Revista Archai

The enemies of the People in Athens at the end of the Peloponnesian War: Euripides’ Orestes and the rifts among the aristocrats

2024-11-29T13:54:12+00:00

This article integrates theoretical concepts not typically associated with ancient history, including generation, elite theory, and the horizon of expectation (Erwartungshorizont). It examines how political tensions in ancient Athens are culturally expressed in theatre, focusing on Euripides’ Orestes. Through the lens of historical consciousness and memory, the study explores how historical meaning is attributed and how existential temporality influences the interpretation of the past and present. The paper addresses whether rhetorical positions defending antidemocratic policies can be discerned in theatrical performances, identifying threats to democratic governance and the political arenas where crucial decisions are made. By analyzing Euripides’ Orestes (lines 682–775), the article aims to uncover the city’s response to political crises during the Peloponnesian War.

Phren Hiere: A New Theology for a New Society in Empedocles's Verses

2025-04-06T17:59:50+01:00

The aim of this paper is to analyze Empedocles’s main doctrines in the light of his historical and cultural context. To be precise, I will attempt to show how the Agrigentum and Sicily of his time – ravaged by inter-Greek wars, infighting between the various social classes, and even indigenous Sicilians’ revolts against Greek settlers – bore witness, in his eyes, to the ever-increasing power of Strife, which was influencing the cosmos not solely on a physical level but also on a moral one. Empedocles hoped in the exit from the present cosmic cycle through the attainment of a higher condition, capable of transforming the daimones into ‘holy minds’, i.e. into entities completely imbued with Love and, for this reason, unassaible by Strife in this cosmic phase, well before the return of the sphere. In this way, Empedocles tried to found a new theology, with Love as the main deity, and a new ethical code, in opposition to traditional poems and values, which were the expression, as everything else in the world save for his On nature and Purifications, of Strife.

The art more geometrico: Emotions, measure, and mixed art forms in Plato

2024-11-12T11:26:04+00:00

The aim of this paper is to present some aspects of the correlation between tragedy and comedy from some passages of Platonic dialogues, in order to show that this connection goes back to three reasons: the cultural background from which the dialogues are inspired, where similar contaminations between tragedy and comedy are attested; the mixture of pleasure and pain, typical above all of mixed pleasures and disordered souls; the awareness of the above-mentioned mixtures, proper only to souls subject to the domain of reason. Moreover, there are some hints at the possibility of a philosophical drama, where problems of popular art are absent, thanks to the knowledge of reality.

Soul as Explanatory Cause of Life in Aristotle: Scientific Knowledge simpliciter (ἁπλῶς) through Coextensive Universal Demonstrations and Context Restriction as a Solution to a Core-Dependent Homonymy from DA II.1-4

2024-03-07T17:41:58+00:00

The main purpose of this paper is to show, based on Aristotle’s theory of scientific demonstration, how soul plays the role of explanatory cause of life in De Anima (DA) II.1-4. Firstly, I evaluate how, in APo I.2 and II.16, Aristotle requires that universal demonstrations must satisfy a coextensional criterion between a given explanandum (A-term) and its most appropriate explanans (B-term), and that this criterion does not entail a causal symmetry between both those terms. I argue, following Angioni (2014a) and Zuppolini (2018), that, whenever one is before apparent ‘multiple causes’ scenario cases, in which there seems to be more than one possible cause to the same explanandum, one shall still find a unified and fully appropriate explanation of that explanandum. In the second part of this paper, I examine an example from DA II.1-4 in light of APo II.16-17. I argue that soul might be pointed out as the explanatory principle (B) that explains why life (A) belongs to a living body (C). In addition to that, I argue that, although there is a core-dependent homonymy taking place between plants (γ₁), animals (γ₂) and the nutritive capacity (α₁), the nutritive soul (β₁) plays the role of an incidental factor (συμβεβηκός) in the context of a scientific demonstration that has by explananda whatsoever attributes (α_n) that belong to animals (γ₂) qua living beings endowed with a perceptive soul (β₁) that explains why attributes (α_n) belong to them.

Pherecydes of Syros: the one who didn't say everything in a mythical way

2024-11-16T03:53:19+00:00

Aristotle tells us in Metaphysics that Pherecydes did not speak everything in mythological language (1091b8), because, in his dialogue with the mythical tradition, he provides us with a cosmology that is not only marked by action gods. In his narrative about the origin of the cosmos, Pherecydes presents original divine powers generating from elements such as water, air and fire. One of these divine powers, Zás, working with love, and not as a warrior, embroidering a cloak and transforming himself into Eros to be able to acquire the generating power of everything that is. Therefore, Pherecydes reformulates both the narratives regarding divine events and those about the emergence of the cosmos, not depending exclusively on action gods. In this work I intend to explain how Ferécides’ thinking is inserted in the process of development of thought in the face of astonishment of what is.

