Your browser does not support JavaScript!

Home    Collections    School/Department    School of Philosophy    Department of Philology    Doctoral theses  

Doctoral theses

Current Record: 7 of 59

Back to Results Previous page
Next page
Add to Basket
[Add to Basket]
Identifier 000463077
Title Forensic narratives and narrativity in athenian courts / Roberta Dainotto.
Alternative Title Δικανικές αφηγήσεις και αφηγηματικότητα στα αθηναϊκά δικαστήρια
Author Dainotto, Roberta
Thesis advisor Σπαθάρας Δήμος
Select a value Αποστολάκης Κώστας
Wohl Victoria
Βολονάκη Ελένη
Παναγιωτάκης Στέλιος
Πετράκη Ζαχαρούλα
Webb Ruth
Abstract This thesis investigates the role of narratives and narrativity in Athenian courts by examining a set of forensic speeches from the corpus of Attic orators, emphasising their arguments and the tools used to make speeches persuasive. The discussion aims to emphasise the way speakers deployed narratives in their arguments to contextualise the legal aspects of their cases. It also suggests that forensic stories were so designed as to incorporate the norms and values privileged by Athenian society. This field of investigation is innovative in that it is still largely underexplored. The starting point of the thesis is the recognition of considerable similarities between ancient forensic oratory and the world of jurisprudence today, in comparison with the ‘law and literature’ movement, which highlights the intersection between the use of legal and narrative aspects in cases argued in American courts. The considerations resulting from this movement can be widely related to Greek oratory and serve as a forerunner for the investigation of classical texts from classical Greece. In the wake of these analogies, this thesis promotes a holistic examination of ancient forensic orations that overcomes the divide between legal and non-legal aspects. This is also made possible by the recognition of the open structure of the law, which is adapted to specific needs and thus influenced by the contextualisation of facts and events. This thesis explores a different set of forensic speeches related to a wide range of private and public cases. Chapter 1 examines speeches concerning citizenship and civic status, arguing that it is not fixed and immutable. The narratives of these speeches present a polarisation between members accepted into the community as insiders and others marginalised from it. This polarisation, as emerges from the study, often depends on an arbitrary interpretation of the speaker who uses diegetic sections to negotiate status, its perception, and boundaries both on a practical and ideological level. This chapter focuses on four speeches which deal with different aspects of civic status: For Phormion and Against Stephanus I, two orations focusing on the naturalisation of foreigners and the different interpretation of it, Against Eubulides, a speech composed after the diapsēphisis of 346/5 and thus concerning the procedure of disenfranchisement and the attempt to re-establish one’s right within the society, and Against Neaira, a speech about a former courtesan who allegedly usurped citizenship by breaking the rules governing marriage and the inclusion of bastards in the polis. The analysis of the narratives of these orations highlights the ways in which litigants manipulate the fluidity that characterises the definition of civic status through the characterisation and definition of ad hoc contexts. Chapter 2 focuses on speeches concerning inheritance, with a focus on inheritance and family norms. Again, it is clear that the narrative is aimed at presenting a divide between members of the family adherent to norms governing good families and others deviating from these norms. Given the private nature of these speeches, these narratives centre on characterisation and deal with sensitive issues of anchisteia and the observance of family norms or entitlement to inheritance. Three are the speeches discussed in this chapter: On the estate of Apollodorus and On the estate of Astyphilus, both deal with anchisteia and the implications of adoptions. Thus, in both speeches the narrative focuses on the emotional bond and its relationship with the rules of succession. The discussion emphasises how the different perspectives of the two cases are enhanced by the contextualisation and adapted to the need of the individuals. The third speech discussed is On the estate of Philoctemon, a case brought against two individuals born out of an extramarital relationship. The speaker contrasts models of families and relationships officially recognised by bastards and courtesans, appealing to widespread prejudices. The narration of these cases is centred on a strong characterisation of a 'biographical' nature and an unfolding of stories relating to the personal sphere of the individual. The chapter exposes how narratives in inheritance cases appeal to stories close to the experiences of many individuals who are inclined to respond more emotionally in their voting. Chapter 3 discusses cases of liturgy and the rules concerning the civic duties of wealthy individuals. The discussion focuses on the oration Against Leptines, in which Demosthenes defends the preservation of the ateleia by using examples of relevant figures from the past who contributed to the welfare of the polis, and Against Polycles, in which the speaker accuses a trierarch of his reluctance to assume the burdens of a trierarchy with an extensive narrative that publicises the public spirit of the speaker against the reticent opponent. In both cases, the speakers invest in ideological arguments and financial minutiae with narrated details in favour of argumentative reliability. The thesis points out that narrative in these cases is employed to contextualise ideological assumptions related to the interventions of individuals and to condemn ideas or actions adverse to the modus proper of the polis. The diverse nature of the cases presented in the thesis allows us to explore how the speakers constructed their narratives taking into account the differences between public and private controversies and selecting the arguments most persuasive for the audience. The speeches examined are a small number compared to the corpus of orations preserved but nevertheless serve to present a clear picture of the relevance of diegetic sections in forensic speeches. The recognition of thematic similarities between the various orations makes it possible to recognise common argumentative traits in the narratives. Of these, particular importance in the thesis is given to the negotiation of laws through the inclusion of extra-legal arguments, contextualisation, enargeia and argumentative vividness, appeal to the senses and emotions, selectivity, characterisation, the arbitrary use of temporality. These factors are examined as integral parts of the forensic narrative and tools heuristics that define Athenian society as dynamic rather than static and provide valuable information about the classical world.
Language English
Subject Aθηναϊκό δίκαιο
Characterisation
Citizenship
Civic status
Enargeia
Inheritance
Liturgy
Narratives
Narrativity
Naturalisation
Oratory
Temporality
Αφηγηματικότητα
Διαχείριση του χρόνου
Δικανική αφήγηση
Εναργεια
Ιθαγένεια
Κληρονομικό Δίκαιο
Κοινωνικό στάτους
Λειτουργίες
Ρητορική
Σκιαγράφηση χαρακτήρων
Issue date 2023.
Collection   School/Department--School of Philosophy--Department of Philology--Doctoral theses
  Type of Work--Doctoral theses
Permanent Link https://elocus.lib.uoc.gr//dlib/8/d/1/metadata-dlib-1709708569-356591-20054.tkl Bookmark and Share
Views 6

Digital Documents
No preview available

No permission to view document.
It won't be available until: 2027-02-11