Ancient Slavery and Abolition: From Hobbes to Hollywood (Classical Presences)

A pathbreaking study of the role played by ancient Greek and Roman sources and voices in the struggle to abolish transatlantic slavery and in representations of that struggle in the twentieth century. Thirteen essays by an interdisciplinary team of specialists from three continents, led by the Centre for the Reception of Greece and Rome at Royal Holloway University of London, ask how both critics and defenders of slavery in media ranging from parliamentary speeches to poetry, fiction, drama, and cinema have summoned the ghosts of the ancient Spartans, Homer, Aristotle, Aeschylus, Pliny, Spartacus, and Prometheus to support their arguments. Originating In A Conference Organised In 2007 By The Centre For The Reception Of Greece And Rome At Royal Holloway, University Of London, And Held At The British Library ... This Accessible Volume Offers A Pathbreaking Study Of The Role Played By The Interpreters Of Ancient Greek And Roman Texts In The Debates Over The Abolition Of Slavery. Focusing On Britain, North America, The Caribbean, And South Africa From The Late 17th Century, The Essays Examine The Arguments Of Critics And Defenders Of Slavery And Legacy Of Slavery, In Later Periods. --book Jacket. Introduction : `a Valuable Lesson' / Edith Hall -- The Good Master : Pliny, Hobbes, And The Nature Of Freedom / Richard Alston -- Appropriations Of Spartan Helotage In British Anti-slavery Debates Of The 1790s / Stephen Hodkinson, Edith Hall -- The Influence Of Classical Ideas On The Anti-slavery Debate At The Cape Of Good Hope, South Africa (1795-1834) / John Hilton -- A Stronger Muse : Classical Influences On Eighteenth-century Abolitionist Poetry / Brycchan Carey -- The Politics Of Classicism In The Poetry Of Phillis Wheatley / Emily Greenwood -- Between Victimhood And Agency : Nydia The Slave In Bulwer's The Last Days Of Pompeii / Leanne Hunnings -- The Problem With Prometheus : Myth, Abolition, And Radicalism / Edith Hall -- Recollecting Aristotle : Pro-slavery Thought In Antebellum America And The Argument Of Politics Book I / S. Sara Monoson -- The Auctoritas Of Antiquity : Debating Slavery Through Classical Exempla In The Antebellum Usa / Margaret Malamud -- Yankee She-men And Octoroon Electra : Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve On Slavery, Race, And Abolition / David Lupher, Elizabeth Vandiver -- Universal Slave Revolts : C. L. R. James's Use Of Classical Literature In The Black Jacobins / Lydia Langerwer -- Eumaeus And Eurycleia In The Deep South : Odyssean Slavery In Sommersby / Justine Mcconnell -- Postscript : Slavery, Abolition, Modernity, And The Past / Ahuvia Kahane. Edited By Edith Hall, Richard Alston, And Justine Mcconnell. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [425]-466) And Index. MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict MuPDF error: syntax error: invalid key in dict Cover 1 Contents 10 List of Contributors 12 List of Illustrations 16 1. Introduction: ‘AValuable Lesson’ 20 2. The Good Master: Pliny, Hobbes, and the Nature of Freedom 60 3. Appropriations of Spartan Helotage in British Anti-Slavery Debates of the 1790s 84 4. The Influence of Classical Ideas on the Anti-Slavery Debate at the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa (1795–1834) 122 5. A Stronger Muse: Classical Influences on Eighteenth-Century Abolitionist Poetry 144 6. The Politics of Classicism in the Poetry of Phillis Wheatley 172 7. Between Victimhood and Agency: Nydia the Slave in Bulwer’s The Last Days of Pompeii 200 8. The Problem with Prometheus: Myth, Abolition, and Radicalism 228 9. Recollecting Aristotle: Pro-Slavery Thought in Antebellum America and the Argument of Politics Book I 266 10. The Auctoritas of Antiquity: Debating Slavery through Classical Exempla in the Antebellum USA 298 11. Yankee She-Men and Octoroon Electra: Basil Lanneau Gildersleeve on Slavery, Race, and Abolition 338 12. Universal Slave Revolts: C. L. R. James’s Use of Classical Literature in The Black Jacobins 372 13. Eumaeus and Eurycleia in the Deep South: Odyssean Slavery in Sommersby 404 Postscript: Slavery, Abolition, Modernity, and the Past 428 Consolidated Bibliography 444 Index 486 A 486 B 490 C 492 D 495 E 497 F 498 G 499 H 502 I 503 J 504 K 505 L 505 M 507 N 509 O 510 P 511 Q 515 R 515 S 517 T 522 U 525 V 526 W 527 X 528 Z 528 A collection of essays by an international team of scholars on the part played by classical sources and images in the debates around the abolition of slavery. It shows that the ancient Greek and Roman slave was invoked both by abolitionists and by those who promoted and attempted to justify the custom.