We analyze the political actions of Theramenes as described by Thucydides (during the coup of 411 BCE) and Xenophon (under the Thirty, 404-403 BCE) to map the features that converged to make him a paradigmatic character in the ancient Greek political imaginary. Xenophon, at least, may have been an eyewitness to the facts reported and both historians have conditioned Theramenes’ portrayal by later authors. We highlight the traits of Theramenes that fostered his identification as either the quintessence of the turncoat or as a role-model for moderate politics. Our goal is also to discuss the implications of his political stances for the configuration of Athenian democracy in the last quarter of the 5th century and how this may still help us consider our own democratic system and its flaws.
University of Sao Paulo, Brazil - ORCID: 0000-0003-3928-4277
University of Sao Paulo, Brazil - ORCID: 0000-0002-3777-6086
Titolo del capitolo
Democracy under the kothornos: Thucydides and Xenophon on Theramenes
Autori
Lucia Sano, Breno Battistin Sebastiani
Lingua
English
DOI
10.36253/978-88-5518-612-4.06
Opera sottoposta a peer review
Anno di pubblicazione
2022
Copyright
© 2022 Author(s)
Licenza d'uso
Licenza dei metadati
Titolo del libro
Crises (Staseis) and Changes (Metabolai)
Sottotitolo del libro
Athenian Democracy in the Making
Curatori
Breno Battistin Sebastiani, Delfim Ferreira Leão
Opera sottoposta a peer review
Numero di pagine
140
Anno di pubblicazione
2022
Copyright
© 2022 Author(s)
Licenza d'uso
Licenza dei metadati
Editore
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/978-88-5518-612-4
ISBN Print
978-88-5518-611-7
eISBN (pdf)
978-88-5518-612-4
eISBN (epub)
978-88-5518-613-1
eISBN (xml)
978-88-5518-614-8
Collana
Studi e saggi
ISSN della collana
2704-6478
e-ISSN della collana
2704-5919