A Commentary on Demosthenes’ Against Androtion: Introduction, Text, and Translation

This volume provides a detailed, lemmatic, literary commentary on Demosthenes’ speech Against Androtion. It is the first study of its kind since the nineteenth century, filling a significant gap in modern scholarship. The Greek text of the speech is accompanied by a facing English translation, making the work more accessible to a wide scholarly audience. It also includes an extensive introduction covering key historical, socio-political, and legal issues.

The speech was delivered in a graphe paranomon (a public prosecution for introducing an illegal decree) which was brought against Androtion, a well-established Athenian public speaker and intellectual. Demosthenes composed Against Androtion for Diodoros, the supporting speaker in this trial and an active political figure in the mid-fourth century. In her commentary, Ifigeneia Giannadaki illuminates the legal, socio-political, and historical aspects of the speech, including views on male prostitution and the relationship between sex and politics, complex aspects of Athenian law and procedure, and Athenian politics in the aftermath of the Social War. Giannadaki balances the analysis of important historical and legal issues with a special emphasis on elucidating Demosthenes’ rhetorical strategy and argumentation.