Deception and Democracy in Classical Athens
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: January 29, 2001
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 344
ISBN-13: 9780521643221
Subjects: European history: BCE to c 500 CE; Literary studies: classical, early & medieval; Rhetoric; Social & cultural anthropology; BCE to c 500 CE; Greece; Democracy; Political Ethics; Political Science; Sociology; Ancient (Classical) Greek; History: World; Ancient Greece; Ancient - Greece; Anthropology - Cultural; Democracy--Greece--Athens; History / General; Athens; Ethics & Moral Philosophy; Political Ideologies - Democracy; Deception
First sentence: British statesmen and public men have never at any time used mendacity as an instrument of war, still less have they uttered such praises of lying as Hitler has done in Mein Kampf . . . In Great Britain we believe in the ultimate power of Truth.
Description: "This is the first full-length study of the representation of deceit and lies in classical Athens. Dr. Hesk traces the ways in which Athenian drama, democratic oratory and elite prose writing construct and theorise a relationship between dishonesty and civic identity. He focuses on the ideology of military trickery, notions of the 'noble lie' and the developing associations of rhetorical language with deceptive communication. Deception and Democracy in Classical Athens combines close analysis of Athenian texts with lively critiques of modern theorists and classical scholars. Athenian democratic culture was crucially informed by a nuanced, anxious and dynamic discourse on the problems and opportunities which deception presented for its citizenry. Mobilising comparisons with twentieth-century democracies, the author argues that Athenian literature made deception a fundamental concern for democratic citizenship. This ancient discourse on lying highlights the dangers of modern resignation and postmodern complacency concerning the politics and morality of deception."--Jacket.