Legal Speeches of Democratic Athens

Designed for use in any undergraduate course focused on ancient Greece, this collection offers new, accurate translations of the twelve legal speeches -- including Lysias 1; Aeschines 1; and Demosthenes 21, 54, and 59 -- essential for the study of classical Athenian social and cultural history. The themes explored in these speeches include: gender and sexuality, slavery, social conflict, citizenship, and the economy. A general introduction provides a brief description of the Athenian government, the workings of the court system, and biographies of the orators. Each speech is preceded by a summary of the dispute, an account of its legal parameters, and the social significance of the case. Footnotes identify those terms, names, and references that may be unfamiliar to modern readers, and point out those passages in which the orator's rhetorical conceits may be misleading. An index and glossary of terms are also included.