"Revenge", ἀνομία and παρανομία in Greek Tragedy: Some Remarks
Abstract
Starting from the analysis of ἀνομία and παρανομία (and their derivatives) in the plays of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, this paper tries to isolate some cultural, political and legal assumptions essential to understand the contemporary debate on the νόμος and ‘deviations’ from the polis’ system. Focusing on the relationship / overlap between private and public generated by the absence, in ancient thought, of firm conceptual demarcations such as that between violence and justice, private retaliation and trial, this paper offers an initial classification of the linguistic and lexical elements commonly related to the notion of vengeance. This latter does not exist in ancient Greek but can be reconstructed from terms and expressions widely attested in tragedy, which gave voice to traits well rooted in the coeval political and legal imaginary.
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Edizioni e traduzioni
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