Delfim Ferreira Leão

University of Coimbra | UC · Centre of Classical and Humanistic Studies

This book aims to build a solid and proper contribution to the contemporary global debate on the experience of democracy and its possibilities as the most effective mediator of a series of challenges, a debate that is necessarily rooted in the critical reassessment of its Greek cultural heritage. The book is articulated around the identification of...

This volume is the first comprehensive attempt to assess the significance of the polis in Plutarch’s works from several perspectives, namely the polis as a physical entity, a lived experience and a source of inspiration, the polis as a historical and sociopolitical unit, the polis as a theoretical construct and paradigm to think with. The book’s mu...

Colaboram nesta obra 27 autores, 25 dos quais internacionais de reconhecido mérito na sua área de especialização, destacando-se John Davies, Robert W. Wallace, Antony Keen, Brenda Griffith-Williams, Michael Gagarin, Gerhard Thür, Roger Brock, Lynette Mitchell, Robin Osborne, Adele C. Scafuro & Ian Worthington, entre outros.

Este texto examina a atuação política do ateniense Terâmenes conforme narrada por Tucídides, Xenofonte, Lísias e pela Constituição dos Atenienses atribuída a Aristóteles, a fim de mapear as linhas-mestras que convergiram para tornar Terâmenes paradigmático para o pensamento político grego antigo. As quatro fontes foram selecionadas por serem as cro...

Following the path of Popova’s (2015) enactive approach to narrative, this inquiry focuses on two clusters of metaphors around which Herodo- tus organized his perceptions about isonomia and demokratia: the cognitive and the pragmatic. In- stead of highlighting differences between isonomia and demokratia, we wish to evince cumulative in- teractions...

Plutarch mentions Demetrius of Phalerum quite a few times, both in the Lives and in the Moralia. In these references, Plutarch often discusses Demetrius alongside historical figures that Demetrius was politically and intellectually involved with, along with characters and historical figures that Demetrius discusses in his own works. But at other ti...

A ascensão de Octávio e a consolidação do poder pessoal depois das lutas do triunvirato. A criação do Principado e a institucionalização dos poderes do princeps no que toca à Urbe e ao governo das províncias. A cidade e o mundo: o papel de Agripa, Tibério, Druso, Gaio e Lúcio Césares. A administração: o relacionamento de Augusto com os grupos socia...

Diogenes Laertius is one of the major sources for the laws of Solon, with no less than 14 (usually small) references: frs. 4a, 38g, 66/1e, 89/1b, 104b, 123c, 131–5, 144c, 145, and 149 LEÃO & RHODES. Similarly to the other principal sources, he also provides important information about several poems composed by Solon (frs. 2, 3, 9, 10, 11 and 20 WES...

Throughout the Lives and the Moralia, Plutarch regularly mentions the work, the activity or even the exemplum of Demetrius, both as a source of information on others and as a very stimulating character per se. From those passages emerges the figure of Demetrius as the intellectual, the politician and the legislator, and finally that of the expatria...

The texts gathered here invite us to approach the work of Plutarch according to the chosen prism: they portray different “figures” according to six sections, which are obviously not without some relations with each other, but which also strive when possible to distinguish between “wise” and “philosopher”: wisdom and types of Sages; “mythical” figur...

A expressão “poiesis da democracia” no título remete para a sua preocupação central: compreender “democracia” não como conceito unívoco e absoluto, mas como resultado de permanências e transformações históricas inerentes tanto à sua formulação grega quanto aos seus usos contemporâneos, isto é, como problema cujas respostas derivam de negociação per...

The white paper on Business Models for Open Access proposes that there is no single ideal business model for Open Access that can be adopted as standard. It describes the current landscape in which there are multiple approaches to OA publishing, many of which are adopted by OPERAS members to suit their particular circumstances, although the APC and...

Throughout the Alcestis, and particularly in the tense relationship between Pheres and his son Admetus, who accuse each other of cowardice, Euripides explores in a very impressive way the limits and contradictions originating in the reciprocal principles of paidotrophia and gērotrophia. The aim of this study is to examine the way in which this Euri...

In several studies on the interpretation of the term politeuma, Patrick Sänger argues that it has three basic meanings: (a) ‘political act’, (b) ‘citizenry’ or ‘active citizenry’, and (c) ‘polity’ and thus ‘state’ (in origin polis), sometimes having the connotation ‘constitution’. Although the interpretation of the word can be traced back at least...

Plutarch’s works — and especially the Life of Solon — are a major source for recovering of Solon’s laws. However, the biographer does not limit himself to be a simple transmitter of Solon’s legal activity: on the contrary, he comments as well on the consistency and importance of the material he is providing (sometimes for the first time and as the...

Este artigo começa por enquadrar o opúsculo de Ausónio na literatura gnómica relativa aos Sete Sábios, procurando sublinhar a originalidade do seu contributo, que decorre sobretudo da estrutura teatral adotada na composição. Na segunda parte do trabalho, apresenta-se o texto original, seguido de tradução em português e de um comentário breve às pri...

This paper analyzes some of Solon’s verses (frgs. 9,1-2 and 12 West) transmitted by Plutarch, in the Vita Solonis, as well as the comments made by the biographer on the structural meaning of these compositions in what respects the ‘simplistic’ philosophical thinking of the Athenian poet. Along with frg. 9, also frgs. 10 and 11 West are presented in...

This article begins with an analysis of the current state of scientific publication in Portugal, with reference to the impact of the open access (OA) policies of commercial and academic publishers. It then explores the relationship between academic publishing and institutional repositories, discussing the way they should complement one another, tak...

