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Ancient Necropolitics
Maltreating the Living, Abusing the Dead in Greek Antiquity
Series: - Mnemosyne, Supplements, Volume: 492
This is the first collection of essays approaching aspects of Greek antiquity and its reception through ânecropoliticsâ. It discovers traces of necropolitics in the unburied and maltreated corpses of the Homeric epics; it follows the manifestations of necropower in Greek tragedy, historiography, and biography; and it delves into torture, capital punishment, and non-normative burials in the ancient Greek world. It contributes to the debate - much of which is only available in modern Greek - on recent archaeological evidence, notably the iron-bound individuals discovered in the Athenian suburb of Phaleron, and includes a captivating exploration of necropolitics in Yorgos Lanthimosâs Greek-tragedy-inspired cinema.
Efimia D. Karakantza is Professor of Ancient Greek Literature at the University of Patras, Greece. Her research focuses on metafeminist and political readings of ancient Greek literature, mainly tragedy. Her latest monographs include Who Am I? (Mis)Identity and the Polis in Oedipus Tyrannus (Harvard UP, 2020) and Antigone (Routledge, 2023).
Alexandros Velaoras is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Patras, Greece. His research focuses on Attic tragedy, especially Euripides, and its reception. The title of his dissertation is The Arrival of the Suppliant in Euripidesâ âPolitical Playsâ.
Marion Meyer, Ph.D. (1984), Univ.Prof. (1997, retired in 2020), taught Classical Archaeology in Germany and Vienna. Her studies focus on images and ancient Athens, e.g. Athena, Göttin von Athen. Kult und Mythos auf der Akropolis bis in klassische Zeit (2017).
Contributors are: Dimitrios Bosnakis, Zina Giannopoulou, Efimia D. Karakantza, Cezary Kucewicz, Katerina Oikonomopoulou, Benjamin Eldon Stevens, Angeliki Syrkou, Alexandros Velaoras, Jesse Weiner.
Alexandros Velaoras is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Patras, Greece. His research focuses on Attic tragedy, especially Euripides, and its reception. The title of his dissertation is The Arrival of the Suppliant in Euripidesâ âPolitical Playsâ.
Marion Meyer, Ph.D. (1984), Univ.Prof. (1997, retired in 2020), taught Classical Archaeology in Germany and Vienna. Her studies focus on images and ancient Athens, e.g. Athena, Göttin von Athen. Kult und Mythos auf der Akropolis bis in klassische Zeit (2017).
Contributors are: Dimitrios Bosnakis, Zina Giannopoulou, Efimia D. Karakantza, Cezary Kucewicz, Katerina Oikonomopoulou, Benjamin Eldon Stevens, Angeliki Syrkou, Alexandros Velaoras, Jesse Weiner.
"The overall volume is, nonetheless, commendable and lucid, with chapters that will be primarily of interest for scholars of Homer, Sophocles, and classical Athens, providing a varied assortment of analyses on these and other topics. Moreover, it serves as an innovative and insightful volume for the diversity of possible applications of Mbembeâs necropolitics that will hopefully inspire further scholarly applications of ancient necropolitics."
Ryan Denson in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2025.11.21
Ryan Denson in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2025.11.21
Preface
List of Figures
Notes on Contributors
1 Introduction: From Necropolitics to Ancient Necropolitics
âAlexandros Velaoras
2 Necropolitics in the Iliad: Between Myth and Reality
âCezary Kucewicz
3 Odysseusâ Corpses: Necropolitics and Homerâs Odyssey
âJesse Weiner
4 Sophoclesâ Ajax: The Necropolitical Treatment of the Heroâs Life and Death
âEfimia D. Karakantza
5 Enacting Necropolitics in Sophoclesâ Antigone
âZina Giannopoulou
6 The Non-burial at Thebes: Attic Tragedy and the Athenian Necropolitical Micro-apparatus
âAlexandros Velaoras
7 Deviations from Necro-normality in Ancient Greek Poleis: The Governance of the Corpse (Modalities and Symbolisms)
âDimitrios Bosnakis
8 Necropolitical Violence and Roman Power in Imperial Greek Biography and Historiography
âKaterina Oikonomopoulou
9 Forms of Necropolitical Violence in Antiquity
âAngeliki Syrkou
10 A Necropolitics of Posthuman Bodies? Yorgos Lanthimosâs The Lobster (2015) and The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
âBenjamin Eldon Stevens
Index of Passages
General Index
List of Figures
Notes on Contributors
Part1 Theoretical Considerations
1 Introduction: From Necropolitics to Ancient Necropolitics
âAlexandros Velaoras
Part2 Necropolitics in Configurations of the Imaginary
2 Necropolitics in the Iliad: Between Myth and Reality
âCezary Kucewicz
3 Odysseusâ Corpses: Necropolitics and Homerâs Odyssey
âJesse Weiner
4 Sophoclesâ Ajax: The Necropolitical Treatment of the Heroâs Life and Death
âEfimia D. Karakantza
5 Enacting Necropolitics in Sophoclesâ Antigone
âZina Giannopoulou
6 The Non-burial at Thebes: Attic Tragedy and the Athenian Necropolitical Micro-apparatus
âAlexandros Velaoras
Part3 Dead and (Un)Buried: The Material Evidence
7 Deviations from Necro-normality in Ancient Greek Poleis: The Governance of the Corpse (Modalities and Symbolisms)
âDimitrios Bosnakis
8 Necropolitical Violence and Roman Power in Imperial Greek Biography and Historiography
âKaterina Oikonomopoulou
9 Forms of Necropolitical Violence in Antiquity
âAngeliki Syrkou
Part4 Necropolitics in Classical Reception
10 A Necropolitics of Posthuman Bodies? Yorgos Lanthimosâs The Lobster (2015) and The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
âBenjamin Eldon Stevens
Index of Passages
General Index
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