Research Question: Lycurgus\u27 use of King Codrus as historical paradig

Steinbock, Bernd

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Social Memory in A thenian Public Discourse A Lesson in Patriotism: Lycurgus??Against Leocratesand the Ideology of the EphebeiaDr. Bernd SteinbockDepartment of Classical Studies?????????????????????????????? ???????????as H istorical ParadigmIn 330 BC, the leading Athenian statesman Lycurgus chargedthe Athenian blacksmith Leocrates with treason for fleeing hiscountry after the crushing defeat at Chaeronea in 338 BC.????????? prosecution speech is unusual for its exuberant use ofmythological and historical examples. He contrasts, forinstance, ?????????? cowardice with the patriotic self-sacrifice ofthe Athenian king Codrus (Lycurg. 83-87).The 5th-century author Hellanicus wrote in his Atthis(F GrHist 323a F23) that the Dorians invaded Attica during??????? reign, trusting the Delphic oracle which assured theirvictory as long as they avoided killing the Athenian king. WhenKing Codrus learned of this oracle, he disguised himself as awoodcutter and ventured outside the city-walls to seek deathfrom enemy hands, thus foiling their invasion.????????? treatment of this myth differs remarkably fromHellanicus? literary version. I t reflects a decidedly civic andpatriotic coloring of the story and, to the surprise of manycommentators, enlists Codrus among the ancient Atheniankings who have become ?????????? of the ????? (??????????? ?????).???? ??????? ???????????????? ????????Historical A llusionsPreviously, scholars have ascribed these differences to????????? rhetorical ability to manipulate a pre-existing literaryversion to suit his case (e.g. Vielberg 1991). Yet a reading whichproceeds from the assumption that the orators drew theirhistorical examples primarily from literary sources hasconsiderable short-comings. First, it cannot account for everymodification. Why, for instance, is Codrus enlisted among theeponymous heroes? Second, thanks to Thomas (1989), we nowknow that most Athenians did not draw their knowledge of thepast from literary sources. Consequently, a purely intertextualinterpretation tells us very little about the ??????? likely reactionsto ????????? use of this story. Third, since it was the ????????objective to persuade his listeners, there were constraints uponwhat an orator could and would say in front of a mass audience.Using the concept of social memory as an analytical tool(Halbwachs 1980, Fentress & Wickham 1992, Misztal 2003),I propose to resituate the ???????? historical paradigmswithin the socio-political realm and explore how and why????????? historical allusions might have resonated with hisaudience.3.) Codrus as Eponymous Age-Set HeroTaking all available ?????????? of social memory into account,including oral traditions, rituals and festivals, publiccommemorations and monuments, I make the case that Codruswas one of the little-known forty-two eponymous age-set heroes(Ath. Pol. 53.4-7) who played an important role in the Athenianmilitary and socio-political system (Davidson 2006). Devotionto the ?????? gods and heroes and knowledge of their mythologywere essential parts of the religious and ideological instructionof Athenian ephebes. The eponymous heroes in particularserved thereby as role models of civic virtue and as focal pointsof tribal and age-set identity. The patr iotic version of ???????self-sacr ifice, used by Lycurgus, was likely told to Athenianrecruits in ??????? sanctuary (IG I3 84) on thei r official tourof the ?????? shrines (A th. Pol. 42.3).?????????????? ??????????????????In light of this elucidation of the Athenian memorial framework,????????? citation of the Ephebic Oath, the self-sacrifices of KingCodrus and the daughters of Erechtheus, as well as his repeatedinvocation of the ?????? gods and shrines, gain new relevance for theappraisal of this speech. They can no longer be interpreted asdiversionary arguments extra causam, but must be seen as integralelements of ????????? indictment of Leocrates for cowardice andtreason ? behavior that is diametrically opposed to the hoplite ethosand religious devotion instilled into young ephebes (cf. Allen 2000).In this way Lycurgus brings the ??????? memories of their ownephebate into the courtroom and taps into emotions and valuesthat lie at the heart of A thenian collective identity.5.) Selected BibliographyAlcock, Susan E., Archaeologies of the Greek Past (Cambridge 2002)??????? ??????????????????????? ????????????? ???????????????? ???????????????????ClAnt 19 (2000) 5-33 Connerton, Paul, How Societies Remember (Cambridge 1989)??????????????????Revolutions in Human Time. Age-Class in Athens and the Greekness ?????????????????????????????Goldhill & R. Osborne (ed.), Rethinking Revolutions through Ancient Greece (Cambridge 2006), 29-67Fentress, James & Wickham, Chris, Social Memory (Oxford, Cambridge 1992)Halbwachs, Maurice, The Collective Memory (New York 1980) [Originally published in French in 1950]Kearns, Emily, The Heroes of Attica (London 1989)Misztal, Barbara. Theories of Social Remembering (Maidenhead 2003)????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????ZPE 9 (1972) 277-83Thomas, Rosalind, Oral Tradition and Written Record in Classical Athens(Cambridge1989)?????????? ???????????????????????? ??????????????????????????????????RhM 134 (1991) 49-68For questions and comments, please contact bsteinbo@uwo.caAenetus and Codrus on the Attic red-figured cup by the Codrus Painter, c. 430 B C(Bologna, Mus. Civ. PU 273). Codrus is not shown, as one would expect, in his disguiseas a woodcutter. His depiction as a departing hoplite, while not literally true, bestcaptures the essence of his paradigmatic story: his willingness to defend Attica withtotal devotion, just as aspiring hoplites swore to do when they took the Ephebic Oath.

Social Memory in Athenian Public Discourse

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Social Memory in Athenian Public Discourse

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