GREK 321/421
Type: 300-400 level
Units: 3.00 (each)
Term: Winter 2024
Fall Instructor: Dr. Griffith
Delivery: In-Person
Textbooks:
- Carey, C., Lysias: Selected Speeches. Cambridge University Press, 1989. ISBN: 0 521 26988 1, and
- Yunis, H. Demosthenes: On the Crown. Cambridge University Press, 2001. ISBN: 978-0-521-62930-0
Real-life stories of adultery, murder, false insurance-claims and identity theft, as well as primary documents of important moments in Athenian history: these are the substance of the primary sources of ancient Athenian law this course considers. While reading speeches prepared by professional speech-writers for citizen prosecutors and defendants to deliver in court, we will examine legal problems unique to ancient Athens (such as the law on heiresses), rhetorical strategies, story-telling techniques and character-drawing. Much more than just the law, these speeches also shed light on the private lives of free Athenian men and women, foreigners and slaves, as well as attitudes of popular morality and even the intricacies of domestic architecture.
Note: GREK 321 is co-taught with GREK 421