In Their Own Words

In Their Own Words 6.1

Read the story of Cylon as told by Herodotus (5.71) here and Plutarch (Solon, 12) here. How was the aristocratic Alcmaeonidae family involved in this, and why was it put under a curse as a result?

In Their Own Words 6.2

Read Thucydides’ account of the assassination of Hipparchos at 6.53–59 here. Why do you think that later Athenians come to revere his two killers, Harmodius and Aristogeiton, as heroes of the struggle for democracy? Does this correspond to the motive Thucydides gives for the murder?

In Their Own Words 6.3

Read Herodotus’ account (3.80–2 here) of the ‘Persian debate’ – a supposed debate amongst Persian nobles about the respective merits of monarchy, oligarchy and democracy. What arguments are advanced for and against each system?

In Their Own Words 6.4

Two famous passages in the Greek historians give accounts of the assembly’s re- action to key events in the Peloponnesian War. Read Thucydides’ account of the ‘Mytilenean Debate’ in 427 (3.36–49 here) and Xenophon’s account of the assembly’s trial of eight generals after the battle of Arginusae in 406 (Hellenika 1.7 here). What can we learn from these passages about the procedures of the assembly and the effectiveness of the democracy?

In Their Own Words 6.5

In 403/2, the Athenian orator Lysias wrote a speech for a defendant on trial for taking bribes. In the speech, the defendant records all the good works which he has done the city. Read Lysias, 21.1–10 here – what can we learn about the liturgy system from this passage?

In Their Own Words 6.6

Read Aristophanes’ Wasps, lines 85–115 here. What can we infer about the Athenian legal system from this passage?