ambitious book. The questions it raises and the approaches it tests make this volume an especially useful addition to libraries of graduate institutions." New England Classical Journal
Product details
November 2006Paperback
9780521028714
348 pages
229 × 153 × 20 mm
0.538kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Preface
- Prologue
- 1. Deception and the rhetoric of Athenian identity
- 2. Deceiving the enemy: negotiation and anxiety
- 3. Athens and the 'noble lie'
- 4. The rhetoric of anti-rhetoric: Athenian oratory
- 5. Thinking with the rhetoric of anti-rhetoric
- Epilogue
- Bibliography
- Indexes.
