1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910795797003321

Autore

Anhalt Emily Katz

Titolo

Embattled : how ancient Greek myths empower us to resist tyranny / / Emily Katz Anhalt

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Stanford, California : , : Redwood Press, , [2021]

©2021

ISBN

1-5036-2940-6

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource

Disciplina

883.010943219

Soggetti

Mythology, Greek - Political aspects

Greek drama (Tragedy) - Themes, motives

Epic poetry, Greek - Themes, motives

Power (Social sciences) in literature

Democracy in literature

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction : confronting tyranny today -- Leadership (Iliad 1-2) -- Community (Odyssey 1-4) -- Reality (Odyssey 5-8) -- Deception (Odyssey 9-16) -- Success (Odyssey 17-24) -- Justice (Aeschylus' Oresteia) -- Conflict (Sophocles' Antigone) -- Conclusion : the art of self-governance.

Sommario/riassunto

"An incisive exploration of the way Greek myths empower us to defeat tyranny. As tyrannical passions increasingly plague twenty-first-century politics, tales told in ancient Greek epics and tragedies provide a vital antidote. Democracy as a concept did not exist until the Greeks coined the term and tried the experiment, but the idea can be traced to stories that the ancient Greeks told and retold. From the eighth through the fifth centuries BCE, Homeric epics and Athenian tragedies exposed the tyrannical potential of not only individuals but groups large and small. These stories identified abuses of power as self-defeating and initiated a movement away from despotism and toward broader forms of political participation. Following her highly praised book "Enraged," the classicist Emily Katz Anhalt retells tales from key ancient Greek texts and then goes on to interpret the important message they hold



for us today. As she reveals, Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey," Aeschylus's "Oresteia," and Sophocles's "Antigone" encourage us - as they encouraged the ancient Greeks - to take responsibility for our own choices and their consequences. These stories emphasize the responsibilities that come with power (any power, whether derived from birth, wealth, personal talents, or numerical advantage), reminding us that the powerful and the powerless alike have obligations to each other. They assist us in restraining destructive passions and balancing tribal allegiances with civic responsibilities. And they empower us to resist the tyrannical impulses of others and in ourselves. In an era of political polarization, "Embattled" demonstrates that if we seek to eradicate tyranny in all its toxic forms, ancient Greek epics and tragedies can point the way"--