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Lysias 1

Lysias 1. Lecture: Thursday 2/10/11. Lysias (~445 BCE – ~ 380 BCE). Attic orator (1 of the 10 in the “Alexandrian Canon”) Remember, Peloponnesian War 431 BCE-404 BCE Family from Syracuse, moved to Athens (412) “Resident alien” in Athens, escaped purge by the 30 Tyrants (404)

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Lysias 1

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  1. Lysias 1 Lecture: Thursday 2/10/11

  2. Lysias(~445 BCE – ~380 BCE) • Attic orator (1 of the 10 in the “Alexandrian Canon”) • Remember, Peloponnesian War 431 BCE-404 BCE • Family from Syracuse, moved to Athens (412) • “Resident alien” in Athens, escaped purge by the 30 Tyrants (404) • Lost much of his property (taxes/seizures/attempts to help return democracy to Athens) • To earn a living, he wrote speeches (34 extant/200+) • Known for his “plain style”

  3. His “speeches” • Court cases, where Lysias would write defense/attack speech that the Athenian citizen would recite • No lawyers- argue your own case • Lysias’ speeches are known for character insight, vivid descriptions WITHOUT being pompous • “elegance joined with plainness” • He often employed scenes of daily life in Athens

  4. Lysias 1: On the Murder of Eratosthenes (ca. 400 BCE) • Characters: • Euphiletos (husband) • Eratosthenes (adulterer- dead) • Prosecution (family of Eratosthenes) • Euphiletos’ wife • Witnesses

  5. Story • Euphiletos’ wife sleeps with Eratosthenes; Euphiletos kills Eratosthenes • Pre-meditated?  Murder • Legal act of justifiable homicide  Husband’s right\ • Lysias’ speech serves to • Discredit Eratosthenes as a known adulterer/bad guy • Athens is a better place without this “super-seducer” • Portray Euphiletos as a good (gullible) guy, incapable of the type of deception that Eratosthenes perpetrated

  6. Women in Lysias 1 • Separate quarters • ALWAYS subservient to men and work • Failure to control your wife = disgrace • Eratosthenes = corrupter of her mind • The wife was not able to be active participant- • Only able to be controlled or seduced • Servant girl • Assisted the affair • Turned informant once she was threatened with torture and presented with Euphiletos’ knowledge

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