Matteo Barbato - Böcker

Rediscovering Greek Institutions offers a fresh perspective on the study of ancient Greek institutions by integrating New Institutionalism-inspired approaches from political science. While traditional scholarship has often focused on constitutional design, formal rules and legal procedures, a shift in recent decades towards sociological and anthropological approaches has overlooked the importance of institutional analysis. This volume bridges this gap, spearheading a new approach which not only considers formal rules and procedures but also the social, ideological, and behavioural factors underpinning institutions. Its wide-ranging chapters demonstrate how a more nuanced and sophisticated understanding of institutions can shed light on the complex political and social life of the Greek polis. Through an interdisciplinary approach to ancient Greek politics which engages with political science, this book redefines institutional analysis as a powerful tool for understanding the diverse motivations behind individual and collective actions in ancient Greece.

Investigates the construction of democratic ideology in Classical Athens through a study of the social memory of Athens’ mythical pastProposes a novel approach to Athenian democratic ideology that opens new frontiers of investigation in ancient history and the social sciencesThe introduction clearly sets out the aims and methodology of the book and its place within the scholarship in ancient history and the social sciencesFour case studies illuminate the impact of Athenian democratic institutions on ideology, myth, and the use of social memoryOffers a long-awaited new interpretation of the Athenian funeral oration for the war deadOffers clear overviews of Athenian democratic institutions (e.g., Assembly, Council, lawcourts) based on the most recent scholarshipProvides up-to-date overviews of several values in Greek thought (e.g., charis, hybris, eugeneia)The debate on Athenian democratic ideology has long been polarised around two extremes. A Marxist tradition views ideology as a cover-up for Athens’ internal divisions. Another tradition, sometimes referred to as culturalist, interprets it neutrally as the fixed set of ideas shared by the members of the Athenian community. Matteo Barbato addresses this dichotomy by providing a unitary approach to Athenian democratic ideology. Analysing four different myths from the perspective of the New Institutionalism, he demonstrates that Athenian democratic ideology was a fluid set of ideas, values and beliefs shared by the Athenians as a result of a constant ideological practice influenced by the institutions of the democracy. He shows that this process entailed the active participation of both the mass and the elite and enabled the Athenians to produce multiple and compatible ideas about their community and its mythical past.