Drawing Lots From Egalitarianism to Democracy in Ancient Greece

by Malkin, Irad; Blok, Josine

• ISBN13: 9780197753477
• ISBN10: 0197753477
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780197753484
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2024-05-21
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Author Biography

Irad Malkin is Emeritus Professor of History at Tel Aviv University, a Foreign Member of the Athens National Academy, a member of the European Network for the Study of Ancient Greek History, and the author of numerous books, including A Small Greek World.

Josine Blok is Professor Emeritus of Ancient History and Classical Civilization at Utrecht University, a member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences, and co-founder and chair of the European Network for the Study of Ancient Greek History. Her previous books include Citizenship in Classical Athens.

Table of Contents

List of abbreviations
Preface
Introduction Greeks drawing lots: the practice and the mindset of egalitarianism

Part I The lottery mindset: religion and society
1. Lotteries divine and human: the world of the Homeric epics
2. When does the lot reflect the will of the gods? Lots, oracles, divination, and the notion of moira
3. Sacrifice and feast: social values and the distribution of meat by lot

Part II Equal and fair: inheritance, colonization, and mixture
4. Partible Inheritance by lot
5. Drawing lots on the Athenian stage
6. Founding cities and sharing in the polis: equality, allotment, and civic mixture

Part III Drawing lots in polis governance
7. Setting the stage
8. Drawing lots for polis office
9. Drawing lots for governance: a political innovation

Part IV Conclusions
10. Conclusions and implications
11. Drawing lots today: fair distribution and a stronger democracy

Appendix A Lexicographical survey: lottery practices in the archaic and classical periods

Bibliography
Index
Index locorum