Rape and the Politics of Consent in Classical Athens

by Rosanna Omitowoju

Overview

Were acts of sex which we would call rape and regard as a criminal offence similarly regarded in classical Athens? That is the main question posed in this book, the first in-depth study of the topic ever to be undertaken. It considers the legal terminology for rape and discusses exactly what these different terms describe. It also examines literary stories where rape and/or seduction feature as plot devices and looks at different characters' responses to them. The book's presentation makes it accessible to a wider readership of non-classicists.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521100267
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	01/18/2009
Series:	Cambridge Classical Studies
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Rosanna Omitowoju held a Research Fellowship at King's College, Cambridge after completing her doctoral thesis. She is now a Fellow of King's College and holds a teaching position within the Faculty of Classics.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Introduction; Part I. Regulating rape with words: rhetoric and respectability in the Athenian courts; Introduction: Athenian law in context; 1. Hubris: rape and shame; 2. Bia: rape and violence; 3. Moicheia: rape and adultery; 4. Women and status; Part II. Menander: propriety and transgression; Introduction: Menander in context; 5. Rape and recognition in Menander; 6. Rape and maintaining the status quo: citizenship, marriage, money and eros; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"Omitowoju's treatment of the material does reveal how it might serve as a frame for understanding ancient attitudes toward the sexual assault of women. More profoundly, it exposes the fact that because female victims of sexual assault in antiquity had no legal recourse except through the agency of guardians, the subject of rape cannot even be broached without considering how it impinges on male citizen status." American Journal of Philology

"[This] book, for both content and methodology, will be of interest to historians, and anyone else concerned with issues of law, sexuality, gender, and civic identity." Phoenix

From the Publisher