An interpretation of Lysias' Against Teisis (fr. 17 Gernet - Bizos)

Abstract

All we have from Lysias' speech Against Teisis are the first six paragraphs of the diegesis which are preserved in Dionysios of Halikarnassos's Περi της Δημοσθένους λέξεως. The extant text provides substantial evidence οη the circumstances of the quarrel between two Athenian youths which included the flogging of the defendant by the prosecutor and allows us to look into the main lines of argument of the two sides involved in the case. This paper provides the first detailed interpretation of the text and offers a reconstruction of the pivotal arguments of both the prosecutor and the defendant οη the basis of information provided in the preserved portion of the speech and in other similarly themed forensic speeches. It also includes examination of the features of hybris ('insolence') which is germane to cases of physical assult and discussion of the legal aspects of the case.