bookreview2008 2008-01-09 isaeus edwards uoftexas 2007

7/28/2019 BookReview2008 2008-01-09 Isaeus Edwards UofTexas 2007

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Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2008.01.09

Michael Edwards (trans.),Isaeus. The Oratory of Classical Greece, 11.Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2007. Pp. xxxi, 229. ISBN 978-0-292-71646-9. $22.95 (pb).

Reviewed by Deborah Kamen, University of Washington([email protected])Word count: 1221 words

"The speech is short and bald and built on hackneyed lies": so claimed William Wyseof one of Isaeus' orations in his definitive -- and hostile -- 1904 commentary on the

Athenian logographer.1 Ever since the publication of Wyse's work, Isaeus' reputationhas been in need of rescuing. He is still read considerably less often than his fellowAttic orators, and his corpus has, until now, been translated into English only twice:

by William Jones in 1779 and by Edward Seymour Forster (F.) in his 1927 Loeb.2

Michael Edwards' (E.) work marks both the third English translation of Isaeus and the11th volume in the Oratory of Classical Greece series, edited by Michael Gagarin(G.) and published by University of Texas. In G.'s words, "The aim of the series is to

make available primarily for those who do not read Greek up-to-date, accurate, andreadable translations with introductions and explanatory notes of all the survivingworks and major fragments of the Attic orators of the classical period (ca. 420-320BC)" (xi). Isaeus is a welcome addition to this series, providing a wide range ofreaders insight not only into Athenian inheritance law (Isaeus' field of expertise), butalso into topics like adoption, family politics, marriage, concubinage, adultery,

bastardy, citizenship, and the rights of women and slaves.

This volume includes a brief Series Editor's Preface; a brief Translator's Preface; aSeries Introduction; an Introduction to Isaeus; Isaeus' eleven complete speeches, plusone long fragmentary speech preserved by Dionysius of Halicarnassus; Isaeus' lost

speeches and fragments; an appendix with arguments (hypotheses) from themanuscripts for the eleven speeches; and a detailed index. The Series Introduction(G.) is essentially the same as in the other ten volumes, providing an introduction tooratory in classical Athens, the ten canonical orators, the Attic oration as text,government and law in Athens, the translation of Greek oratory, the commonabbreviations for Greek texts and authors, and the Athenian monetary system. Thevolume's Introduction (E.) discusses Isaeus' life, works, style and method, andmodern reputation; family, property, and Athenian inheritance law (a relatively longsection); and the text of Isaeus on which the translation is based (namely, F.'s Loeb).The Introduction ends with a list of further reading, primarily in English but including

some recent works in Italian.3

Each speech has its own very clear introduction; this is particularly appreciated withIsaeus, since the points of law and the details of each family require careful

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explanation. In each introduction, E. maps out the speaker's arguments and evaluatesthe strengths and weaknesses of the case, including potential stumbling blocks for thespeaker. E. also considers the effectiveness of Isaeus' rhetoric and the construction ofeach speech, both of which he evaluates considerably more positively, on average,than does Wyse. Where we have indications of the outcome (speeches 6, 8, 9, 11), E.tells us who won, or probably won, the case. Moreover, E. gives the presumed datefor each speech, based both on R. F. Wevers' statistical analysis of rhythms at the endofclausulae, and, whenever possible, on internal historical evidence. Theintroductions are so thorough that each speech can essentially be read in isolation,although there are some cross-references to other speeches or other introductions.Each speech has quite a few footnotes -- ranging from 22 to 70 notes per completespeech -- in which E. explains legal processes and provides historical context, usefulsocial-historical information, and suggestions about what underlies particulararguments (for a particularly good example, see p. 22 n. 14). It is helpful that E.glosses technical legal terms each time they appear, especially since the volume doesnot have a glossary.

The volume ends with the speeches' hypotheses. This placement marks a change fromthe texts of F., Wyse, and Thalheim (the editor of the 1903 Teubner), all of whichinclude the hypothesis at the start of each speech. However, because these argumentswere not written by Isaeus himself but were added later in the manuscript tradition,they occasionally get details wrong. For this reason, I think it was a wise editorialchoice to relegate the hypotheses to an appendix, where they can be consulted butwhere they are less likely to mislead the reader.

The translation itself is excellent. E. is very good at simultaneously rendering theGreek syntax and also providing colloquial English: e.g., translating kai tauta oumikra dapanmata estin (12.3) as "and this involves no small expenditure" (cf. F.'s

"all of which represents considerable outlay") and anaschoit' an akoun (12.4) as"would put up with listening" (cf. F.'s "would listen"). A handful of common termsare translated more colloquially than in F.'s translation: e.g., "relatives" forsungenoi(cf. F.'s "kinsmen") and "foreigners" forxenoi (cf. F.'s "aliens"). In addition, E. oftenuses contractions -- a minor touch, but one that lends the language an appropriatelyspoken quality. For the most part, as mentioned above, E. follows F.'s text, and heindicates the few places where he adopts less-conventional emendations (i.e., 4.7, hisown emendation; 5.9, Buermann; 5.26, Weissenborn; 5.42, Dobree; 9.5, Dobree); forthe lost speeches and fragments, he follows Thalheim's numbering.

There are only a few points I think E. might have done well to clarify. Thus, for

example, on p. 16 n. 6, he writes, "If Cleonymus did not wish to annul the will, hewas insane, and it should therefore be declared void by the jurors," a point whichmight have been clarified by explaining the law (Dem. 46.14) that a will was void if itwas composed by someone who was insane, under the influence of drugs, or swayed

by a woman. About speech 3, E. writes, "A more accurate title would in fact beAgainst Nicodemus for False Witness" (p. 42); this is true, but why doesn't he say thesame thing about speech 2, which is also a dik pseudomartyrin? Finally, on p. 197,a note on the significance of the term ast in light of Pericles' citizenship law wouldhave been useful.

The text on the whole is well edited, although I noted a couple of peculiar editorial

decisions. A number of footnotes read "see the Introduction," and it is notimmediately clear whether the series, volume, or speech introduction is meant (it's thelast one). Some of the speech introductions contain brief textual footnotes, the content


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of which might have been included less distractingly in the text itself (e.g., p. 44 n. 3"or at least explain his current absence"; p. 44 n. 4: "we have no other evidence for anarrangement of this kind"). I found only three minor typographic errors in thevolume: on p. 16, the footnotes in text are not in superscript font; on p. 61,Metageitnion should not be in italics; and on p. 82, a space is needed after n. 18 intext.

But these are extremely minor quibbles. Overall, this is an excellent translation,equipped with very useful notes. Even with the best possible translation andcommentary, Isaeus is difficult reading: the technical nature of his arguments, theextended and often convoluted family trees, and the intricacies of Greek law provideobstacles even for the professional classicist. Fortunately, E.'s text clears away manyof these obstacles, allowing a relatively large audience access to a rich source ofmaterial on Athenian social, cultural, and institutional history.

Notes:

1. W. Wyse (ed.), The Speeches of Isaeus (Cambridge 1904) 652.2. W. Jones, The Speeches of Isaeus in Causes Concerning the Law of Succession to

Property at Athens, with a Prefatory Discourse, Notes Critical and Historical, and aCommentary (London 1779) and E. S. Forster (ed. and trans.),Isaeus. Loeb ClassicalLibrary (Cambridge, Mass. 1927).3. The only notable omission is J. M. Lawless,Law, Argument and Equity in theSpeeches of Isaeus. Diss. Brown University (Providence, RI 1991).

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