Tyrants play a major role in Greek literature and political philosophy, and occupy a certain prominence on the tragic stage. Many city-states, from Athens to Syracuse to Heraclea on the Black Sea, experienced periods in which tyrants exercised power over political life. The prevalent idea of the Greek experience of tyranny is that it was a bad, undesirable form of government. This study departs from this view and embarks on a reconsideration of tyranny and Greek attitudes toward it by looking at how tyrants are portrayed in sources outside of the ancient political theorists, such as Plato and Aristotle. When we explore accounts of Greek tyrants in the historical sources, we find within them a cacophony of voices, recording different perspectives as well as the variety and hybridity of different models of tyranny. Analyzing this cacophony of voices systematically in a thematic and diachronic study of ancient Greek tyranny reveals the sophistication of attitudes toward tyrants; and demonstrates that writers of historical works recognized forms of tyranny aside from the negative, simplistic model advanced in philosophical discussions. In the end, conceptualizing tyranny as a form of sole rule that is limited neither spatially nor temporally sheds light on the endurance of tyranny throughout the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic eras. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Classics in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Spring Semester 2016. / April 25, 2016. / Archaic period, Classical period, historian, tyranny, tyrants / Includes bibliographical references. / James Sickinger, Professor Directing Dissertation; Rafe Blaufarb, University Representative; John Marincola, Committee Member; Jessica Clark, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_366432 |
| Contributors | Boyd, Marcaline J. (Marcaline Julia) (authoraut), Sickinger, James P. (professor directing dissertation), Blaufarb, Rafe (university representative), Marincola, John (committee member), Clark, Jessica Homan, 1980- (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Arts and Sciences (degree granting college), Department of Classics (degree granting department) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource (370 pages), computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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