Solon The Athenian Classic Reprint

Excerpt from Solon the Athenian The present work falls into two distinct parts, a biography of Solon and an edition of the fragments of his poems. The biographical essay should not be regarded as an introduction to the text of the poems and the commentary upon them. Since our knowledge of Solon's life is not extensive and since the fragments of his poems are few, it is possible to include within one small book two things which in other cases would offer material for two separate books. This is in one sense a happy circumstance, because the reader can have before him in brief space all that can be brought together about Solon. The biographical essay presents the results of a critical study of all the evidence available on the life of Solon. A sceptical attitude has been adopted alike toward ancient legend and modern hypothesis. If the attitude seems oversceptical, this is not much to be regretted; it is better in such a business to tell nothing but the truth than to risk falsehood through fear of not telling the whole truth. But whatever has been rejected has received due consideration in footnotes or appendices. No critical discussion is offered of Solon's code of laws; indeed, it is not certain that such a discussion would be really fruitful. None at any rate has yet been made. No one has even taken the first step in the investigation and subjected to critical examination all the laws which in ancient times passed as the laws of Solon, with a view to determining just which are authentic and which are not. It may be that so few would be recognized as genuinely Solonian that the next step in the investigation would be impossible. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This volume offers a range of innovative approaches to Solon of Athens, legendary law-giver, statesman, and poet of the early sixth century B.C. In the first part, Solon’s poetry is reconsidered against the background of oral poetics and other early Greek poetry. The connection between Solon’s alleged roles as poet and as politician is fundamentally questioned. Part two offers a reassessment of Solon’s laws based on a revision of the textual tradition and recent views on early Greek lawgiving. In part three, fresh scrutiny of the archeological and written evidence of archaic Greece results in new perspectives on the agricultural crisis and Solon’s role in the social and political developments of sixth-century Athens. Originally published in hardcover

Excerpt from Lives of Greek Statesmen: Solon-Chemistokles The history of a people is often best studied in the lives of individual citizens; and this is perhaps to a larger extent the case in the ancient Greek world than elsewhere. A Greek nation, in one sense of the word, there never was; but some individual Greek citizens proposed to themselves and acted on a policy which, if consistently carried out, might have had for its results the growth of a vigorous national life. Apart from this there is the personal interest which gathers round the career of great men, and which should lead us to examine most carefully the grounds of the judgements passed upon them. These reasons have led me to hope that the cause of historical truth may be promoted by a series of lives of Greek statesmen from the dawn of contemporary history to the last days of the Achaian League. In a certain sense, it is true, all free citizens in such a city as Athens were statesmen; hut even at Athens there were always some who rose to preeminence among their fellows, and the influence exercised by Perikles has been described by Thucydides as virtually the rule or sway of one single man. It is also true that the distinction now commonly drawn between military and civil life, between the statesmanship of legislative assemblies and the tactics of commanders in war, had no existence for the countrymen of Themistokles or Timoleon. The man who had most influence in debate might be also the most successful leader in the battle-field, or, as in the case of Kleon, he might not; but there was nothing to prevent him from appearing in the character of an orator or in that of a general, and he might be called upon at any time to lay aside the former for the latter. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ Solon The Athenian; Volume 6 Of University Of California Publications In Classical Philology; Volume 6 Of Publications In Classical Philology; University Of California; Solon The Athenian Ivan Mortimer Linforth University of California press, 1918 History; Ancient; Greece; History / Ancient / Greece

Solon the Singer provides a new basis for our reading of this remarkable legislator. -- BRYN MAWR CLASSICAL REVIEW