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In: History - Ancient·Archaeology & Anthropology·Law & Criminology
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #69344.
Hubert J. Treston’s Poine is a scholarly study that treats ancient Greek blood‑vengeance as a window onto the civilization, law and drama of the Homeric and early historic periods. The work opens with a preface that explains its aim: to supplement literary and archaeological study rather than to produce a dry legal treatise. From there the book is divided into three extensive parts, first an analysis of Homeric society and its religious beliefs, second a “legal” examination of homicide statutes from the Bronze Age through the Draconian reforms, and third a discussion of how those statutes shape the myths and tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. The opening chapters already lay out a comparative framework, contrasting “unrestricted vendetta,” “personal restricted vendetta,” “tribal wergeld,” and “state‑based punishment,” and they promise detailed case studies drawn from both ancient texts and later ethnographic examples.
The author writes in a dense, early‑20th‑century academic voice, peppered with footnotes, citations and occasional literary flourish. His style blends legal analysis with cultural history, assuming a reader comfortable with extensive reference to scholars such as Ridgeway, Leaf and Goligher. Those who relish interdisciplinary investigations, students of classical law, historians of Greek religion, or readers interested in the evolution of homicide concepts from tribal customs to Athenian courts, will find Poine rewarding. Its meticulous comparative approach also appeals to scholars of comparative law and to anyone seeking a deeper understanding of how ancient Greek tragedy reflects real legal practices.
The opening · free to read
This work is intended rather as a supplement to the study of Greek literature, history, and archaeology. The first part contains an analysis of important elements of Homeric civilisation, an account of the different strata in the Homeric society and of the religious beliefs and practices of the Homeric Greeks. This section owes much to the pioneer work of Ridgeway and of Leaf; it carries, so to speak, into remote corners and crevices the light which their genius has thrown on the general nature and structure of early Greek society.
The second part is concerned with the Middle Age of Hellenism (1000 B.C.-600 B.C.): it is an attempt to explain the social and religious evolution of the Hellenes and to interpret the homicide laws of the historical period in the light of that evolution. This section is inevitably the most ‘legal’ portion of the work, but an effort is made, even at the cost of what might appear excessive repetition, to avoid an unduly technical exposition, and the literary aspect of the subject is constantly emphasised.
The third part is an enquiry into the origin and development of the legends which are found in Attic tragedy. These legends are permeated with references to homicide, and I have attempted to render less obscure and difficult the problems of blood-vengeance which they contain. As such an attempt would be utterly impossible without a previous discussion of the homicide laws of Greece, the account of these laws which I have given in the second part of the work should be regarded as a necessary preliminary to the subsequent analysis of these legends.
The extent of my indebtedness to modern writers on this and kindred subjects is sufficiently indicated in the footnotes and the second section of the Index. I must, however, express, in addition, my obligations to Professor Goligher, of Trinity College, Dublin, for his kind encouragement, assistance, and advice.
My best thanks are due to my friend and colleague, Mr. W. H. Porter, for his generous co-operation in reading and correcting the proofs of this work and for his valuable criticisms and suggestions. In particular, I owe to him the alteration which I have adopted, on p. 195, in connection with the restored Draconian inscription.
I should like also to record my appreciation of the accuracy and efficiency of Messrs. Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & Co.’s Reader.
H. J. T.
CORK, June 1923.
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