Unit:
Department of PhilologyLibrary of the School of Philosophy
Author:
Anastasopoulos Stavros
Dissertation committee:
Ιωάννης Κωνσταντάκος, Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Φιλολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Δημήτριος Καραδήμας, Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Φιλολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Βασίλειος Λιοτσάκης, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Φιλολογίας, ΠΑΠΕ
Γραμματική Κάρλα, Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Φιλολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Αθηνά Μπάζου, Επίκουρη Καθηγήτρια, Τμήμα Φιλολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Γεώργιος Βασίλαρος, Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Φιλοσοφίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Νικόλαος Χαραλαμπόπουλος, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Φιλολογίας, ΠΠ
Original Title:
Προσωπογραφία τεσσάρων «χρηστῶν» ηγετών της κλασικής Αθήνας. Συμβολή στην μελέτη της αθηναϊκής πολιτικής κατά τον 5ο αιώνα π.Χ.
Translated title:
Portrait of four chrestoi leaders of Classical Athens: A contribution to the study of Athenian politics during the fifth century BCE
Summary:
The aim of the proposed Doctoral Dissertation is to study in detail the biography of four leaders who originated from the social and ideological faction of the chrestoi and were active in the political life of ancient Athens during the fifth century BCE. The label chrestoi, as used in Classical Athenian sources and adopted by many modern historians of the ancient world, was at the same time a designation of social class and an indicator of an ideological and political position. The chrestoi statesmen stood out for their noble birth, high level of education and wealth, but also for the moral attributes of their personality, mental capacities and political acumen, which were considered to render them de iure the most appropriate political leaders of the Athenian people. On the other hand, they were also opposed, as a rule, to the radical democracy of the Periclean and post-Periclean kind - brought forward by the faction of the poneroi -, and advocated policies of greater moderation and a more conservative stance towards the Athenian demos. In chronological order, the four leaders to be discussed are the following: Thucydides the son of Melesias, Laches, Nicias and Critias. The personality and career of each one of these figures are investigated in a prosopographical manner. In other words, all the information provided by ancient sources for each man is gathered and analytically expounded. The different portrayals and evaluations offered by the various sources are confronted and compared with each other. In this way, a comprehensive overview of each leader’s presentation and reception in ancient literature is accomplished. In the conclusion, the life and career of all four politicians, as presented in the ancient Greek literary corpus, is fully reviewed, so as to construct a panorama of the history and evolution of the chrestoi party (that is, the group of conservative or moderate aristocrats) in Athenian politics of the fifth century BCE. For the sake of historical coherence and perspective, the four acclaimed statesmen are examined in chronological order, so that each one of them is viewed within the historical context of his age.
Main subject category:
Language – Literature
Keywords:
Chrestoi, Poneroi, Thucydides the son of Melesias, Laches, Nicias, Critias, Athenian Democracy, Athenian Imperialism, Radical Democracy, Moderate Democracy
Number of references:
1139
File:
File access is restricted until 2025-05-12.
AnastasopoulosStavrosDoctoralDissertation.pdf
6 MB
File access is restricted until 2025-05-12.
