George Grote’s (1794-1871) extensive publications on ancient Greek history and philosophy remain landmarks in the history of classical scholarship. Since the late 20thcentury, lively interest in the works of Grote has seen his profile revived and his ongoing significance highlighted: he has taken up his rightful place among the most celebrated nineteenth-century classical intellectuals. Grote’s critical engagement with Greek historiography and philosophy revolutionized classical studies in his day – a revolution set against both long-established interpretations and prevailing trends in German Altertumswissenschaft. Twenty-first-century scholarship shows that Grote’s works remain lively, sparkling and relevant, as they offers valuable insights that cut across the intellectual borders of the Victorian age. His diligent scholarship, fascination with evidence and sound judgement, intertwined with intriguing and insightful narrative prose, continue to captivate the attention of modern readers. In Brill’s Companion to George Grote and the Classical Tradition Kyriakos N. Demetriou leads a team of prominent scholars to contextualize, unravel and explore Grote’s works as well as provide a critical assessment of his posthumous legacy.
Kyriakos N. Demetriou, Ph.D. (1993), University College London, is Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of Cyprus. He has published monographs, edited volumes and articles, including his George Grote on Plato and Athenian Democracy (1999) and his most recent Studies in the Reception of Plato and Greek Political Thought in Victorian Britain (2011).
Contributors: Pierre Briant, Paul Cartledge, Catherine Fuller†, John Gibbins, Giovanni Giorgini, James Kierstead, Bruce Kinzer, Antis Loizides, Peter Liddel, Sarrah Richardson, J.B. Schneewind, Robin Smith and Catherine Zuckert.
Contents
Notes on Contributors
Introduction
Kyriakos N. Demetriou
1 George Grote, The Philosophic Radical and Politician
Bruce Kinzer
2 James Mill and George Grote: A Benthamite Defence of “Theoretic Reform”
Antis Loizides
3 George Grote and Natural Religion
John R. Gibbins
4 Bentham, Mill, Grote, and An Analysis of the Influence of Natural Religion on the Temporal Happiness of Mankind Catherine Fuller †
5 A Regular Politician in Breeches: The Life and Work of Harriet Lewin Grote
Sarah Richardson
6 Grote’s Athens: The Character of Democracy
James Kierstead
7 The Comparative Approach in Grote’s History of Greece Peter Liddel
8 Grote’s Sparta/Sparta’s Grote
Paul Cartledge
9 Grote’s Plato
Catherine Zuckert
10 The Sophists in Context: George Grote’s Reappraisal
Giovanni Giorgini
11 Grote on Alexander the Great
Pierre Briant
12 Grote on Aristotle’s Logic
Robin Smith
13 Grote’s Moral Philosophy and its Context
Jerome B. Schneewind
Appendix: George Grote on James Mill’s “Government”
Transcribed and edited by Antis Loizides
Index of Names and Subjects
All interested in Classical Reception Studies, history of classical scholarship, 19th-century intellectual history, political thought, and Victorian philosophy, ethics and politics.