The aim of the thesis is to investigate and define from a genre perspective how cultural, social, and situational factors interacted in old comedy between 425 and 388 BCE.

RESUMO Serão investigadas, nesta dissertação, as origens da democracia ateniense através da análise de quatro epigramas de Simônides de Ceos e da contextualização de alguns outros. Partindo do assassinato de Hiparco por Harmódio e Aristogíton e traçando suas conseqüências, tanto do ponto de vista mítico quando político, tentaremos demonstrar como o povo, agora identificado como mesmo ideal de igualdade perante a lei (isonomia), foi capaz de afastar tanto o perigo de uma helotização da Ática, quanto o de uma submissão ao império aquemênida, ao vencer duas batalhas decisivas, cujo relato foi preservado em inscrições que chegaram até nós sob o nome de Simônides por transmissão literária ou epigráfica ou ambas. Também iremos lidar com todos os aspectos relativos à composição, caráter e transmissão de cada um dos quatro epigramas comentados, além de fornecer uma tradução de todos os outros - incluindo os novos fragmentos elegíacos recentemente descobertos - que possam ter alguma relevância para o assunto em questão. / The origins of Athenian democracy are herein surveyed through the analysis of four Simonidean epigrams and the canvassing of several others. Starting from the murder of Hipparchus by Harmodius and Aristogeiton, and following its consequences, both mythic and political, we shall proceed to demonstrate how the people, now identified with the same democratic ideal, was able to eschew both the danger of helotization by Sparta and submission by the Persian Empire by its winning two decisive battles recorded in inscriptions that came down to us either through literary or epigraphical transmission or both. We shall also deal with all aspects surrounding the composition, nature and transmission of each of the four epigrams, besides providing a translation of all other epigrams - including the newly discovered elegiac fragments - that may bear any relevancy to the subject under appreciation.

The story of Alcestis is an interesting case of divine agency pervading the narrative and the characters in the play. It intimately concerns the mortal players, who, though largely powerless in the struggle, are central to the story. The play in the ancient times brought with it the associations and expectations of the society and it was written to interact with its audience. This remains true despite the temporal, cultural and religious boundaries that divide ancient Greece from 18th century Europe. Despite offering its own take on the drama, involving small but significant changes to the narrative, the operatic rendition, Alceste of both 1767 and 1778 show cases the resourceful and accurate interpretation of the different aspects surrounding Apollo, such as oracles, prophecy and indeed, his troubled history. The authors of 18th century Alceste pursued the wider world of classical myths to creatively, and independently from the play, enrich the altered narrative with immersive qualities. / Berättelsen om Alkestis är ett intressant fall av hur det gudomliga genomsyrade narrativet och karaktärerna i pjäsen speglar gudomligheten. Den behandlar nära de dödliga som trots sin maktlöshet är centrala för berättelsens handling. Pjäsens uppkomst i antiken förde med sig associationer och förväntningar från samhället och den skrevs med tanken att interagera med sin publik. Detta förblir sant trots de tidsmässiga, kulturella och religiösa gränserna som skiljer det antika Grekland från 1700-talets Europa. Trots att den erbjuder sin egen syn på dramat, med små men betydande förändringar i berättelsen, visar tolkningen av operan Alceste från både1767 och 1778 en fyndig och noggrann tolkning av de olika aspekterna kring Apollo, såsom orakel, spådom, samt hans oroliga bakgrund. Författarna av 1700-talets Alceste eftersträvade den vidare världen av klassiska myter för att kreativt och oberoende av pjäsen berika det förändrade narrativet med uppslukande kvaliteter.

