At the heart of this study is the violent crime committed in ancient Greek society against women and by women. These themes, intensely debated and increasingly the focus of current research, have grown in importance within the wider study of gender and sexuality in the ancient world. The author examines the portrayal of violence across a range of sources to develop a picture of gender and crime in ancient Greek law, literature, myth and society. The volume breaks new ground because it adopts an evolutionary biological approach to the subject, in particular by examining the research of psychologists Margo Wilson and Martin Daly, who in their studies of contemporary sexual crime mooted that sexual jealousy is at the root of the majority of violent acts including murder. McHardy explores how this modern study can be brought to bear on Classical scholarship around the same themes in antiquity. She also provides a methodological approach that combines 'grand' theory with an exploration of cultural contexts and historical development, considering the critiques from recent decades of the universalist premises that grew out of second wave feminism. Exploring such theoretical issues in the first two chapters, each subsequent, thematic, chapter will examine evidence from a range of sources and conclude with a case study.

The first in a four-volume set, The Cambridge World History of Violence, Volume 1 provides a comprehensive examination of violence in prehistory and the ancient world. Covering the Palaeolithic through to the end of classical antiquity, the chapters take a global perspective spanning sub-Saharan Africa, the Near East, Europe, India, China, Japan and Central America. Unlike many previous works, this book does not focus only on warfare but examines violence as a broader phenomenon. The historical approach complements, and in some cases critiques, previous research on the anthropology and psychology of violence in the human story. Written by a team of contributors who are experts in each of their respective fields, Volume 1 will be of particular interest to anyone fascinated by archaeology and the ancient world.

How did the Greeks and Roman perceive rape? How seriously was it taken, and who were seen as its main victims? The studies in this volume look at the social and legal realities of rape in the ancient world, and also at the numerous myths of rape which themselves may reflect real behaviour and attitudes. Modern readers, used to a discourse which focuses on the question of a woman's (or man's) consent to sexual activity and treats an unwilling partner as a victim worthy of sympathy, may find in ancient attitudes much that is disturbing.

Examines how location confers cultural meaning on acts of violence, and renders them socially acceptable--or not

The ancient period of Greek history, to which this volume is devoted, began in late Bronze Age in the second millennium and lasted almost to the end of the first century BCE, when the last remnant of the Hellenistic empire created by Alexander the Great was conquered by the Romans. Extant texts of law of actual laws are few and often found embedded in other sources, such as the works of orators and historians. Greek literature, from the epics of Homer to the classical dramas, provides a valuable source of information. However, since literary sources are fictional portrayals and often reflect the times and biases of the authors, other more concrete evidence from archaeology has been used throughout the volume to confirm and contextualize the literary evidence about women, crime, and punishment in ancient Greece. The volume is divided into three parts: (I) Mykenean and Archaic Greece, (II) Classical Greece, and (III the Hellenistic Period. The book includes illustrations, maps, lists of Hellenistic dynasties, and Indices of Persons, Place and Subjects. Crime and punishment, criminal law and its administration, are areas of ancient history that have been explored less than many other aspects of ancient civilizations. Throughout history women have been affected by crime both as victims and as offenders. In the ancient world, customary laws were created by men, formal laws were written by men, and both were interpreted and enforced by men. This two-volume work explores the role of gender in the formation and administration of ancient law and examines the many gender categories and relationships established in ancient law, including legal personhood, access to courts, citizenship, political office, religious office, professions, marriage, inheritance, and property ownership. Thus it focuses on women and crime within the context of women in the society.

Sociable Man, which celebrates the work of Nick Fisher, Emeritus Professor of Ancient History at Cardiff University, contains essays by leading classicists, ancient historians and archaeologists on the theme of ancient Greek social behaviour. Fifteen original papers reflect the diversity and the unities in the honorand's interests: politics and law (Hans van Wees on Solon's law of hybris, John K. Davies on the biography of a fourth-century Athenian politician); social values, including honour, dishonour and hybris (Stephen Lambert on honorific inscriptions, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones on domestic violence, Louis Rawlings on a dog named Hybris, James Whitley on victory dedications, Douglas Cairns on ransom and revenge in Homer); social relations in the Athenian navy (Sam Potts); gender and power (Janett Morgan on gendering of domestic space, Sian Lewis on women and tyranny, Ruth Westgate on animal imagery in mosaics); citizen identity, Athenian (Robin Osborne on the influence of Attic local environments on citizen formation) and Arcadian (James Roy on the Arcadian reputation for backwardness); and sexuality (David Konstan on Alciphron and the invention of pornography, Emma Stafford on masturbation). The papers will be essential reading for researchers and students of ancient Greek literature, history and archaeology. The book also includes tributes by Paul Cartledge and P. J. Shaw, respectively, on Fisher's place in research and teaching of ancient Greek social history.