Chapter 1 Sovereignty, Rebellion and Golden Age: Hesiod’s Legacy

In: Brill's Companion to the Legacy of Greek Political Thought
Author:
Ioannis D. Evrigenis
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Chapter
Pages:
19–44
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004679344_003

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Abstract

At a minimum, the normative dimension of political thought involves a contrast between how things are and how they ought to be, yet it is quite common to see such inquiries also consider how things were. For the Greeks, it was Hesiod who set the language and conceptual framework for this practice in motion, when he asked how the world came to be and what our place in it is. His poems shaped the beliefs and political theories of the Greeks and Romans. As theorists of the state of nature would do later, those who deployed the golden age did so with a number of different goals in mind. While sometimes it marked the beginning of a tale of deterioration, at others it signified a promise or potential that could be attained once more. Hesiod’s legacy is revealed in his influence on thinkers who rejected his theology as fabulous or allegorical, but nevertheless used his stories of sovereignty, rebellion, and the golden age.

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Series:  Brill's Companions to Philosophy: Ancient Philosophy, Volume: 8 and  Brill's Companions to Philosophy, Volume: 8
Cover Brill's Companion to the Legacy of Greek Political Thought
E-Book ISBN:
9789004679344
Publisher:
Brill
Print Publication Date:
16 Sep 2024
Front Matter
Introduction
Part 1 The Reproduction of Greek Political Thought
Part 2 Greek Thought in New Environments
Part 3 Variation and Adaptation
Part 4 Greek Thought and the Potential for Dissent
Back Matter

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