Adultery In Classical Athens
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Adultery In Classical Athens
In Classical Athens, there was no exact equivalent of the English term "adultery", but the similar ''moicheia'' ( grc, μοιχεία) was a criminal offence often translated as adultery by scholars. Athenian ''moicheia'' was restricted to illicit sex with free women, and so men could legally have extra-marital sex with slavery in ancient Greece, slaves and prostitution in ancient Greece, prostitutes. Famously, Athenian culture and adultery laws considered seduction of a citizen woman a worse crime than rape. Under Athenian law, killing a ''moichos'' who had been caught in the act was legally permissible as justifiable homicide. This seems to have been rare in practice, and adulterers were more commonly prosecuted, ransomed for money, or physically abused. The physical abuse and humiliation of adulterers is depicted in several surviving ancient Greek comedies. Punishments for women involved in ''moicheia'' include divorce and the loss of citizenship rights, if they were married, ...
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Classical Athens
The city of Athens ( grc, Ἀθῆναι, ''Athênai'' .tʰɛ̂ː.nai̯ Modern Greek: Αθήναι, ''Athine'' or, more commonly and in singular, Αθήνα, ''Athina'' .'θi.na during the classical period of ancient Greece (480–323 BC) was the major urban centre of the notable ''polis'' (city-state) of the same name, located in Attica, Greece, leading the Delian League in the Peloponnesian War against Sparta and the Peloponnesian League. Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Isagoras. This system remained remarkably stable, and with a few brief interruptions remained in place for 180 years, until 322 BC (aftermath of Lamian War). The peak of Athenian hegemony was achieved in the 440s to 430s BC, known as the Age of Pericles. In the classical period, Athens was a centre for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of Plato's Academy and Aristotle's Lyceum, Athens was also the birthplace of Socrates, Plato, Pericles, Ari ...
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Ares
Ares (; grc, Ἄρης, ''Árēs'' ) is the Greek god of war and courage. He is one of the Twelve Olympians, and the son of Zeus and Hera. The Greeks were ambivalent towards him. He embodies the physical valor necessary for success in war but can also personify sheer brutality and bloodlust, in contrast to his sister, the armored Athena, whose martial functions include military strategy and generalship. An association with Ares endows places, objects, and other deities with a savage, dangerous, or militarized quality. Although Ares' name shows his origins as Mycenaean, his reputation for savagery was thought by some to reflect his likely origins as a Thracian deity. Some cities in Greece and several in Asia Minor held annual festivals to bind and detain him as their protector. In parts of Asia Minor, he was an oracular deity. Still further away from Greece, the Scythians were said to ritually kill one in a hundred prisoners of war as an offering to their equivalent of Ares. ...
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Cumae
Cumae ( grc, Κύμη, (Kumē) or or ; it, Cuma) was the first ancient Greek colony on the mainland of Italy, founded by settlers from Euboea in the 8th century BC and soon becoming one of the strongest colonies. It later became a rich Roman city, the remains of which lie near the modern village of Cuma, a ''frazione'' of the ''comune'' Bacoli and Pozzuoli in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, Italy. The archaeological museum of the Campi Flegrei in the Aragonese castle contains many finds from Cumae. History Early The oldest archaeological finds by Emil Stevens in 1896 date to 900–850 BCE and more recent excavations have revealed a Bronze Age settlement of the ‘pit-culture’ people, and later dwellings of Iron Age Italic people, Italic peoples whom the Greeks referred to by the names Ausones and Opici (whose land was called :it:Opicia, Opicia). The Greek settlement was founded in the 8th century BCE by emigrants from cities of Eretria and Chal ...
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Lepreum
Lepreum or Lepreon ( grc, Λέπρεον), alternately named Lepreus or Lepreos (Λέπρεος) was an Ancient Greek city-state in Triphylia, a district of Elis (now part of the Elis regional unit). It was located 40 stadia away from the sea at the west end of Mount Minthi and built around two citadels (one at Agios Dimitrios, one at Phyrcus). Surrounded by an abundance of natural resources, Lepreum became an important city in the Classical and Hellenistic ages where it became the capital of the Triphylia region. The city has also been identified by some scholars as the mythical city of Aepy, a city described by Homer in the ''Iliad'' but never discovered. The ruins of ancient Lepreum have been excavated near the present village Lepreo. Mythology and Proto-History Lepreon was the chief town of Triphylia, which is said to have been originally inhabited by the Caucones, whence Lepreon is called by Callimachus "fortified city of the Caukones". The Caucones were afterwards expell ...
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Locri
Locri is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy. Its name derives from that of the ancient Greek region of Locris. Today it is an important administrative and cultural centre on the Ionian Coast and within its province. History Epizephyrian Locris (Greek Ἐπιζεφύριοι Λοκροί; from ἐπί ''epi'', "on", Ζέφυρος (''Zephyros''), West Wind, and the plural of Λοκρός, ''Lokros'', "a Locrian," thus "The Western Locrians") was founded about 680 BC on the Italian shore of the Ionian Sea, near modern Capo Zefirio, by the Locrians, apparently by Opuntii (East Locrians) from the city of Opus, but including Ozolae (West Locrians) and Lacedaemonians. Its Latin name, ''Locri'', is the plural of the Latin ''Locrus'', which was used both to mean an inhabitant of Locris and the eponymous ancestor of the Locrians. Strabo suggests that the Ozolian Locrians were the principal founders, ''pace'' Ephorus, who held ...
