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![administration included the tail-end of the Peloponnesian War (culminating in the siege of Athens by Sparta and her allies) and the aftermath of oligarchy followed by civil war. Not all of the financial damage suffered by the orphans will have been due to Diogeiton’s fraud. The speech is exceedingly well crafted. A financial suit of this sort is by nature likely either to bore or confuse an audience. Lysias does not attempt to work through the accounts systematically but seizes a few items which exemplify Diogeiton’s dishonesty. Particular attention is paid in the narrative to the characterization of Diogeiton. Lysias presents us with a plausible villain (even where he offers no corroborative evidence) by striving for consistency in the actions narrated. Diogeiton conceals the scale of the estate as he conceals his brother’s death. He cheats on his daughter’s dowry, as he cheats his wards by cunningly transferring to them the whole cost of sacrifice (§21), funeral monument (§21) or liturgy (§24, §26) disguised as half the cost. And he persistently avoids attempts to resolve the dispute (§2, §12). But perhaps the finest touch in the speech is the use of the widow, Diogeiton’s daughter. As Todd has noted (The Shape of Athenian Law, 203), the quotation of the woman’s speech to her father allows Lysias to circumvent to some degree one of the procedural limitations of the Athenian courts, the fact that women could not appear in any capacity. Yet Diogeiton’s daughter is the only one (beside Diogeiton himself) who has personal knowledge of his depredations. The use of direct speech creates the illusion that we are actually hearing the woman herself. It also allows the speaker to achieve pronounced emotional effects while maintaining for himself the restrained personality appropriate to an individual embroiled in a dispute with kin. CASE IX: ISAIOS 3 – ON THE ESTATE OF PYRRHOS [AGAINST NIKODEMOS FOR FALSE TESTIMONY] There were in Athens two formal means of checking a legal move by an opponent. The older process, called diamartyria, consisted (as the derivation from martys, ‘witness’, suggests) of a formal affirmation of a fact which made a given action invalid. The affirmation stood, and the action in question was ruled out, unless the opponent brought an action for false testimony against the individual who made the assertion. The diamartyria declined in importance from the end of the fifth century (overtaken by the newer and more flexible paragraphe, for which see the introduction to Dem. 35 on p. 150F), and](https://images.tandf.co.uk/common/jackets/crclarge/978041510/9780415107617.jpg "administration included the tail-end of the Peloponnesian War (culminating in the siege of Athens by Sparta and her allies) and the aftermath of oligarchy followed by civil war. Not all of the financial damage suffered by the orphans will have been due to Diogeiton’s fraud. The speech is exceedingly well crafted. A financial suit of this sort is by nature likely either to bore or confuse an audience. Lysias does not attempt to work through the accounts systematically but seizes a few items which exemplify Diogeiton’s dishonesty. Particular attention is paid in the narrative to the characterization of Diogeiton. Lysias presents us with a plausible villain (even where he offers no corroborative evidence) by striving for consistency in the actions narrated. Diogeiton conceals the scale of the estate as he conceals his brother’s death. He cheats on his daughter’s dowry, as he cheats his wards by cunningly transferring to them the whole cost of sacrifice (§21), funeral monument (§21) or liturgy (§24, §26) disguised as half the cost. And he persistently avoids attempts to resolve the dispute (§2, §12). But perhaps the finest touch in the speech is the use of the widow, Diogeiton’s daughter. As Todd has noted (The Shape of Athenian Law, 203), the quotation of the woman’s speech to her father allows Lysias to circumvent to some degree one of the procedural limitations of the Athenian courts, the fact that women could not appear in any capacity. Yet Diogeiton’s daughter is the only one (beside Diogeiton himself) who has personal knowledge of his depredations. The use of direct speech creates the illusion that we are actually hearing the woman herself. It also allows the speaker to achieve pronounced emotional effects while maintaining for himself the restrained personality appropriate to an individual embroiled in a dispute with kin. CASE IX: ISAIOS 3 – ON THE ESTATE OF PYRRHOS [AGAINST NIKODEMOS FOR FALSE TESTIMONY] There were in Athens two formal means of checking a legal move by an opponent. The older process, called diamartyria, consisted (as the derivation from martys, ‘witness’, suggests) of a formal affirmation of a fact which made a given action invalid. The affirmation stood, and the action in question was ruled out, unless the opponent brought an action for false testimony against the individual who made the assertion. The diamartyria declined in importance from the end of the fifth century (overtaken by the newer and more flexible paragraphe, for which see the introduction to Dem. 35 on p. 150F), and")
