Rätt och retorik i Euripides Hekabe

• The article discusses legal rhetoric in Euripides’ tragedy Hecuba. It is shown that the play is organized around three rhetorical duels: between Hecuba and Odysseus, between Hecuba and Agamemnon, and between Polymestor and Hecuba. The structure and style of the duels are primarily that of legal rhetoric. The article presents a close reading of the rhetorical duels and places them in the context of 5th century Greek culture and legal thought. The article shows the central importance of the trial and due process for the Athenian understanding of justice. The article concludes with a discussion of three separate issues: the moral character of Hecuba; the individual legal and moral rights of the main characters and how the right-claims made by the agents move the plot; and the status of both written and unwritten legal statutes in the play and in the law.

Nyckelord

Law and Humanities

Euripides

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)