Este artigo analisa algumas normas de Sólon relativas à situação da mulher, em particular as leis respeitantes ao adultério (moicheia), à prostituição forçada de mulheres livres e à prostituição voluntária. Discute ainda a tradição (falsa) de Sólon ter tomado a iniciativa de instituir bordéis oficiais em Atenas.

Throughout this study, we seek to draw an exhaustive categorization of expressions of violence in the Satyricon of Petronius, and of forms of punishment and self‑punishment associated with aggressive behaviour. Although there are examples of violence caused by the elements of nature and by supernatural forces, the most frequent cases stem from the...

A referência a objetos de cerâmica, com funções, tamanhos e formatos vários, detém alguma importância nos dois romances latinos remanescentes. Ainda assim, a distribuição e relevância dessas referências é desigual nas duas obras. Com efeito, no Satyricon de Petrónio, a quase totalidade das alusões ocorre na chamada Cena Trimalchionis. Tal circunstâ...

This paper analyzes some of Solon’s verses (frgs. 9,1-2 and12 West) transmitted by Plutarch in the 'Life of Solon', as well as the comments made by the biographer on the structural meaning of these compositions in what respects the ‘simplistic’ philosophical thinking of the Athenian poet. Along with frg. 9, also frgs. 10 and 11 West are presented i...

Parténio, paixões de amor, 5. “Sobre Leucipo”

F.Klotz and K.Oikonomopoulou (EDS), THE PHILOSOPHER'S BANQUET: PLUTARCH'S TABLE TALK IN THE INTELLECTUAL CULTURE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Pp. xx + 279. isbn9780199588954. £55.00. - Volume 103 - Delfim Leão

Odysseus and the agonistic Greek spirit: the hero of imagination, sacrifice and knowledge

From the polites to the kosmopolites. The "local" and the "global" in the ancient world.

Power, wisdom and finitude in the Satyricon of Petronius.

The first part of the study is devoted to the weight carried by Plato in the making of the tradition of the Seven Wise Men. In the second part, an approach is made to that same tradition in Diogenes Laertius, thereby in a stage when the main lines concerning the characterization of those personalities were already stabilized. The results of this pr...

"The playful Solon and the sneaky Athenians: Plutarch on the ironic use of theatrical episodes and of metaphors in the Vita Solonis" Abstract: Throughout his life, Solon intervened at different times in the Athenian political scene, usually against a backdrop of great instability. Such was the case when he found a way to skirt legal impediments and...

Taking into account the well-known process of ethnic, cultural and linguistic fusion which constitutes the basis for the huge development of the city of Alexandria (and is in itself an impressive legacy of Alexander’s empire), it becomes important to understand up to what point would it be possible for a certain group to safeguard a distinctive ide...

This paper discusses the notions of power, wisdom and the sense of finitude in the "Satyricon" of Petronius.

An approach to the legal implications of "asebeia" or religious impiety.

Approach to the Greek legal concept of "ho boulomenos".

The first part of the paper analyses the development of the notion of autochthony in Athens and the way it can be connected to the concepts of inclusion and exclusion, taking as reference the idea of citizenship, legitimate offspring and the right of property concerning the Attic soil (enktesis). The second part examines how the legal implications...

A conspectus of Aeschylus' life and works.

Alcibiades lived in a time during which Athens was under great pressure, due to external threats deriving from the Peloponnesian War and to internal agitations motivated by political strife and audacious military enterprises. Significantly, the Eleusinian Mysteries were, in two decisive moments, connected to the actions of this charismatic statesma...

The anchisteia granted rights (e.g. over the patrimony of a deceased member of a family) but it implied obligations as well. Among those obligations were the responsibilities that should be assured by the anchisteis, in particular by the most direct descendants: to give shelter and food to the members of the oikos in their old age (gerotrophia). In...

This paper focuses on a legal approach to the motivations that lie behind the tragic outcome of Euripides’ Medea. No attempt will be made in order to absolve or condemn entirely the conduct of Medea or Jason — a task that would be impossible in the way Euripides conceived those characters. The main purpose of the paper is to discuss and analyze som...

A response to Athina Dimopoulou Apoxenousthai: Atimia in Roman times?

Some modern states defend that citizenship depends on a «territorial principle» (ius soli), i.e. that a child who was born in the territory of a certain state may acquire, ipso facto, the right of being citizen of that same state. Others, on the contrary, sustain a «personal principle», which determines that citizenship is a direct heritage of the...

Orestes’ trial by the Areopagus court obliged Aeschylus to articulate very different realities: the legacy of myth and earlier literary tradition, as they referred to the saga of Orestes; Attic constitutional history and the legal traditions current in the Athens of his own day; and a consciousness of certain recent political measures, such as the...

Although the terminology employed by Plutarch to express divine influence in human affaires varies a lot, the words tyche, daimon and theos are those that he uses most frequently. In this paper, special attention is given to the action of tyche and other related concepts, precisely because they are attached mainly to fluid and unpredictable factors...

Scholars who deal with the tradition of the Seven Sages are well aware of the fact that one has to wait until Plato’s Protagoras (343a) in order to have a first mention of a complete list of seven sophoi. This detail grants a special place to the testimony of Plato, but two more aspects should be added, although of a very different nature: the cent...

ON love and friendship in Petronius' Satyricon.

The volume that is now being published assembles great part of the papers presented during the Eighth International Conference of the International Plutarch Society – IPS, held at Coimbra from 23 to 27 September 2008. The contributions deal with symposion, philanthropia, and related subjects in six major sections: after an overview on Plutarch’s pl...

Although the tradition of the Seven Wise Men typically presents us with an Erwartungshorizont where the sophoi reflect the sensibility of a more privileged part of the population (they are generally men, Greeks and aristocrats), it was still capable of self-interrogation and enriching itself with new elements. It was in this way that it was possibl...