Ethics in ancient greek literature : aspects of ethical reasoning from Homer to Aristotle and beyond : studies in honour of Ioannis N. Perysinakis

Interpretation of ancient Greek literature is often enough distorted by the preconceptions of modern times, especially on ancient morality. This is often equivalent to begging the question. If we think e.g. of aretê, which has different meanings in different contexts, we shall think in English (or in Modern Greek or in French or in German) and shall falsify the phenomena. If we are to understand the Greek concept e.g. of aretê we must study the nature of the situations in which it is applied. For it is an important fact in the study of Greek society that the Greeks used the one word (e.g. aretê) where we use different words. If we are to understand properly the texts, we have to view them in their historical and social context. Ancient Greek thought needs to be studied together with politics, ethics, and economic behaviour. Moreover, the best insights can be found in those who confine themselves to the terms of each ancient author's analysis. From this principle each of the contributions of the volume begins. Preface 8 Contents 10 Introduction 14 Ethics in Ancient Greek Literature from Homer to Aristotle 14 Ad honorem 36 Ioannis N. Perysinakis’ Intellectual Adventure 36 Part I: Homeric Ethics 40 The Friendships of Achilles and the Killing of Lykaon 42 Part II: Ethics in Philosophy: Plato and Aristotle 70 An Odd Episode in Platonic Interpretation: Changing the Law in Plato’s Laws 72 Aristotle on the Legal and Moral Aspects of Law 92 Natural Inclination to Ethics in Aristotle 112 Part III: Tragedy Ethics 126 Phaedra’s Fantasy Other: Phenomenology and the Enactive Mind in Euripides’ Hippolytus 128 Greek Tragedy and the Ethics of Revenge 140 Part IV: Oratorical Ethics 156 Lysias and his Clients: Money, Ethics and Politics 158 Moral and Social Values in the Speeches of Isaios 170 Part V: Ethical Particulars 188 Fear and Anxiety: The View from Ancient Greece 190 Part VI: Reception 202 Educational Travels and Epicurean Prokoptontes: Vergil’s Aeneas as an Epicurean Telemachus 204 I.N. Perysinakis’ List of Publications 216 List of Contributors 220 Index Locorum 224 Index Nominum 234 Index Rerum 238 Interpretation of ancient Greek literature is often enough distorted by the preconceptions of modern times, especially on ancient morality. This is often equivalent to begging the question. If we think e.g. of arete,̂ which has different meanings in different contexts, we shall think in English (or in Modern Greek or in French or in German) and shall falsify the phenomena. If we are to understand the Greek concept e.g. of arete ̂we must study the nature of the situations in which it is applied. For it is an important fact in the study of Greek society that the Greeks used the one word (e.g. arete)̂ where we use different words. If we are to understand properly the texts, we have to view them in their historical and social context. Ancient Greek thought needs to be studied together with politics, ethics, and economic behaviour. Moreover, the best insights can be found in those who confine themselves to the terms of each ancient author's analysis. From this principle each of the contributions of the volume begins