Debating Honor in Fifth-Century BCE Athens: Towards a Comparative and Intradisciplinary Approach

Abstract

This article tries less to give a practical demonstration than to theoretically sketch out and propose a novel approach to a specific aspect of ancient Greek culture, namely τιμή (honor) and the pursuit of it. Its aim is not only to illustrate the potential proficiency of such a methodology (and to set the ground for its application), but also to highlight concrete opportunities in the Humanities to study how the language of civic institutions in epigraphic sources and the moral language of ethical philosophy penetrate poetry in Greece: the idea that inscriptions and ethical philosophy are something that scholars of poetry should leave to ancient historians and philosophers has left lots of room for new scholarship in this area. Special attention is devoted here to Euripidean drama and its characters who, in exhibiting specific virtues (e.g. benevolence, solidarity, and friendship) while establishing reciprocal relationships, stand as socio-ethical examples of the pursuit of an honorable status within one’s community. Scholars have not fully explored to what extent this portrayal matches historical evidence for benefactions/exchanges between Greek citizens/cities and, at the same time, it complies with the virtues described by Aristotle’s ethical works. By interpreting honor as a means by which people regulate their social lives, the objective of this article is to show how Euripidean drama can serve as a valuable source to be explored for understanding Greek moral attitudes.