Envy, Spite and Jealousy: The Rivalrous Emotions in Ancient Greece (Edinburgh Leventis Studies)

Classical Greece was permeated by a spirit of rivalry. Games and sports, theatrical performances, courtroom trials, recitation of poetry, canvassing for public office, war itself - all aspects of life were informed by a competitive ethos. This pioneering book considers how the Greeks viewed, explained, exploited and controlled the emotions that entered into such rivalrous activities, and looks at what the private and public effects were of such feelings as ambition, desire, pride, passion, envy and spite.Among the questions the authors address: How was envy distinguished from emulation? Was rivalry central to democratic politics? What was the relation between envy and erotic jealousy? Did the Greeks feel erotic jealousy at all? Did the views of philosophers correspond to those reflected in the historians, tragic poets and orators? Were there differences in attitude towards the rivalrous emotions within ancient Greece, or between Greece and Rome? Did jealousy, envy and malice have bad effects on ancient society, or could they be channelled to positive ends by stimulating effort and innovation? Can the ancient Greek and Roman views of envy, spite and jealousy contribute anything to our own understanding of these universally troubling emotions?This is the first book devoted to the emotions of rivalry in the classical world taken as a whole. With chapters written by a dozen scholars in ancient history, literature and philosophy, it contributes notably to the study of ancient Greece and to the history of the emotions more generally. CONTENTS 6 Preface 8 Contributors and Editors 10 Abbreviations 14 Introduction 16 1 Before jealousy 22 2 Is Rivalry a virtue or a vice? 44 3 φθόνος in the world of Plato's Timaeus 68 4 Competitive emotions and thumos in Aristotle's Rhetoric 100 5 Aristotle on emotions towards the fortune of others 114 6 Epinician envies 138 7 The cause of things: envy and the emotions in Herodotus' Histories 158 8 Tragic emotions: the pettiness of envy and the politics and pitilessness 180 9 'Let envy be absent': envy, liturgies and reciprocity in Athens 196 10 Envy and emulation in Isocrates 232 11 The politics of envy: envy and equality in ancient Greece 250 Invidia, νέμεσις, φθόνος, and the Roman emotional economy 268 Programme of the second Leventis Greek Conference 292 Index locorum 294 Index 310 This Pioneering Book Considers How The Greeks Viewed, Explained, Exploited And Controlled The Emotions That Entered Into Such Rivalrous Activities As Sports, Games, And War And Looks At What The Private And Public Effects Were Of Such Feelings As Ambition, Desire, Pride, Passion, Envy, And Spite.