Fathers and Sons in Athens: Ideology and Society in the Era of the Pelopennesian War

STRAUSS, Barry S., FATHERS AND SONS IN ATHENS: Ideology and Society in the Era of the Pelopennesian War. Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, 1994, 275 pp., $35.00 hardcover.

Reviewed by:ELAINE PORTER*

Those seeking to demonstrate the ahistorical nature of generational conflict often use a quote from an ancient Greek father about the rebelliousness of youth. This book is written by a historian of ancient Greek civilization whose thesis is that, though father-son conflict may be universal, its cultural importance in ancient Athens varied with different sociopolitical conditions. Strauss argues that the symbolism of father-son conflict resonanted with the socio-political conditions of the Pelopennesian War era in Athens during the late fifth-century B.C.

Strauss considers a range of anthropological and sociological theorists including the social drama notions of Turner and Foucault's notions of the power of the household in ancient Greece to develop his thesis. He tests his ideas with detailed analyses of eclectically chosen Greek plays, oratory and philosophical literature, adding...