Deception and democracy in classical Athens / / Jon Hesk

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910827666203321
• Autore: Hesk Jon
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Cambridge, UK ; ; New York, NY, : Cambridge University Press, 2000
• ISBN: 1-107-11656-2; 1-280-41753-6; 0-511-17413-6; 1-139-14598-3; 0-511-06625-2; 0-511-05994-9; 0-511-32803-6; 0-511-48302-3; 0-511-06838-7
• Edizione: [1st ed.]
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (viii, 336 pages) : digital, PDF file(s)
• Disciplina: 306.2/0938/5
• Soggetti: Democracy - Greece - Athens; Deception - Greece - Athens
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 05 Oct 2015).
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. 299-320) and indexes.
• Nota di contenuto: Cover; Half-title; Title; Copyright; Contents; Preface; Prologue; 1 Deception and the rhetoric of Athenian identity; 2 Deceiving the enemy: negotiation and anxiety; 3 Athens and the 'noble lie'; 4 The rhetoric of anti-rhetoric: Athenian oratory; 5 Thinking with the rhetoric of anti-rhetoric; Epilogue; Bibliography; Index locorum; Index
• Sommario/riassunto: This book, first published in 2000, is a full-length study of the representation of deceit and lies in classical Athens. Dr Hesk traces the ways in which Athenian drama, democratic oratory and elite prose-writing construct and theorize a relationship between dishonesty and civic identity. He focuses on the ideology of military trickery, notions of the 'noble lie' and the developing associations of rhetorical language with deceptive communication. Deception and Democracy in Classical Athens combines close analysis of Athenian texts with lively critiques of modern theorists and classical scholars. Athenian democratic culture ; was crucially informed by a nuanced, anxious and dynamic discourse on the problems and opportunities which deception presented for its citizenry. Mobilizing comparisons with twentieth-century democracies, the author argues that Athenian literature made deception a fundamental concern for democratic citizenship. This ancient discourse on lying highlights the dangers of modern resignation and postmodern complacency concerning the politics and morality of deception.