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Pisidia
Pisidia (; grc-gre, Πισιδία, ; tr, Pisidya) was a region of ancient Asia Minor located north of Pamphylia, northeast of Lycia, west of Isauria and Cilicia, and south of Phrygia, corresponding roughly to the modern-day province of Antalya in Turkey. Among Pisidia's settlements were Antioch(ia) in Pisidia, Termessos, Cremna, Sagalassos, Etenna, Neapolis, Selge, Tyriacum, Laodiceia Katakekaumene and Philomelium. Geography Although Pisidia is close to the Mediterranean Sea, the warm climate of the south cannot pass the height of the Taurus Mountains. The climate is too dry for timberland, but crop plants grow in areas provided with water from the mountains, whose annual average rainfall is c. 1000 mm on the peaks and 500 mm on the slopes. This water feeds the plateau. The Pisidian cities, mostly founded on the slopes, benefited from this fertility. The irrigated soil is very suitable for growing fruit and for husbandry. History Early history The ar ...
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Agora
The agora (; grc, ἀγορά, romanized: ', meaning "market" in Modern Greek) was a central public space in ancient Greek city-states. It is the best representation of a city-state's response to accommodate the social and political order of the polis. The literal meaning of the word "agora" is "gathering place" or "assembly". The agora was the center of the athletic, artistic, business, social, spiritual and political life in the city. The Ancient Agora of Athens is the best-known example. Origins Early in Greek history (13th–4th centuries BC), free-born citizens would gather in the agora for military duty or to hear statements of the ruling king or council. Later, the agora also served as a marketplace, where merchants kept stalls or shops to sell their goods amid colonnades. This attracted artisans who built workshops nearby. From these twin functions of the agora as a political and a commercial spot came the two Greek verbs , ''agorázō'', "I shop", and , ''agoreúō'', ...
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Cyme (Aeolis)
Cyme ( el, Κύμη) or Cumae was an Aeolian city in Aeolis (Asia Minor) close to the kingdom of Lydia. It was called Phriconian, perhaps from the mountain Phricion in Aeolis, near which the Aeolians had been settled before their migration to Asia. The Aeolians regarded Cyme as the largest and most important of their twelve cities, which were located on the coastline of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). As a result of their direct access to the sea, unlike most non-landlocked settlements of the ancient world, trade is believed to have prospered. Location Both the author of the 'life of Homer' and Strabo the ancient geographer, locate Cyme north of the Hermus river on the Asia Minor coastline: After crossing the Hyllus, the distance from Larissa to Cyme was 70 stadia, and from Cyme to Myrina was 40 stadia. (Strabo: 622) Archaeological finds such as coins give reference also to a river, believed to be that of the Hyllus. History Early history Little is known about the ...
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Plutarch
Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', a series of biographies of illustrious Greeks and Romans, and ''Moralia'', a collection of essays and speeches. Upon becoming a Roman citizen, he was possibly named Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus (). Life Early life Plutarch was born to a prominent family in the small town of Chaeronea, about east of Delphi, in the Greek region of Boeotia. His family was long established in the town; his father was named Autobulus and his grandfather was named Lamprias. His name is derived from Pluto (πλοῦτον), an epithet of Hades, and Archos (ἀρχός) meaning "Master", the whole name meaning something like "Whose master is Pluto". His brothers, Timon and Lamprias, are frequently mentioned in his essays and dialogues, which ...
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Xenophon
Xenophon of Athens (; grc, wikt:Ξενοφῶν, Ξενοφῶν ; – probably 355 or 354 BC) was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian, born in Athens. At the age of 30, Xenophon was elected commander of one of the biggest Ancient Greek mercenaries, Greek mercenary armies of the Achaemenid Empire, the Ten Thousand, that marched on and came close to capturing Babylon in 401 BC. As the military historian Theodore Ayrault Dodge wrote, "the centuries since have devised nothing to surpass the genius of this warrior". Xenophon established precedents for many logistical operations, and was among the first to describe strategic flanking maneuvers and feints in combat. Xenophon's ''Anabasis (Xenophon), Anabasis'' recounts his adventures with the Ten Thousand while in the service of Cyrus the Younger, Cyrus's failed campaign to claim the Persian throne from Artaxerxes II of Persia, and the return of Greek mercenaries after Cyrus's death in the Battle of Cunaxa. ''Anabasis ...
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Hiero (Xenophon)
''Hiero'' (Greek: Ἱέρων, ''Hiéron'') is a minor work by Xenophon, set as a dialogue between Hiero, tyrant of Syracuse, and the lyric poet Simonides about 474 BC. The dialogue is a response to the assumption that a tyrant's life is more pleasant than a commoner's. Having lived as both, Hiero breaks down this misconception, arguing that a tyrant does not have any more access to happiness than a private person. The dialogue, like many of Xenophon's works, does not receive much scholarly attention today. However, it was the nominal subject of Leo Strauss' analysis ''On Tyranny'', which initiated his famous dialogue with Alexandre Kojève on the role of philosophy in politics. External links ''Hiero'' original text and translationat Perseus Project ''Hiero'' full text in Englishfrom Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in ...
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Rhaphanidosis
Rhaphanidosis is the act of inserting the root of a plant of the genus ''Raphanus'' (commonly known as a radish) into the anus. It is mentioned by Aristophanes as a punishment for adultery in Classical Athens in the fifth and fourth century BC. It is also allegedly a punishment for other sex-related crimes, such as promiscuity and sodomy. Later classical references to the punishment include '' Catullus 15'' where ''percurrent raphanique mugilesque'' (both radishes and mullets will run you through) is threatened against those who cast lascivious eyes on the poet's boyfriend. There is some doubt as to whether the punishment was ever enforced or whether the reference to it in the debate between Right and Wrong in ''The Clouds'' of AristophanesAristophanes, ''The Clouds''
line 1083: Τί δ᾿ ἢν ῥαφανι ...
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