Judgment in the Fourth-Century BCE Athenian Courts as Anti-Tragedy: Demosthenes's <i>On the Crown</i>

Abstract In 330 BCE, before a jury of 501 Athenian citizens, the statesman Demosthenes delivered what would become his most famous court speech, On Crown . Commentators have called speech “tragic” owing to litigant's unusual appropriation tropes from Attic tragedy make case. I offer an alternative reading Demosthenes's that rests upon approach theorizing democratic judgment. argue rhetorical force and political significance metaphors, linguistic expressions ideas depend institutional setting in which they were delivered. This is because within each site, specific practice judgment taking place structures reception response images. fact “anti-tragic” reflects for it was created.