Chapter
administration included the tail-end of the Peloponnesian War (culminating in the siege of Athens by Sparta and her allies) and the aftermath of oligarchy followed by civil war. Not all of the financial damage suffered by the orphans will have been due to Diogeiton’s fraud. The speech is exceedingly well crafted. A financial suit of this sort is by nature likely either to bore or confuse an audience. Lysias does not attempt to work through the accounts systematically but seizes a few items which exemplify Diogeiton’s dishonesty. Particular attention is paid in the narrative to the characterization of Diogeiton. Lysias presents us with a plausible villain (even where he offers no corroborative evidence) by striving for consistency in the actions narrated. Diogeiton conceals the scale of the estate as he conceals his brother’s death. He cheats on his daughter’s dowry, as he cheats his wards by cunningly transferring to them the whole cost of sacrifice (§21), funeral monument (§21) or liturgy (§24, §26) disguised as half the cost. And he persistently avoids attempts to resolve the dispute (§2, §12). But perhaps the finest touch in the speech is the use of the widow, Diogeiton’s daughter. As Todd has noted (The Shape of Athenian Law, 203), the quotation of the woman’s speech to her father allows Lysias to circumvent to some degree one of the procedural limitations of the Athenian courts, the fact that women could not appear in any capacity. Yet Diogeiton’s daughter is the only one (beside Diogeiton himself) who has personal knowledge of his depredations. The use of direct speech creates the illusion that we are actually hearing the woman herself. It also allows the speaker to achieve pronounced emotional effects while maintaining for himself the restrained personality appropriate to an individual embroiled in a dispute with kin. CASE IX: ISAIOS 3 – ON THE ESTATE OF PYRRHOS [AGAINST NIKODEMOS FOR FALSE TESTIMONY] There were in Athens two formal means of checking a legal move by an opponent. The older process, called diamartyria, consisted (as the derivation from martys, ‘witness’, suggests) of a formal affirmation of a fact which made a given action invalid. The affirmation stood, and the action in question was ruled out, unless the opponent brought an action for false testimony against the individual who made the assertion. The diamartyria declined in importance from the end of the fifth century (overtaken by the newer and more flexible paragraphe, for which see the introduction to Dem. 35 on p. 150F), and
DOI link for administration included the tail-end of the Peloponnesian War (culminating in the siege of Athens by Sparta and her allies) and the aftermath of oligarchy followed by civil war. Not all of the financial damage suffered by the orphans will have been due to Diogeiton’s fraud. The speech is exceedingly well crafted. A financial suit of this sort is by nature likely either to bore or confuse an audience. Lysias does not attempt to work through the accounts systematically but seizes a few items which exemplify Diogeiton’s dishonesty. Particular attention is paid in the narrative to the characterization of Diogeiton. Lysias presents us with a plausible villain (even where he offers no corroborative evidence) by striving for consistency in the actions narrated. Diogeiton conceals the scale of the estate as he conceals his brother’s death. He cheats on his daughter’s dowry, as he cheats his wards by cunningly transferring to them the whole cost of sacrifice (§21), funeral monument (§21) or liturgy (§24, §26) disguised as half the cost. And he persistently avoids attempts to resolve the dispute (§2, §12). But perhaps the finest touch in the speech is the use of the widow, Diogeiton’s daughter. As Todd has noted (The Shape of Athenian Law, 203), the quotation of the woman’s speech to her father allows Lysias to circumvent to some degree one of the procedural