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Au VIe siècle avant J.-C., Solon a joué un rôle politique important à Athènes. Législateur, il a établi des lois. Législateur, mais aussi poète : des fragments poétiques qui vont du poème complet à un simple vers nous ont été transmis grâce à des auteurs postérieurs. Jusqu’à présent, les études sur Solon ont, pour la majeure partie, cherché à mieux cerner le législateur athénien d’une part, à comprendre la pensée postulée dans les poèmes d’autre part. Ces démarches visent toutes deux à enrichir notre connaissance lacunaire du VIe siècle avant J.-C. Le scepticisme appliqué aux sources de la tradition indirecte, qui nous apporte des informations sur Solon, a ouvert de nouvelles perspectives. Le projet que nous proposons s’inscrit dans cet héritage. Nous nous intéressons aux auteurs des Ve et IVe siècles avant J.-C. pour analyser, dans la lettre du texte, ce qu’ils disent de Solon et surtout, la manière dont ils le disent. Ainsi, il sera possible de saisir les dynamiques de transmission, de mutation et d’appropriation de cette figure d’autorité chez chacun des auteurs de notre corpus, car tirée à hue et à dia, la figure de Solon a servi des causes fort différentes. Puisque la tradition conditionne fortement les interprétations de la poésie solonienne et l’étude de son action politico-législative, il était nécessaire de revenir à la source même de toutes ces interprétations. Dès lors, il sera possible d’enrichir notre connaissance de l’histoire politique et intellectuelle de l’Athènes démocratique du IVe siècle, mieux comprendre le rapport qu’elle entretient avec son propre passé, mais aussi saisir comment se construit une argumentation politique et une idéologie propre à une société donnée à un moment précis de son histoire. / In the 6th century B.C., Solon played an important role in the city of Athens. As a lawgiver, he established laws for the Athenians. But he was also a poet : Solon's poetic fragments – entirely poems or a single verse – have been passed on later by authors. Up until now, scholars have tried, on the one hand to understand the reforms of the lawgiver and one the other hand to study his poems. Both of these approaches aim to improve our incomplet knowledge about the 6th century B.C. But the sources of the indirect tradition have been submit to skepticism. This allows new and fresh perspectives for Solonian studies. The scope of my PhD Thesis follows this skeptic approach : I will analyze most of the authors of the 5th and 4th centuries B.C., what they say and do about Solon. It will allow us to thus understand the dynamics of transmission, of mutation and of appropriation which occur to this authoritative figure in each text of the corpus. Because tradition heavily influences all the interpretations of Solonian poetry and reforms in the field of politic and legislation, it requires us to go back to the first sources of these various interpretations. I hope this study will help us increase our knowledge of the political and intellectual background of the Athenian Democracy of the 4th century B.C., and clarify which kind of connexion exists between the polis and its own past. Last but not least, this study contributes to understand how a political argumentation and a democratic ideology can be shaped by forensic discourses.

This dissertation establishes how different citizen soldiers were employed and evaluated in the imaginary of fifth century Athens and gives explanations why popular thinking on military personnel was organised in this way. In so doing it emerges that a particular citizen soldier figured in Athenian conceptions about many aspects of martial activity. Also, it has proven necessary to analyse several other conceptions concerning the waging of war in which military personnel strictly play no part because of their indirect but important influence on how this or that class of Athenian fighters was judged. As a result this study ends up throwing light on the ways in which fifth century Athenians conceived not only of citizen combatants but also of warfare in general. The dissertation begins by outlining the primary sources for the Athenian imaginary and its major characteristics. The numerous tragedies and comedies surviving from the fifth century are shown to be sure evidence for the imaginary and the funeral oration of the period to have had a vital role in the transmission of key elements of Athenian self-identity and their understanding of warfare. Although playwrights and public speakers were invariably members of the Athenian elite, the particular contexts in which they performed compelled them to take up and articulate the values and conceptions of their overwhelmingly non-elite audiences. The imaginary then had a decidedly popular character. It was also a sprawling cultural melange within which incongruous and even patently contradictory ideas could subsist side by side. The second part of this dissertation exposes that the citizen hoplite enjoyed a central and paradigmatic role in the popular thinking of fifth century Athens. It was only ever to the heavily armed soldier that poets and orators turned when they wanted to consider general aspects of warfare, the military obligations of citizenship, and gallant and fainthearted behaviour on the battlefield. The Athenian hoplite also served as the pivotal reference point for the marking out of age and gender distinctions within the city and of the differences in military morality between Greeks and barbarians. Critically, as the prevailing definitions of bravery and cowardice were modelled exclusively on the phalanx warfare of the hoplites, Athenian lightly armed troops, cavalrymen and perhaps even sailors with their very different modes of combat were judged one way or another to be cowardly. Yet the final part of this dissertation demonstrates that this normative status of the heavy infantryman in no way prevented citizen sailors from gaining recognition and positive evaluation of their metier and themselves in the Athenian imaginary of the fifth century. The citizen masses of this period saw their city as the major seapower in the Mediterranean and well understood that its formidable might and security rested on its navy. Fifth century Athenians also had a high regard of seamanship in general and great pride in the naval dominance of their city in particular. Indeed, superlative nautical skills were thought to be 'national' traits of the citizens of imperial Athens which they had enjoyed even in the esteemed age of the heroes. Contemporary citizen sailors themselves were also held to be the saviours of the city and were accorded extraordinary esteem and an exalted status if they perished at sea fighting for Athens. Finally, despite the fact that it directly contradicted their hoplite centred conception of bravery, fifth century Athenians firmly believed that fellow citizens serving as sailors could display gallantry in battle.

