Source edition
Antiphon. Minor Attic Orators, Vol. 1. Maidment, Kenneth John, editor. London: William Heinemann, Ltd.; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1941 (printing); 1960 (reprint).
Source data
Perseus Digital Library · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This work is a model debate (Tetralogy) structured around a hypothetical murder trial arising from a fatal brawl between a young man and an elderly man. It consists of four speeches in total, with two presented by the prosecution and two by the defense. The prosecution begins by detailing the brutal assault committed by the young defendant on the defenseless old man under the influence of alcohol, demanding a guilty verdict. In response, the defendant argues that the victim initiated the violence and that the actual cause of death was medical malpractice by the treating physician. In the second round of speeches, the prosecution counters by emphasizing that the younger and stronger defendant is more likely to have started the fight, and that the physical blows were indeed fatal. Finally, after the defendant flees the trial, his friends deliver the final defense, arguing his innocence while warning of the religious pollution that an unjust verdict would bring upon the community. The work masterfully illustrates the complexities of determining primary responsibility and causal relations in ancient Athenian legal rhetoric.