Атинската държавна уредба. Лакедемонската държавна уредба

by Xenophon, Мирена Славова (Translator)

Читателят на тази книга вероятно ще се учуди колко много недостатъци вижда в държавната уредба на демократична Атина критичният поглед на Стария олигарх и какво възхищение буди у Ксенофонт Ликурговото законодателство и строгата държавна машина на Спарта. Но дали олигархически настроеният Ксенофонт греши? Или всяка човешка общност трябва сама да извърви пътя на своята зрелост, докато намери най-доброто държавно управление за себе си, без да се доверява на готови предписания?

Genres: History, Politics, Philosophy, Classics, Nonfiction, Ancient

90 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 379

About the author

Xenophon (Ancient Greek Ξενοφῶν, Modern Greek Ξενοφώντας; ca. 431 – 355 BC), son of Gryllus, of the deme Erchia of Athens, was a soldier, mercenary and a contemporary and admirer of Socrates. He is known for his writings on the history of his own times, preserving the sayings of Socrates, and the life of ancient Greece.

Historical and biographical works:
Anabasis (or The Persian Expedition)
Cyropaedia
Hellenica
Agesilaus

Socratic works and dialogues:
Memorabilia
Oeconomicus
Symposium
Apology
Hiero

Short treatises:
On Horsemanship
The Cavalry General
Hunting with Dogs
Ways and Means
Constitution of Sparta

Reviews

[Liska Crofts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully clear, logical, to the point. Extremely helpful.

[Alexander · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ксенофонт - вечният съперник на своя съученик Платон, излага в този свой кратък трактат основните белези на формите на държавно управление на Атина и Спарта.
Вероятно подтикнат от своите лични възгледи или пък може би съдейки от позицията на наблюдател на събитията около него, Ксенофонт не си поставя за цел обективното излагане на фактите, а изтъкването на абсолютното превъзходство на спартанското политическо устройство над атинското.
От една страна, това не би трябвало да ни учудва - Спарта печели Пелопонеската война, оставяйки от Атина само сянка на предишното ѝ величие.
От друга страна обаче, как би могла да бъде запомнена Спарта, ако не бяха авторите, ползвали се от свободата, която Атина им е предлагала? Всичко, с което е известен класическият период на Древна Гърция - философията, историографията, естествознанието, изящните изкуства, литературата и театърът, произхожда повече или по-малко именно от Атина и нейната хаотичност, на която Ксенофонт твърдо се противопоставя.

[Garret Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I felt like I was there with the guests. Amazing telling of this important story!

[Marcus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading material for my course in Ancient Greece - pretty interesting! A very quick overview of Sparta and Athens, outlining their natures and political systems.

[Antonio Papadourakis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Άνισο βιβλίο, αρκετά καλή η Λακεδαιμονίων Πολιτεία, κακή η Αθηναίων Πολιτεία που πιθανόν να μην είναι του Ξενοφώντα.

[Siddiq Khan · Rating 3 out of 5]

My main takeaway from this is that the notion that freedom and democracy go together is a ridiculous joke and always was. My second big takeaway was that the singular nature of Athens in the ancient world had everything to do with its position as the dominant naval power of its age (another demonstration of the determining role of earth resources -- in this case wood -- in culture and history).

There are some good aspects about the "communism" of Sparta, as with Athenian democracy. The author is enamoured with the latter and dislikes the former, but for my taste both were equally rotten. If we compare these societies to the much older indigenous societies they replaced, we would from today´s perspective conclude about these jewels of western civilisation that "what is good is not new, what is new is not good".

[Noah Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Athenians passed laws to protect slaves from random beatings. Not because they cared about the rights of slaves, but because it was hard to tell the difference between slaves and Athenians, and they disliked it when they themselves were beaten by accident.
This may explain why to many people racism is still such a big deal today (even though it would seem at first glance that a rich member of an ethnic minority is better off than a poor member of the majority group). The ruling class has an automatic interest in protecting those who look like them from arbitrary oppression lest they accidentally become victims of it. But if people ceased to be regularly reminded that racism is wrong, some members of the ruling class may decide it is open season on people who do not look like them.

[Chet]

As I'm learning from reading Michael Hudson's trilogy on the economic history of antiquity, very few primary sources exist. This is one them. Interesting quotidian tidbits are scattered throughout but my favorite was about the general who had his soldiers grow their hair out long because he felt it made them appear more fearsome.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Xenophon gives a description of how two Hellenic societies organized themselves. I could understand the reasons to want to live among either the Athenians or Spartans (but also reasons to go live somewhere totally different).

[Aleksandar Dimitrov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting little book on the side of factology and society concepts. Personally I was very impressed by the Lacedaemonian rules and the order that people there were trying to maintain.

[Borna Cetinić · Rating 3 out of 5]

It gives you a glimpse into the social and political structure of these two great ancient Greek cities.

[Miles Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Xenophon's classic comparison of the Athenians and the Spartans is fascinating for so many reasons. The whole book is great but the section on the Spartans is excellent.

[Hectortheegnet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brah interesting asf. I like that not much about humanity has changed in what, 2300 years? Peaceful. I gotta go read the communist manifesto.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Missy move you only go just go to bed

[Vasil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Този превод наистина не е добър. Препоръчвам да прочетете превода на J. M. Moore, "Aristotle and Xenophon on Democracy and Oligarchy". Ако имате възможност да я четете на Английски език естествено.


Ако някой се чуди защо би искал да чете за Атинската и Лакедемонската (Спартанската) държавна уредба, то е заради контраста между двете форми на управление, който (незнайният) автор представя. Самият първоизточник е кратък и е лесен за разбиране. Ще разберете за политическия живот в древна Гърция.


В книгата се посочва Ксенофонт като неин автор, но това е грешно. Първоизточника е намерен из негови книжа, но със сигурност не се знае кой е автора. Затова и в интернет ще го срещнете като "Pseudo-Xenophon" или още като "The Old Oligarch", т.е. "Псевдо Ксенофонт" и "Старият Олигарх". Не знаем до кого е писал, но се разбира, че знае политиката на Атиняните, като едновременно представя външна и вътрешна гледна точка. Тоест, може би е бил част от елита на Атина.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating overview of the Athenians' constitution contrasted with the despot Lycurgus's rules for the citizens of Sparta.