Από τις εμφανίσεις φαντασμάτων στην αρχαιοελληνική λογοτεχνία, άλλες παρουσιάζονται ως ιστορικά γεγονότα, όπως οι εμφανίσεις φαντασμάτων στον Ηρόδοτο, ενώ άλλες υπηρετούν τους σκοπούς του δημιουργού, ενσωματωμένες σε αμιγώς λογοτεχνικά έργα. Η έρευνά μας, επικεντρωμένη στην δεύτερη ομάδα, εξετάζει επιφάνειες φαντασμάτων στον Όμηρο και την αττική τραγωδία, συγκεκριμένα δε αυτές του Πατρόκλου (Ἰλ. Ψ 59-108), του Δαρείου (Πέρσ. 598-842), της Κλυταιμήστρας (Εὐμεν. 94-139) και του Πολυδώρου (Ἑκ. 1-58). Η επιλογή των συγκεκριμένων περιπτώσεων υπαγορεύεται αφενός από την προαναφερθείσα κοινή λογοτεχνική φύση τους, και αφετέρου από την ομοιότητα στα χαρακτηριστικά των σκηνών, δηλαδή των συνθηκών εμφάνισης (χρόνος, χώρος, κατάσταση του ζωντανού δέκτη), της όψης και της συμπεριφοράς των φαντασμάτων (άυλη εμφάνιση, διατήρηση της μορφής, γνωστικό επίπεδο των φαντασμάτων) και της λειτουργίας τους ως λογοτεχνικών χαρακτήρων. Ειδικότερα, ως προς τις συνθήκες εμφάνισης παρατηρείται ισχυρή σύνδεση των φασματικών χαρακτήρων με την νύχτα και τα όνειρα, με την μοναχικότητα του ζωντανού στον οποίο εμφανίζονται, ενώ ο τόπος της εμφάνισης καθορίζεται σε μεγάλο βαθμό από την ευχέρεια που παρέχει στο φάντασμα να επιτύχει την ικανοποίηση των αιτημάτων του. Αναφορικά με την όψη και την συμπεριφορά τους, η έρευνα αποκάλυψε ότι, παρά την άυλη φύση τους (γνωστή ήδη από τους ακυρωμένους εναγκαλισμούς Αχιλλέα-Πατρόκλου στην Ἰλιάδα και Οδυσσέα-Αντίκλειας στην Ὀδύσσεια), οι ψυχές των νεκρών διατηρούν την μορφή του ζωντανού εαυτού τους, ενίοτε φέροντας και τα θανατηφόρα τραύματά τους. Κατά παρόμοιο τρόπο, η συνομιλία μαζί τους εκτυλίσσεται συνήθως σε φυσιολογικές συνθήκες, σαν να πρόκειται δηλαδή για ζωντανό, με εξαίρεση την άγνοιά τους για ορισμένα γεγονότα του Επάνω κόσμου, κυρίως για όσα έχουν συμβεί κατά την παραμονή τους στον Άδη. Τέλος, το αίτημα του φαντάσματος για ταφή ή εκδίκηση εις βάρος του δολοφόνου του (παράμετροι που καθορίζουν σε μεγάλο βαθμό την εμφάνιση), αποσκοπεί στην αποκατάσταση της τάξης (όσον αφορά το ίδιο το φάντασμα και την διαχείριση του νεκρού σώματός του) και, συνεπώς, προωθεί την πλοκή. / Of the appearances of ghosts in the ancient Greek literature, some are incorporated in historical works (such as in the work of Herodotus), whereas others are part of sheer literary works. Our dissertation focuses on four instances from the second category: the ghosts of Patroclus (Iliad 23.59-108), Darius (Aesch. Persae 598-842), Clytemnestra (Aesch. Eumenides 94-139) and Polydorus (Eurip. Hecuba 1-58). The selection of these instances is not only based on their literary context, but mainly on the correspondence on the matters of conditions, in which they make their appearance, on their look and behaviour and, finally, on their function. Particularly, it seems that there is a close connection between ghosts and the night and dreams, as well as with the loneliness of the living person, who meets them. They also seem to appear in places that facilitates the fulfillment of their demand. As for their look, despite their insubstantial nature (known already from the Iliad and Odyssey), the ghosts maintain the appearance of their body, in the case of the biaiothanatoi bearing the wounds, that caused their death. Their knowledge of the Upper World varies, as they sometimes ignore facts, which have happened after their death. Finally, their demand for burial or vengeance against their murderers aims to the instauration of order and, because of its importance, advances the plot.

