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14
JanKucharski
Themostseriousobstaclecomeswiththeso-calledproceduralorientationof
Athenianlaw.ItmeansthatthelegalsystemofclassicalAthenswas,toquote
Todd,“primarilyconcernednotwithhowtoformulateandapplylegaldoctrines,
butratherwithhowtogetadisputesatisfactorilysettled.”2Inotherwords,the
Athenianlawdoesnotpresentuswithanabstractandcoherentsystemofexpli-
citlyformulatedrights,dutiesandsanctions(thelegalsubstance),butinsteadtends
tofocusontheproceduresbywhichagivenproblemoradisputemayberesolved,
andinmostcases-takentocourt.3Themostfrequentlyusedexampletoillustrate
thisphenomenonistheAthenianlawonhybris:
Ifanyonetreatswithhybris(hybrizēi)anyperson,eitherchildorwomanor
man,freeorslave,ordoesanythingunlawfulagainstanyofthese,letanyone
whowishes,ofthoseAthenianswhoareentitled,submitapublicprosecu-
tion(graphē)tothethesmothetai.Letthethesmothetaibringthecasetothe
people’scourtwithinthirtydaysofthesubmissionofthepublicprosecution,
ifnopublicbusinesspreventsit,orotherwiseassoonaspossible.Whoever
thepeople’scourtfindsguilty,letitimmediatelyassesswhateverthepenalty
itthinksrightforhimtosufferorpay.4
Whatisstrikingaboutthislawisthatitspecifiesneithertheoffenceitself
(whatdoesitmeantotreatwithhybris?)5northepunishmenttobemetedouttothe
offender.Insteaditispreoccupiedwithdefiningthedetailsoftheprocedure:we
aretoldwhichmagistrateisresponsiblefortheproceedings(thesmothetai),when
isthehearing-in-chieftobeintroduced(withinthirtydays),andevenunderwhat
conditionsitcouldbepostponed.Admittedly,theprosecutionforhybris(graphē
hybreōs)isatimētosagōn,aprocedurewithnofixedpenalty(seebelow).The
2S.C.Todd:TheShapeofAthenianLaw.Oxford1993,p.65;M.H.Hansen:Eisangelia.The
SovereigntyofthePeople’sCourtinAthensintheFourthCenturyB.C.andtheImpeachmentof
GeneralsandPoliticians.Odense1975,pp.9-10.
3“Anorientationtowardsprocedureisequallyvisibleinsomeareaswhicharesubjecttoauto-
maticpenaltiesandextra-judicialremedies.”Ch.Carey:“TheShapeofAthenianLaws.”CQ1998,
Vol.48,no.1,p.96.
4ἘάVtigὑβpίCnisἴgtiVo,ἢπoῖδoἢγUVoῖKoἢἄVδpo,tῶVἐλsUoέpωVἢtῶVδoύλωV,ἢ
πopάVoPόVtiπoiήσnisἰgtoύtωVtiVά,γpolέσoωπpὸgtoὺgosσPooέtogὁβoUλόPsVogἈonVoίωV
oἷgἔξsσtiV,oἱδὲosσPooέtoisἰσoγόVtωVsἰgtὴVἠλioίoVtpiάKoVtoἡPspῶVἀl'ἧgἂVἡγpolὴἐὰV
PήtiδnPόσioVKωλύni,sἰδὲPὴ,ὅtoVἦiπpῶtoVoἷόVts.ὅtoUδ᾿ἂVKotoγVῶiἡἠλioίo,tiPάtωπspὶ
ońtoῦπopoχpῆPo,ὅtoUἂVδoKῆiἄξiogsἶVoiπoosῖVἢἀπotsῖσoi(Dem.21.47;tr.D.MacDowell:
Demosthenes:AgainstMeidias.Ed.withintroduction,translationandcommentary.Oxford1990;
slightlymodified).
5AnanswerisgivenbyAristotle(Rhetoric1374a):hybrisisviolence(pataxai)commitedfor
thesakeofhumiliation(atimasai)ofthevictimorself-gratification(hēsthēnai);thishowever,seems
tobearhetoricalexplicationofthelaw,mostlikelythecorrectone,butnotcontainedinitsletter
nonetheless;anothercuriousexampleofsuchcavalierapproachtolegaldefinitionsistheexact
meaningofthetermσUVoiKsῖV,akeywordofthelawquotedin[Dem.]59.19:ἐὰVδὲξέVogἀσtῆi
σUVoiKῆi…(cf.Ch.Carey:“TheShapeofAthenianLaws”…,p.99).
