The 'Old Oligarch': The Constitution of the Athenians Attributed to Xenophon (Aris and Phillips Classical Texts)

'Old Oligarch' is a label often applied to the unknown author of the Athenian Constitution preserved with the works of Xenophon. Probably written in the mid 420's B.C., it is the earliest surviving Athenian prose text, and its author was probably a young pupil of the teachers known as sophists. It is an essay which replies to oligarchic criticisms of the Athenian democracy by agreeing with the critics that democracy is distasteful but arguing that it is appropriate for Athens as a city whose power depends on the poorer citizens who row the navy's ships, and that it is successful and could not easily be overthrown. This edition provides a Greek text and English translation, with Introduction, Commentary and Appendixes which discuss the date, authorship and character of the work, the historical background, the statements and arguments presented by the author and features of the author's style. Abstract: 1 The Name 'old Oligarch' 1 -- 2 The Title Of The Work 2 -- 3 The Date Of The Work 3 -- 4 The Authorship Of The Work 6 -- 5 The Author And His Immediate Audience 13 -- 6 The Author's Argument: The Self-interest Theory 16 -- 7 The Two-fold Class Division: The Demos Versus The Oligoi 19 -- 8 Class Designations And Class Labels 24 -- 9 Other Stylistic Features 26 -- 10 Structure 27 -- 11 The Text 28 -- Dates Assigned To The Constitution Of The Athenians 31 -- Text And Translation: [characters Not Reproducible]/ The Constitution Of The Athenians 35 -- 1 The Imagined Criticisms Answered In The Work 169 -- 2 Occurrences Of The Words Demos / Demotikoi / Demokratia 170 -- 3 Qualities And Characteristics Ascribed To The Demos And The Oligoi 170 -- 4 Class Designations And Class Labels 171 -- 5 Characteristic Vocabulary 172 -- 6 Examples Of Verbal Repetition 173 -- 7 Generalisations 175. Edited With An Introduction, Translation And Commentary By J.l. Marr And P.j. Rhodes. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [33]-34) And Index. Translated From The Ancient Greek. Cover 1 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 8 Preface 10 References 12 Introduction 14 1 The name ‘old oligarch’ 14 2 The title of the work 15 3 The date of the work 16 4 The authorship of the work 19 5 The author and his immediate audience 26 6 The author’s argument: the self-interest theory 29 7 The two-fold class division: the demos versus the oligoi 32 8 Class designations and class labels 37 9 Other stylistic features 39 10 Structure 40 11 The text 41 Dates Assigned to the Constitution of the Athenians 44 Select Bibliography 46 ΑӨΗΝΑΙΩΝ ΠΟΛΙΤΕΙΑ/ The Constitution of the Athenians 48 Commentary 72 Appendixes 182 1 The imagined criticisms answered in the work 182 2 Occurences of the words demos / demotikoi / demokratia 183 3 Qualities and characteristics ascribed to the demos and the oligoi 183 4 Class designations and class labels 184 5 Characteristic vocabulary 185 6 Examples of verbal repetition 186 7 Generalisations 188 Index 190