La tesi riguarda la Seconda Lega ateniese, di cui si studia il periodo, solitamente trascurato, compreso tra la fine della Guerra Sociale (355/4 a.C.) e la sconfitta di Atene a Cheronea (338 a.C.). Fonti principali, come del resto per il periodo precedente, sono le iscrizioni. Vengono quindi analizzate, in ordine geografico e cronologico, diciassette epigrafi di interesse storico (per lo più iscrizioni onorarie e trattati), considerate utili nella ricostruzione delle modalità di intervento ateniese all’interno della Lega. Area geografica privilegiata è la Grecia settentrionale, più immediatamente a contatto con l’espansionismo macedone. Obiettivo della tesi è infatti chiarire se la storia della Lega navale, più che una progressiva perdita di significato, non metta in evidenza un costante e coerente riorientamento degli obiettivi, stimolata dal confronto con Filippo II di Macedonia. / The topic of this thesis is the Second Athenian League during its final, usually underrated period, namely between the end of the Social War (355/4 B.C.) and the Athenian defeat at Chaeronea (338 B.C.). The sources for the history of the League both before and after the Social War are mainly epigraphical. Accordingly, seventeen historical inscriptions are carefully examined and thoroughly commented on: these are mostly honorific decrees and treaties, all of which proved to be useful to investigate how Athens acted within its League. The study, focusing on Northern Greece as the latter became more and more endangered by the growing power of Macedon, tries to ascertain whether the history of the Second Athenian League, far from becoming meaningless, might show a steady and consistent reorientation of its tasks, in and because of the military confrontation with Philip II.

Before 1891, it was commonly accepted that the most important source for the rule of the Four Hundred in Athens in 411 BCE was Thucydides' description. The situation changed thanks to the publication of the Aristotelian treatise On the Athenian Constitution, whose version of events differed markedly from Thucydides' one. There followed many attempts at determining which of the two versions was most reliable, or at combining the two versions. These controversies are the focal point of this thesis, but its ambitions are not limited to them: its ambition is also to reconstruct the chronology of the rule of the Four Hundred as precisely as is possible in context of the Peloponnesian war; and to formulate the limitations that are imposed on us by the character of sources at our disposal. Continuity of the coup with earlier developments and its impact on subsequent events are dealt with more briefly.

La démocratie représentative souffre de nombreuses lacunes qui remettent en question la légitimité même des gouvernements démocratiques modernes. Tandis que la représentation directe pourrait théoriquement éliminer ces incongruités, elle a jusqu'à présent été considérée comme irréalisable en raison de limitations spatio-temporelles. Cette thèse adresse ces problèmes en introduisant le concept de Démocratie Internet - distinct de l’e-démocratie et de l’e-gouvernement existant. La Démocratie Internet consiste à cerner la représentation démocratique de telle manière qu’elle puisse être opérationnalisée par le biais de l’informatique. Pour ce faire, cette thèse remonte d'abord aux problèmes de la démocratie et de la représentation indirecte dans ses principes premiers, et propose une nouvelle approche (structurelle symbiotique) à l'application de l'Internet pour la démocratie. Ensuite, elle montre que la Démocratie Internet peut fonctionner grâce à l'analyse des données collectées passivement sur l'accès et la production de l’information. Enfin, elle offre de nombreuses contributions à l’informatique, qui jusqu’alors était limitée dans la précision de l'analyse des sentiments. La thèse développe une Proposition d’Opinion Asymétrique (AOP) et l’applique à un nouveau concept de ‘Espace des Sentiments’; elle développe également la première base de données assez nuancée pour l'analyse des sentiments; et elle utilise l'Espace de Sentiment afin de développer la méthode de calcul originale «Split-Fit » qui accroît la précision de l’apprentissage automatique. / Representative democracy suffers from numerous shortcomings that are so significant they bring into question the very legitimacy of modern democratic governments. While direct representation might theoretically eliminate these multiple defects, it has until now been considered unworkable due to limitations of space and of time. This thesis addresses these deficiencies by introducing Internet Democracy, which is distinct from existing e-democracy and e-government. Internet Democracy is an operational, computational formulation of democratic representation. To support this contribution, this thesis first derives the problems of democracy and indirect representation from first principles. It then proposes a new approach (the symbiotic structural approach) which applies the Internet to democracy. It then supports the proposition that Internet Democracy can operate through the analysis of passively collected data on information access and on information production (for instance, using sentiment analysis). Finally, it makes numerous topical contributions to computer science based on the observation that sentiment analysis hits a ceiling of accuracy which cannot currently be transcended. These contributions range from suggesting an Asymmetric Opinion Proposition (AOP) and applying this to a Sentiment Space describing the computational structure of sentiment; developing the first extremely fine-grained dataset for sentiment analysis; and applying Sentiment Space to develop the original ‘Split-Fit’ computing method which increases the accuracy of machine learning based Sentiment Analysis.