Giving birth to ideas: Platonic epistemology as sexual metaphor

2024-12-13T10:46:05+00:00

This paper intends to interpret the meaning of the sexual metaphor implicit to the midwife analogy expressed in the Theatetus. The “socratic method” is ilustrated as na intelectual practice comparable to birthgiving, but, inasmuch as the “birthgiving of ideas” is only one step of a proccess whose structure was extracted from the successive stages of human reproduction, the whole analogy deserves special attention. Exceptions aside, the costumary approach to this topic is to assume a provisory unterstanding – that is, the analogy aims at portraying the socratic method as a way of helping the interlocutor throughout the birthgiving of ideas – and, afterwards, the commentaries present voluminous logical analises of Socrates’ arguments. This way, stands out of view that the midwife analogy is na elaborate sexual allegory comprised by elements distributed among several dialogues. That being said, after a literature review, the paper argues that the διαλέγεσθαι repeats, at the symbolic level, the stages of which the sexual practice is comprised of: 1. seduction (e.g. Tht. 145e8-146a8); 2. insemination (see e.g. Tht. 149d5-e5 and Phdr. 277a1: σπέρμα); 3. gestation (i.e., the attemps at answering the questions posed by Socrates); 4.1 abortion (Smp. 203b9: ἀπορίαν; 203e4: ἀπορεῖ) ou 4.2 birthgiving; finally, when a genuine intelectual offspring is brought to light, 5. rearing

Polybius, the Pontic Sea and socioenvironmental disaster’s semantics

2025-03-11T17:10:23+00:00

The ancient Pontic Sea, known nowadays as the Black Sea, is one of the most important in history. During the Hellenistic period, the argument that it would become a shallow swamp, due to its alluviation and people's ignorance of this process, became well known. In proposing a dialogue between Ancient History and Environmental History, we depart from the recent concept of socioenvironmental disaster in order to bring it closer to the typology of disaster in Polybius’ Histories (c. 200 - c. 117 B.C.E.), and of his investigation of the Pontic Sea. Our aim is to understand the semantics of this experience and to reflect on the historicity of human awareness of its dependence on the environment. Accordingly, we focus our analysis on the language in which this experience is conceptualized insofar as human actions and the fate of the sea are temporally articulated by the author. Finally, we conclude that there are expressive similarities between the contemporary and ancient semantics of disaster, given that Polybius advocated a consistent human ethic of investigating so as to people better adapt themselves to the environment. We also hope this to be a suggestion to strengthen ties between Ancient History and Environmental History.

The tyrant that lives within us in light of Republic VIII and IX

2024-03-06T11:56:08+00:00

Hereby we intend to examine the way by which tyranny and the tyrant are presented in Republic, a Platonic dialogue around which we will circumscribe the present study. Our interest emerges from the resurgence, in the 21st century, of democratically elected regimes that, however, flirt with authoritarianism. Socrates’ thesis, presented in Republic VIII (562b-563e), according to which tyranny arises from within democracy, highlights the contradictions inherent in this government regime since its beginnings, helping us to rethink it today. For the purposes of this study we follow the emergence of the issue of tyranny from the first book of the dialogue, until we reach the proper examination of this regime in books VIII and IX, up to which we are faced with the surprising argument that inside each one of us inhabits a sleeping tyrant (Rep.IX, 576b4-6). The city-soul analogy proposed in Republic II, as well as the composite soul thesis in Republic IV work as guiding conceptions of our investigation.

Priests of the Gods: Divination and Leadership in Xenophon

2024-10-17T20:16:02+01:00

This paper’s goal is to defend the thesis put forward by Michael Flower (2016) that piety is a sine qua non of effective leadership of Xenophon and also justify the fact that the model of leader in Xenophon is "first" (and foremost) a follower of the gods. We will present examples of the use of divination in two main texts. First of all, we will present the advice offered by Xenophon in one of his didactic treatises, the Hipparchicus or Cavalry Commander. This short text was written based on his personal experience as a mercenary soldier and commander and in it he offers his advice on how to become a good commander. In the second place I shall present the practical applications of the counsels of the Hipparchicus in Anabasis, a work in which Xenophon relates the events of his expedition in 401 B.C., when he accompanied Cyrus the Younger to fight for the throne of Persia against his brother Artaxerxes and, after the death of Cyrus, led the soldiers back to Asia Minor. Anabasis exhibits one of the most complete descriptions of divination from a first-hand account. Here the main forms of Greek divination are presented: consultation of the oracle at Delphi, extispicine (reading of entrails), omens (interpretation of bird flights), and the appearance of omens of luck or signs.

