Although there is constant conflict over its meanings and limits, political freedom itself is considered a fundamental and universal value throughout the modern world. For most of human history, however, this was not the case. In this book, Kurt Raaflaub asks the essential question: when, why, and under what circumstances did the concept of freedom originate?
To find out, Raaflaub analyses ancient Greek texts from Homer to Thucydides in their social and political contexts. Archaic Greece, he concludes, had little use for the idea of political freedom; the concept arose instead during the great confrontation between Greeks and Persians in the early fifth century BCE. Raaflaub then examines the relationship of freedom with other concepts, such as equality, citizenship, and law, and pursues subsequent uses of the idea—often, paradoxically, as a tool of domination, propaganda, and ideology.
Raaflaub's book thus illuminates both the history of ancient Greek society and the evolution of one of humankind's most important values, and will be of great interest to anyone who wants to understand the conceptual fabric that still shapes our world views.
| Preface | ||
| 1 | Introduction | 1 |
| 1.1 | Objectives and State of Research | 1 |
| 1.2 | History of Concepts: Approaches and Methodology | 5 |
| 1.3 | Evidence: Value and Limitations | 9 |
| 1.4 | A "Greek" Concept of Freedom? | 13 |
| 1.5 | Plurality of Statuses and the Value of Freedom | 14 |
| 1.6 | Thematic and Chronological Limits | 17 |
| 1.7 | Doulos and Eleutheros in Greek Bronze Age Society | 19 |
| 2 | Awareness of Freedom in Archaic Greek Society | 23 |
| 2.1 | Eleutheros and Doulos in the Archaic Period | 23 |
| 2.2 | The Limited Value of Freedom in Early Greek Society | 29 |
| 2.3 | Political Awareness of Freedom: Beginnings in Solonian Athens | 45 |
| 3 | The Emergence of the Political Concepts of Freedom | 58 |
| 3.1 | Polis Independence and the Persian Wars | 58 |
| 3.2 | Tyranny and the Citizen's Freedom in the Polis | 89 |
| 3.3 | Reflections in the Religious Sphere: The Cult of Zeus Eleutherios | 102 |
| 4 | The Concept of Freedom after the Persian Wars: Its Meaning and Differentiation in Interstate Relations | 118 |
| 4.1 | Contemporary Expectations and the Rise of the Athenian Empire | 118 |
| 4.2 | Freedom and Servitude of a Polis: Terminology and Definitions | 128 |
| 4.3 | Emergence and Meaning of the Concept of Autonomia | 147 |
| 4.4 | Polis Freedom: A Concept of Relative Value | 160 |
| 5 | "Freedom" in Ideology and Propaganda | 166 |
| 5.1 | Athens: Freedom Justifies Domination | 166 |
| 5.2 | The Athenian Concept of Absolute Freedom | 181 |
| 5.3 | Sparta's Freedom Propaganda | 193 |
| 6 | Meaning and Function of Freedom within the Polis | 203 |
| 6.1 | Freedom and Democracy | 203 |
| 6.2 | Freedom in Democracy and in Oligarchy | 225 |
| 6.3 | Conclusions | 247 |
| 7 | Summary and Final Considerations | 250 |
| 7.1 | Summary | 250 |
| 7.2 | Characteristics of the Greek Concept of Freedom | 265 |
| Abbreviations | 279 | |
| Notes | 283 | |
| Bibliography | 357 | |
| Index of Terms | 407 | |
| Index of Selected Ancient Sources | 411 | |
| General Index | 413 |
Overview
Although there is constant conflict over its meanings and limits, political freedom itself is considered a fundamental and universal value throughout the modern world. For most of human history, however, this was not the case. In this book, Kurt Raaflaub asks the essential question: when, why, and under what circumstances did the concept of freedom originate?
To find out, Raaflaub analyses ancient Greek texts from Homer to Thucydides in their social and political contexts. ...