Envy, Poison, and Death
At the heart of this book are some trials conducted in Athens in the fourth century BCE. In each case, the charges involved a combination of supernatural activities, including potion-brewing and cult activity; the defendants were all women. Because of the brevity of the ancient sources, and their la...
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| Formaat: | Online |
| Taal: | Engels |
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Oxford University Press
2021
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| Online toegang: | OCN: 920850570 |
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| _version_ | 1869514582710550528 |
|---|---|
| author | Eidinow, Esther |
| author_browse | Eidinow, Esther |
| author_facet | Eidinow, Esther |
| author_sort | Eidinow, Esther |
| collection | Directory of Open Access Books |
| description | At the heart of this book are some trials conducted in Athens in the fourth century BCE. In each case, the charges involved a combination of supernatural activities, including potion-brewing and cult activity; the defendants were all women. Because of the brevity of the ancient sources, and their lack of agreement, the precise charges are unclear; the reasons for taking these women to court, even condemning some of them to die, remain mysterious. This book takes the complexity and confusion of the evidence not as a riddle to be solved, but as revealing multiple social dynamics. It explores the changing factors—material, ideological, and psychological—that may have provoked these events. It focuses in particular on the dual role of envy (phthonos) and gossip as processes by which communities identified people and activities that were dangerous, and examines how and why those local, even individual, dynamics may have come to shape official civic decisions during a time of perceived hardship. At first sight so puzzling, these trials come to provide a vivid glimpse of the sociopolitical environment of Athens during the early to mid-fourth century BCE, including responses to changes in women’s status and behaviour, and attitudes to particular supernatural/religious activities within the city. This study reveals some of the characters, events, and local social processes that shaped an emergent concept of magic: it suggests that the legal boundary of acceptable behaviour was shifting, not only within the legal arena, but also with the active involvement of society beyond the courts. |
| format | Online |
| id | doab-20.500.12854ir-39432 |
| institution | Directory of Open Access Books |
| language | eng |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publishDateRange | 2021 |
| publishDateSort | 2021 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press |
| publisherStr | Oxford University Press |
| record_format | ojs |
| spelling | doab-20.500.12854ir-394322025-03-24T15:04:31Z Envy, Poison, and Death Eidinow, Esther Athens women magic religion law courts trial fourth century emotions envy phthonos gossip thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHM Anthropology::JHMC Social and cultural anthropology thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history thema EDItEUR::L Law::LA Jurisprudence and general issues::LAQ Law and society, sociology of law At the heart of this book are some trials conducted in Athens in the fourth century BCE. In each case, the charges involved a combination of supernatural activities, including potion-brewing and cult activity; the defendants were all women. Because of the brevity of the ancient sources, and their lack of agreement, the precise charges are unclear; the reasons for taking these women to court, even condemning some of them to die, remain mysterious. This book takes the complexity and confusion of the evidence not as a riddle to be solved, but as revealing multiple social dynamics. It explores the changing factors—material, ideological, and psychological—that may have provoked these events. It focuses in particular on the dual role of envy (phthonos) and gossip as processes by which communities identified people and activities that were dangerous, and examines how and why those local, even individual, dynamics may have come to shape official civic decisions during a time of perceived hardship. At first sight so puzzling, these trials come to provide a vivid glimpse of the sociopolitical environment of Athens during the early to mid-fourth century BCE, including responses to changes in women’s status and behaviour, and attitudes to particular supernatural/religious activities within the city. This study reveals some of the characters, events, and local social processes that shaped an emergent concept of magic: it suggests that the legal boundary of acceptable behaviour was shifting, not only within the legal arena, but also with the active involvement of society beyond the courts. 2021-02-10T15:05:13Z 2021-02-10T15:05:13Z 2020-06-09T09:04:48Z 2015 book OCN: 920850570 http://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/39478 9780198822585 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/39432 eng open access image/jpeg image/jpeg image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/39478/1/9780199562602.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/39478/1/9780199562602.pdf https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/39478/1/9780199562602.pdf Oxford University Press 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199562602.001.0001 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199562602.001.0001 db4e319f-ca9f-449a-bcf2-37d7c6f885b1 Leverhulme Trust 288fb6b7-e23c-43d3-9a84-ad058a42edb5 9780198822585 436 Oxford open access |
| spellingShingle | Athens women magic religion law courts trial fourth century emotions envy phthonos gossip thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHM Anthropology::JHMC Social and cultural anthropology thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history thema EDItEUR::L Law::LA Jurisprudence and general issues::LAQ Law and society, sociology of law Eidinow, Esther Envy, Poison, and Death |
| title | Envy, Poison, and Death |
| title_full | Envy, Poison, and Death |
| title_fullStr | Envy, Poison, and Death |
| title_full_unstemmed | Envy, Poison, and Death |
| title_short | Envy, Poison, and Death |
| title_sort | envy poison and death |
| topic | Athens women magic religion law courts trial fourth century emotions envy phthonos gossip thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHM Anthropology::JHMC Social and cultural anthropology thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history thema EDItEUR::L Law::LA Jurisprudence and general issues::LAQ Law and society, sociology of law |
| topic_facet | Athens women magic religion law courts trial fourth century emotions envy phthonos gossip thema EDItEUR::J Society and Social Sciences::JH Sociology and anthropology::JHM Anthropology::JHMC Social and cultural anthropology thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHT History: specific events and topics::NHTB Social and cultural history thema EDItEUR::L Law::LA Jurisprudence and general issues::LAQ Law and society, sociology of law |
| url | OCN: 920850570 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT eidinowesther envypoisonanddeath |