The Oracles of Hystaspes and Revelation: parallels and possibilities

2025-09-15T19:09:59+01:00

The article analyzes the parallels between the supposed fragments of the Oracles of Hystaspes in the seventh book of Lactantius' Divine Institutes and the Apocalypse of John, specifically in chapters 11:3-12, on the "two witnesses" and 13:11-16, on the action of the Beast. The article presents the scholarship on the issue and the possibilities of appropriation of Zoroastrian themes by John of Patmos in his apocalypse, especially in the combat myth.

As Humankind's Two Bags

2025-04-16T17:32:57+01:00

The fable genre in Greco-Roman culture has popular and oral roots, establishing curious dialogues with poetic and philosophical traditions throughout its history. Our article addresses two fables that share certain elements of a story of human creation: the first, written in Greek and attributed to Aesop, is entitled “Two Bags” [Πῆραι δύο]; the other, composed in Latin by Phaedrus, is entitled “On the Vices of Human Beings” [De Vitiis Hominum]. We advance on philological bases to contextualize in historical terms each of these texts, in order to understand the interplay of meaning established by them, especially with the Cynic tradition (in the first case) and with the Roman political context (in the second). To this end, we undertake a careful reading of intertextual and reception issues.

“Science is nothing but perception” (Tht. 151e2-3). On the role of perception in the process of knowledge

2024-10-19T12:45:50+01:00

In the first part of the Theaetetus, Plato engages with the Protagorean position by interpreting the maxim “man is the measure” from a sensory perspective. The aim of the dialogue is to explore and define what constitutes knowledge, which is initially equated with perception. This contribution provides an analytical examination of the discussion among Socrates, Theodorus and Theaetetus (two mathematicians who represent Protagoras’ idea). Plato reinterprets the sophist’s thought and presents several specific criticisms, aiming to demonstrate the impossibility and danger of considering each individual’s perception as a valid basis for knowledge. At the same time, however, the philosopher acknowledges the sophist’s contribution, using it to better define the role of perception in knowledge. When considered alongside the assertions in the Seventh Letter, this discussion proves useful for clarifying a central aspect of Plato’s complex epistemological perspective.

Homology, Collective and Cultural Memory: Augustus’ Portraiture and Augustan Poetry

2025-04-06T15:36:53+01:00

This paper aims to establish a homology between two forms of art: the portraits of Octavian Augustus and Augustan poetry, particularly the works of Horace, Ovid, Propertius, and Virgil. The theoretical frameworks of Nora (1989), Assmann (1995 and 2011), Halbwachs (1968), and Galinsky (2014-2016) are mobilized to support the argument that both artistic expressions can be interpreted as vehicles of collective memory and cultural memory, serving the perpetuation of power and art.

On the Egyptian textual evidence of the myth of Thoth in Plato's Phaedrus

2025-01-13T13:37:18+00:00

In Phaedrus, the myth of Thoth explicitly alludes to Egypt and it is possible to find parallels with texts written in Egyptian, showing that Plato had some knowledge of Egyptian philosophy. This article will highlight some of the parallels and comment on this bibliography, since they are articles and chapters written in different languages and that do not converse with each other. It will comment on the Book of Thoth and discuss the thematic similarities with the tale Setne I, in relation to the dual role of writing as φάρμακον. It will then examine the relationship between Egyptian texts and Phaedrus. In doing so, it will be possible not only to show the state of the art of this discussion, but also to explore in greater depth the issues surrounding these two divergent conceptions of the role of writing and the transmission of knowledge.

Review of CONTE, Bruno Loureiro. A doxa no poema de Parmênides. Uma investigação a partir dos testemunhos antigos. São Paulo: Loyola, 2023, 274pp., ISBN 9786555042597

2025-04-29T21:23:06+01:00

Review of CONTE, Bruno Loureiro. A doxa no poema de Parmênides. Uma investigação a partir dos testemunhos antigos. São Paulo: Loyola, 2023, 274pp., ISBN 9786555042597

Review of Aldo Dinucci. Manual de Estoicismo: a visão estoica do mundo. Campinas: Editora Auster, 2023, 144pp., ISBN 9786587408651

2024-01-18T21:26:49+00:00

Review of Aldo Dinucci. Manual de Estoicismo: a visão estoica do mundo. Campinas: Editora Auster, 2023, 144pp., ISBN 9786587408651

Lessons of love in Achilles Tatius: commentary, translation and notes by Leucippe and Clitophon I.7-15

2024-10-17T19:34:16+01:00

We presente the trnaslation of a specific passage from the novel Leucippe and Clitophon, by Achilles Tatius: the scene in which the main character goes to meet his cousin Clinias and receives from him valuable teachings on seduction. This passage draws our attention because it dialogues with Roman erotic elegy, especially Ovid's Ars Amatoria, and because of its concise, unitary structure, which resonates like a short story within the novel. We have sought to recreate in our translation aesthetic and literary elements that resonate with these elements, especially the dynamism of the narrative, without losing the lyrical - or elegiac - nuances of the text.