limitations of the Athenian courts, the fact that women could not appear in any capacity. Yet Diogeiton’s daughter is the only one (beside Diogeiton himself) who has personal knowledge of his depredations. The use of direct speech creates the illusion that we are actually hearing the woman herself. It also allows the speaker to achieve pronounced emotional effects while maintaining for himself the restrained personality appropriate to an individual embroiled in a dispute with kin. CASE IX: ISAIOS 3 – ON THE ESTATE OF PYRRHOS [AGAINST NIKODEMOS FOR FALSE TESTIMONY] There were in Athens two formal means of checking a legal move by an opponent. The older process, called diamartyria, consisted (as the derivation from martys, ‘witness’, suggests) of a formal affirmation of a fact which made a given action invalid. The affirmation stood, and the action in question was ruled out, unless the opponent brought an action for false testimony against the individual who made the assertion. The diamartyria declined in importance from the end of the fifth century (overtaken by the newer and more flexible paragraphe, for which see the introduction to Dem. 35 on p. 150F), and
administration included the tail-end of the Peloponnesian War (culminating in the siege of Athens by Sparta and her allies) and the aftermath of oligarchy followed by civil war. Not all of the financial damage suffered by the orphans will have been due to Diogeiton’s fraud. The speech is exceedingly well crafted. A financial suit of this sort is by nature likely either to bore or confuse an audience. Lysias does not attempt to work through the accounts systematically but seizes a few items which exemplify Diogeiton’s dishonesty. Particular attention is paid in the narrative to the characterization of Diogeiton. Lysias presents us with a plausible villain (even where he offers no corroborative evidence) by striving for consistency in the actions narrated. Diogeiton conceals the scale of the estate as he conceals his brother’s death. He cheats on his daughter’s dowry, as he cheats his wards by cunningly transferring to them the whole cost of sacrifice (§21), funeral monument (§21) or liturgy (§24, §26) disguised as half the cost. And he persistently avoids attempts to resolve the dispute (§2, §12). But perhaps the finest touch in the speech is the use of the widow, Diogeiton’s daughter. As Todd has noted (The Shape of Athenian Law, 203), the quotation of the woman’s speech to her father allows Lysias to circumvent to some degree one of the procedural limitations of the Athenian courts, the fact that women could not appear in any capacity. Yet Diogeiton’s daughter is the only one (beside Diogeiton himself) who has personal knowledge of his depredations. The use of direct speech creates the illusion that we are actually hearing the woman herself. It also allows the speaker to achieve pronounced emotional effects while maintaining for himself the restrained personality appropriate to an individual embroiled in a dispute with kin. CASE IX: ISAIOS 3 – ON THE ESTATE OF PYRRHOS [AGAINST NIKODEMOS FOR FALSE TESTIMONY] There were in Athens two formal means of checking a legal move by an opponent. The older process, called diamartyria, consisted (as the derivation from martys, ‘witness’, suggests) of a formal affirmation of a fact which made a given action invalid. The affirmation stood, and the action in question was ruled out, unless the opponent brought an action for false testimony against the individual who made the assertion. The diamartyria declined in importance from the end of the fifth century (overtaken by the newer and more flexible paragraphe, for which see the introduction to Dem. 35 on p. 150F), and
ABSTRACT
According to the speaker, his brother Endios had been adopted by their uncle Pyrrhos. Though his claim to the estate was not contested during his life, on his death the estate was claimed by Xenokles on behalf of his wife Phile. Xenokles issued an affirmation (diamartyria), that his wife was the legitimate daughter of Pyrrhos. He was successfully prosecuted for false witness by the speaker of Isai. 3, Endios’ brother, who is claiming the estate on behalf of his mother, Pyrrhos’ sister. At the trial for false testimony Xenokles was supported by Phile’s uncle Nikodemos, who testified that he had given his sister, the mother of Phile, in marriage to Pyrrhos, so that Phile was the legitimate issue of Pyrrhos. Nikodemos too is now being sued for false testimony. The speaker’s aim is probably to preclude further claims on behalf of Phile.
