Revenge, Punishment and Anger in Ancient Greek Justice

＂Anger was the engine of justice in the ancient Greek world. It drove quests for vengeance which resulted in a variety of consequences, often harmful not only for the relevant actors but also for the wider communities in which they lived. From as early as the seventh century BCE, Greek communities had developed more or less formal means of imposing restrictions on this behaviour in the form of courts. However, this did not necessarily mean a less angry or vengeful society so much as one where anger and revenge were subject to public sanction and sometimes put to public use＂--

Joe Whitchurch is an independent scholar, UK. He has recently completed his PhD at University College London, UK, and has published work on the subject of anger and punishment in ancient Greece.