Present Shock in Late Fifth-century Greece

This book depicts the state of disorientation brought about by sudden cultural upheavals in 5th century Athens. Francis Dunn’s
Present Shock in Late Fifth-Century Greece
examines the widespread social and cultural disorientation experienced by Athenians in a period that witnessed the revolution of 411 B.C.E. and the military misadventures in 413 and 404 - a disturbance as powerful as that described in Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock. The late fifth century was a time of vast cultural and intellectual change, ultimately leading to a shift away from Athenians’ traditional tendency to seek authority in the past, toward a greater reliance on the authority of the present. At the same time, Dunn arguez, writers and thinkers not only registered the shock, but explored ways to adjust to living with this new sense of uncertainty. Using literary case studies from this period, Dunn shows how narrative techniques changed to focus on depicting a world in which events were no longer wholly predetermined by the past, impressing upon readers the rewards and challenges of struggling to find their own way forward. Although Present Shock concentrates upon the late fifth century, this book’s interdisciplinary approach will be of broad interest to scholars and students of ancient Greece, as well as anyone fascinated by the remarkably flexible human understanding of time.