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Athenian Ostracism and its Original Purpose analyses the ancient Greek practice of ostracism, through an examination of newly discovered archaeological evidence, a reconstruction of the legal procedure, and an account of its origins.
List of contents
- Introduction
- Part I: Key Issues in the Study of Athenian Ostracism
- 1: Ostracism before Ostracism?
- 2: Towards a Reconstruction of Ostracism in Athens: The Facts
- 3: Towards a Reconstruction of Ostracism in Athens: The Procedures
- Part II: Towards an Interpretation of the Original Aims of Athenian Ostracism
- 4: The Historical Context of the Cleisthenian Law about Ostracism
- 5: The Prisoner's Dilemma: Ostracism and Competition among Athenian Political Élites
- Epilogue and Conclusions: The Decline and Fall of Athenian Ostracism
About the author
Marek Węcowski is Associate Professor of Ancient History at the University of Warsaw and member of the Academic Board of the Polish Archaeological Institute at Athens. He studied in Warsaw and in Paris at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. He was a junior fellow at Harvard's Center for Hellenic Studies and a Fulbright Visiting Professor at Princeton University. His research interests include archaic Greek poetry, Greek historiography, archaic and classical Greek history, and Athenian democracy. He is the author of The Rise of the Greek Aristocratic Banquet (OUP, 2014).
Summary
Athenian Ostracism and its Original Purpose analyses the ancient Greek practice of ostracism, through an examination of newly discovered archaeological evidence, a reconstruction of the legal procedure, and an account of its origins.
Additional text
This book provides an excellent foundation for the future study of Athenian ostracism.
