When Thémis was still a little girl: mythological precedents of the idea of tó Koinón in Archaic Greece (between the 8th and 6th centuries b.C.)

Abstract

The present work proposes an analysis of ‘juridical’ representations identifiable in the context of Greek myths, mainly those included in the oeuvre of Homer and Hesiod, encompassing the period from the 8th to 6th centuries b.C. Our hypothesis is that, since ‘law’ still does not constitute an autonomous social field, one would better access it through the recognition of its ritual functionality, which engenders various practices of conflict-solving, entitlements and belongings. In this sense, if the rite re-makes the myth, these practices have a performatic meaning. Between permanence and change, the aim of this research has been to highlight the way in which the transformations leading to the ‘democratic miracle’ of the 5th century are associated with the narrative tradition of mythology, as well as a dialectical movement in the status of the word, alloying its public use by the polis. The publics space – tó Koinón –, therefore, continues this pre-philosophical imaginary, where a series of political implications derive from.